Blood Diamond

Anyone see this yet ?

We just put the DVD in, and it has a very graphic beginning, but it looks like a good movie.

Not sure I like Leo's accent, but I'll post a review when we're done.



EDIT: For link to Internet Movie Database
imdb.com...

[edit on 21/3/2007 by anxietydisorder]

I've seen it.
In the theaters.

I really want to read your review.
My wife and I had some strong opinions about this movie.
I'll wait until after you've watched though..

I haven't seen it yet. I'm planning on it. Can't wait to see your review on it.

I heard on cnn that this movie has actually made it to where diamond dealers had the lowest turnout this year at there convention.

I'm still suffering from shock, but here's my review.

I think it's the best work Di Caprio has ever done, and I've seen most of his movies.
The violence and total disregard for human life was a bit hard to stomach, and all of this set in a back-drop of some of the most beautiful scenery in the world.

Of course I've read about boy soldiers, and children having their hands chopped off, but seeing it displayed on the screen so graphically had me turning away from the TV a few times.

I can't help but draw parallels between this movie and the suffering that is going on in Iraq today so that America has an uninterrupted supply of oil. I also can't help thinking of how this sort of thing has happened so many times in human history. How we as a species hold such little value for people's lives if they have some material thing someone else wants.

I know I'll never look at a diamond the same way, but I recommend the movie to anyone who hasn't seen it yet.

ok..
My review was different.

Leo chainsmokes.
Leo meets Jennifer.
There is some INTERESTING stuff about diamond mining, and the people who do the physical work being treated like slaves.

Leo chainsmokes.

Leo and Jennifer run around the country treating it's inhabitants in a very dismissive way (unless they had a speaking part in the movie).

Jennifer jiggles in her low cut clothing, often.

short sequence at the end, possibly financed by Debeers, about how It' much better now.

The End..

Ok, so we saw it differently. I expected less Leo, and more story..Something a little less focused on the Main character.

It might have a little to do with my wife being somewhat involved with the mining industry. She's a bit of an activist. who wants them to clean up their acts.


Anyway, thanks for actually doing the review.
You should write more of them.

Originally posted by spacedoubt
ok..
My review was different.

Leo chainsmokes.
Leo meets Jennifer.
There is some INTERESTING stuff about diamond mining, and the people who do the physical work being treated like slaves.

Leo chainsmokes.

Leo and Jennifer run around the country treating it's inhabitants in a very dismissive way (unless they had a speaking part in the movie).

Jennifer jiggles in her low cut clothing, often.

short sequence at the end, possibly financed by Debeers, about how It' much better now.

The End..

Ok, so we saw it differently. I expected less Leo, and more story..Something a little less focused on the Main character.

It might have a little to do with my wife being somewhat involved with the mining industry. She's a bit of an activist. who wants them to clean up their acts.


Anyway, thanks for actually doing the review.
You should write more of them.

Bit harsh there.
From a purely neutral and entertainment seeking p.o.v I thought 'Blood Diamond' was an excellent and thought provoking film.
Imo, as a film it was honesta nd didn't try to be ultra political or hip.
It was a modern take on a modern issue.
DiCaprio is excellent and his mastery of the South African accent was
quite brilliant.
Jennifer Connelly is of course the eye candy but she isn't over used or overly distracting (unfortunately!).
The young actors in this film are also amazing.
The cinematography is also worth seeing.
I was impressed.


[edit on 21-3-2007 by pmexplorer]

I actually found DiCaprio's accent a bit distracting, and for me, he was the eye candy in the film. Jen can shake her goods all she wants, but that would have never enticed me to rent the movie.

I think I'll send a u2u to Gemwolf to see if he had a chance to watch the film yet. He should have an opinion on Leo's accent being that he's in South Africa.

And as far as the chain smoking, I'll give my opinion on that after I light another one.

LOL,

Yeah, a little harsh.
But thats how I felt when I left.

Like I said, I might be a little biased.
I have quite a bit of exposure to a very similar issue.
So I was being a little snobbish, in a way.

To be fair, the theater was packed, and a lot of people were talking about the issue after the movie let out. It's good that people have a better idea of how a piece of carbon, can have such a negative effect on so many peoples lives.

[edit on 21-3-2007 by spacedoubt]

I going to try and rent it this weekend to see what its all about. I'll let ya know how I felt on it when I see it. I'm glad to see some reviews.

Ah. Blood diamond was quite the watercooler topic in South Africa. And it made De Beers, the diamond giant, a bit nervous, and they had to do a good amount of "damage control" by pointing out fact and fiction...

