Blood Diamond
In the midst of a dangerous and brutal civil war a diamond smuggler seeks his fortune, a father seeks his son, and an American journalist seeks the story that will bring the truth to the world.
It is easy to imagine the sort of reviews Edward Zwick imagined for Blood Diamond. The terms ‘heart breaking’, ‘eye opening’, ‘hard hitting’ and ‘penetrating’ are probably the sort Zwick had in mind. Unfortunately the result is a film better described as ‘over-bearing’, ‘moralistic’, and ‘preachy’.
Blood Diamond is centred around the juxtaposition of Leonardo DiCaprio’s self-interested smuggler in search of a £2M diamond, and Djimon Hounsou’s hard-done-by family man in search of his kidnapped son. No doubt Zwick was going after a message film about what we should really value in life. Sadly he has actually produced a two-plus hour lecture that plays like an extended high budget documentary on the state of the African continent combined with a stern diatribe on the evils of western materialism. So obvious and over-played are Zwick’s themes that by the end of his tirade we end up resenting his condescending tone and rebelling against what is probably a reasonably accurate portrayal of some serious problems. Blood Diamond displays the same cultural self-loathing that Zwick brought us in The Last Samurai, but without the compensating entertainment value.
Narratively, the whole thing unfolds with tedious predictability as our anti-hero Danny Archer reforms his amoral ways in an abrupt ethical about-turn in the film’s dying moments. Unbelievably, Blood Diamond becomes even worse in its final act as it augments moralism with sentimentality. The biggest problem here is that while Zwick no doubt intends Archer to amend his behaviour as a result of moral revelation he in fact does so merely because of a debilitating injury.
On the positive side there are solid performances from both DiCaprio - who nails the South African accent - and Hounsou (sadly Jennifer Connelly is rather wooden). Having recently caught a few minutes of Titanic on TV over Christmas it is quite startling to witness Leo’s transition from clean-shaven, baby-faced pretty boy to rugged, stubble-faced pretty boy. Cinematography, direction, and editing are all competent, but nothing can really make up for the picture’s fundamental flaws.
Ultimately I found this film annoying, and at 137 minutes, remarkably wasteful. I really hope that Zwick abandons the moral overtones in his next film and channels his talent into something that might be enjoyable to watch.
I disagree, I think this was a great film. It was very entertaining, it had an original plot and the use of a single mans plight in this real life scenario really brings the point home. I see nothing wrong with Zwick making a point about the rough diamonds and it being up to consumers to stop it because it holds truth. The fact is as consumers it is important to pressure retailers to be sure they do not sell rough diamonds, as it will stop furthering the civil war effort in Africa. I think their were great performances from Leo and Djimon, I even thought Connely’s performance was quite good. In summary a thumbs up for this film. And there’s nothing wrong with making a point with a film as long as its valid.
Comment by Stuart Scrace — December 31, 2007 @ 1:16 am