Blood Diamond

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Brutal Realism

I rented BLOOD DIAMOND last night. Damn. I'll be honest. You know, I really liked The Departed, and I'm glad Martin Scorcese won an Oscar he has been overdue for. But I'll be damned if BLOOD DIAMOND wasn't at least ten times more intense than the aforementioned statuette-winner. Leonardo DiCaprio did a better acting job as Danny Archer than he did in the Departed, in my opinion. And Djimon Hounsou: WOW. I have never experienced a more intense acting performance than what he turned in for this movie, as Solomon Vandy. I thought Mark Walhberg was excellent in The Departed, but there wasn't a single performance in that movie, or any other in 2006 that I can think of, which was half as passionate and convincing as Djimon Hounsou playing Solomon Vandy. It is a spectacular and heartbreaking tour de force.

Some might feel compelled to point out that "explosive, over the top emoting" doesn't necessarily count for better acting; that a more reserved and subtle performance could be seen to equally count, if not more so, as the superior acting accomplishment. Although that is a good point, and obviously has merit--I still must insist that Djimon's performance was exceptional. I don't think I've ever witnessed more primal, searing emoting than that. In fact, the actor is taking a huge chance in that his performance may be regarded as overdone, but Djimon burns away all doubts in the conviction of his role as the shattered father hoping to reunite his family, who have been broken apart by the RUF (Revolutionary United Front), a group of brutal rebels led by this one evil warlord named Captain Poison.

The way this movie smoothly segues from one hazardous, chaotic scene to the next, is simply brilliant filmmaking. I had no idea who Edward Zwick was (the director), and just now looked him up and found he directed The Last Samurai, which I also liked but was nowhere near as effective as BLOOD DIAMOND. This is a director who I believe is just working himself up to win the Oscar someday.

Solomon's son Dia is captured by the RUF and turned into a child soldier. This subplot, about the capture and subsequent brainwashing of children into the rebel guerilla forces of the illegal diamond trade, is one of the most heart-wrenching and brutally realistic sequences you're ever likely to see captured on film. The movie never once manages to look contrived, it just plunges you right into the erupting war zones of the conflict diamond trade. Given the sheer scope and complexity of its unrelenting storyline, I honestly think Edward Zwick may have deserved the Oscar over Martin Scorcese, although I have to admit, Scorsese knows how to handle background music interpolated seamlessly into the narrative, whereas Zwick did fall prey a few times to oversentimentalized, manipulative music, but only scarcely, so as not to bother me at all, really, given the harrowing realism of the movie's premise. Jennifer Connelly puts in a great supporting role as the American reporter in Africa trying to get the evidence she needs to expose the conflict diamond trade.

The most startling thing about this movie is its controversial nature. Halfway through and one begins to realize why the Oscars couldn't touch this movie with a ten foot pole, and that in itself is a kind of tragedy in its own right. I really think the movie should have won the Oscar for Best Picture not only because it is brilliantly edited and directed, has sterling performances by DiCaprio, Hounsou, and Connelly, but perhaps most importantly, for its topical message representing an unjust divide between the comfortable rich "adults" of the First World and the enslaved and butchered "children" of the impoverished Third World.

In short, quite possibly the most intense movie I have ever seen. I wish to hell I had seen BLOOD DIAMOND in the theaters, now. By the end of it I was wiping away a few tears from its overwhelming emotional weight. On a five star rating system I give BLOOD DIAMOND the full five stars.