Johannesburg - The chairperson of diamond giant De Beers called on the sector, jittery about its reputation following the Hollywood film "Blood Diamond", to help bring exploited illegal miners into the formal industry.
...
Although the Kimberley Process, under which governments certify exports of legitimate diamonds, has helped curtail the extent of so called "conflict diamonds", the sector is still nervous about attacks on its integrity.

"Our reputation as an industry is paramount. As purveyors of luxury goods, we are entirely at the whim of the consumer, who has many alternative choices for his spending," Oppenheimer said.
Source

As for the movie... Usually Hollywood movies about Africa and South Africa are a source of hilarity to local audiences as Hollywood tends to get so many details about this country wrong. But what South African audiences usually find the most entertaining (or insulting, depending on your sense of humour) is when Hollywood actors attempt a "Souf Effrican" accent. (One can only imagine how they have mangled other “ethnic” accents in the movies throughout the years then, particularly in all those movies featuring the poor Russians as villains!)

However, in Blood Diamond I'm happy to say that while DiCaprio doesn't always get the accent right, he at least gets the character spot on. Or maybe the role was just well-written, as the screenplay at least seems decently researched with an eye for detail and an ear for the local tongue.

Just for the record, I'm no fan of DiCaprio, in fact I'm quite the opposite...

Blood Diamonds gets other things right too, mostly by casting local actors such as Arnold Vosloo and Marius Weyers as Afrikaner diamond smuggling heavies. One detail that is straight out of the Hollywood cliché rule book though is when DiCaprio's character visits the Stellenbosch vineyards of his employers and there are machinegun-wielding heavies all over the place guarding it like one always sees with Columbian drug lords in the movies. Very unlikely.

The movie is however unsure of itself, and can never make up its mind whether it is a searing indictment of the illegal diamond business or an adventure/action story – a more serious-minded Romancing the Stone or something.

The picture isn't pretty, but accusations of racism are unfounded. Blood Diamond takes place during the 1999 civil war in Sierra Leone and at that stage in history there were few places any worse on planet Earth. Like its diamond smuggling main character you'll also want to get the hell out of this “godforsaken continent” after seeing Blood Diamond.

The movie makes the sallient point that while Africa is rich in minerals such as diamonds and gold, its people aren't. Africa is still the poorest continent on the planet, and the same mineral wealth that would have been a blessing in any other scenario is just a curse in this one as Cleptocratic African elites and amoral Western interests take advantage and bleed these supposedly “blessed” countries dry as their citizens suffer in anguished silence.

“It has always been like this,” DiCaprio's character remarks at one stage, and later on the point is reinforced as another character remarks how Belgian colonists hacked off the limbs of locals that “slacked” at their slave chores, pretty much the same way we see sadistic Sierra Leonean “rebel forces” do earlier.

“At least we don't have oil,” one poor local remarks. “Then we would have had REAL problems!” Amen to that, brother.

Blood Diamond tries to tack on a happy and hopeful ending but, as the end titles inform us, “there are still 200 000 child soldiers in Africa .”

Edit: Sp

[edit on 22-3-2007 by Gemwolf]

I knew Gemwolf would have an opinion, but I didn't expect him to post the most insightful and detailed point of view in the thread.

Well done Gemwolf, you're always a gem.


I'm glad to hear that Hollywood was able to capture a realistic view of some of the struggles that have gone on in Africa.

Throughout my life I've been bombarded with images of starving children, mutilated bodies, civil unrest, apartheid, etc.....
That was the stuff on the news and in National Geographic.

And Hollywood has definitely shaped my view of Africa, if only from Tarzan movies when we watched them in black & white.

Africa has been repeatedly raped and torn apart by hungry 1st world nations.
I can only hope this film sheds some light on that.

Well I just saw this movie tonight.

Not at all what I expected. I thought it was good. Cnn said that because of this movie they lost a lot of business at the diamond convection this past year.

I truly feel sorry for the kids though. Bless their hearts they should not be done this way.

I just watched it this weekend as well.

Absolutely amazing movie, and I am surprised it didnt win more awards.

Leo had one heck of a year in the way of sweet films. Departed and Blood Diamond? Simply amazing, granted they are virtually polar opposites with regard to genre.

I had also watched a Rock Doc on VH1 called "Bling'd: Blood, Diamonds and Hip Hop" which contrasted the real life struggles of people living with and recovering from the diamond wars in Sierra Leone and Freetown.

I wasnt expecting too much from it, but it was actually a fantastic doc, and I highly reccomend it to anyone that enjoyed Blood Diamond. It definitely put a lot of things into perspective for me.