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  • Film & TV Moderators: ghostfreak

film: blood diamond

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Banquo

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Film: Blood Diamond

Blood Diamond is an unflinching look at the absolute chaos that once (and may still) existed in Sierra Leone in the 1990s. But lest you think this is some sort of message film, it is also one of the finest and most thrilling action offerings of the year. In fact, it will probably rank very high on my best-of-2006 list.

The story of conflict diamonds is sadly the story of the deaths and mutilations of tens of thousands of Africans, many of whom are forced into slave labor, working the diamond fields in place like Sierra Leone. If these workers are suspected of trying to steal diamonds they find, they have limbs chopped off or are simply killed where they stand. It wasn't until the time frame this film is set in that the Western world even acknowledged this heinous practices and diamond merchants were pressured into making assurances that their wares were not the result of such practices. Not surprisingly, many of these merchants (including one in this film played by The Queen's Michael Sheen) lied about their goods not being conflict diamonds

http://www.aintitcool.com/node/30917


trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vo1ms--2UQs

Opens December 8th in the U.S.
 
a little like lords of war (which is a great movie I might add) with more emphasis on the actual war instead of the arms deals.

We now have the kimberly proccess where diamonds could be certified as non-conflict diamonds. Although the kimberly proccess does reduce the amount of conflict diamonds traded, it is impossible to stop the illicit trading of gems of this value.

I do think this movie would be worth watching. Not too many people, especially ones of higher class that could afford these diamonds, realize the bloodshed required to procure that glimmer on their ears.
 
^^Really? I think the majority of people have a fairly good idea how awful the diamond industry is. I don't think they need some glittery, expensive movie to tell them.
 
DiCaprio's not a good actor, the accent sucks, looks like a bad movie and they won't get it right anyway.
 
by the maker of the last samurai, i expect fairly well made movie with a nice round story albeit not particularly inspired in any ways
 
I saw this movie last Friday and was rather impressed. I would certainly recommend to everyone to go see it. The subject matter was difficult to watch, but an unfortunate reality to those caught in the conflict-diamond trade.

On the issue of Leo's accent, it seemed consistent through the film and I didn't find to be all that unbelievable. In the film, his character was Rhodesian and apparently, Leo studied that particular dialect to develop his accent. Perhaps, that may be why it sounds so odd to you, Benefit.
 
posner said:
^^Really? I think the majority of people have a fairly good idea how awful the diamond industry is. I don't think they need some glittery, expensive movie to tell them.
no. the average joe and judy don't have a fucking clue, nor do they care if they find out, which is why i find movies like this to actually be a good thing, despite leo's godawful accent.

bc stupid people take their morals and life lessons from hollywood. shame ain't it?

i don't have a diamond in my wedding ring bc of this. i will never purchase one, i made that decision a long time ago, i wish more people would....if this movie makes that happen, that is a wonderful thing.
 
saw this the other day

incredible film, id reccomend it to anyone. very touching, and feels very real. dicaprio has an excellent performance, as do his accomplices. id most certainly see it again.
 
I like the look of this film a lot. I've been a bit of a Leonardo Dicaprio fan ever since I saw The Basketball Diaries. And I never wanted to admit that I thought he was a good actor, because most of the time, these actors that get hyped up by the media just don't deliver the goods. But he's been consistantly good imo and doesn't seem to choose any old rubbish role just to make money (much like Jodie Foster in that respect).

Jennifer Connely has really matured well too. When you look at her early work in things like Labyrinth, she was really quite irritating in that film (as much as I love it). So it should be interesting to see how well the two actors work together.

It's probably not the sort of thing I'd normally be interested in. But looking at the trailer, it seems like it'd be quite a powerful film.
 
Wow, wood. I didn't expect you to glow this film so much. You've just upped my eagerness to see it by one. Previously, i was on the positive lean from indifferent, whereas now I'm probably going to see it.

DarthMom said:
i don't have a diamond in my wedding ring bc of this. i will never purchase one, i made that decision a long time ago, i wish more people would....if this movie makes that happen, that is a wonderful thing.

i feel the same way, but unfortunately, my wife doesn't :(
 
I'm genuinely curious, are all these criticisms of DiCaprio's accent coming from native South African or Zimbabwean speakers here? While far from perfect, I found his linguistic performance very acceptable for the purposes of this film.

The film itself was excellent. I'm always torn when films of this nature come out though. On the one hand, I strongly believe that Big Hollywood is a perfect vehicle to address these subjects and help raise public awareness. On the other hand, my first question is always, "Was this film done strictly for profit, or did some of the proceeds go toward solving the problem addressed by the film?". If neither the studio nor any of its multi-million dollar payday actors gave back part of their income from this film to the people whose plight they captured on film, then all they really did in that case is exploit a people for own benefit. Sure, the movie website is linked to a bunch of organisations who ask you to "donate now!", but what of WarnerBros, or Leo DiCaprio, or the rest? Yes, I understand the basic fact that the awareness films like this bring to the public in and of itself pays great dividends. Hence I am torn.

I digress. The best characteristic of the film, to me, was the flow, the rhythm. At no time did I want to take a break to top up my popcorn or take a micro snooze. The pace was excellent, never too fast and in the couple of spots where it did slow down, it was just long enough to rest your senses. Although none of the film was shot in western Africa, where the story takes place, it just goes to show how fantastically beautiful that whole continent is.

I enjoyed the film. Setting all politics aside, I gave it top marks for its delivery (well, four stars). The cinematography was emotionally enticing, the score emotionally captivating, the story emotionally draining. It delivers your money's worth and that's what cinema is all about, I guess.

A couple of favourite quotes:
NSFW:
Maddy: "This is what a million people looks like. At the moment, the second largest refugee camp in Africa. Might see a minute of this on CNN... somewhere between sports and weather."

Solomon: "He is crazy for diamonds, like everyone else."
village man: "Let's hope they don't discover oil here. Then we'd have real problems."

How true, that last.

edit: poll, pretty please. :)
 
Last edited:
^nice quotes, SA. Those particularly stood out for me as well.

I thought the film was well made, and works to deliver it's important message, as others have said.

My only gripe would be the action. There is too much of it.
NSFW:
The many shots of firing indiscriminantly into crowds, especially when the main characters are part of the crowds being shot at really took away a lot from the film for me. I'm sure such violence happens over there, but having it done repeatedly to main characters and have them getting away mostly unscathed is a bit of a cop out in dramatic writing.
I'd've much preferred the characters narrowly escaping the firefights, rather than finding themselves in the middle of them and then escaping. Being on the edge of such violence would be much more frightening than in the middle of it.
 
Woohoo! I get first vote!
woohoo.gif



=D
 
I found the story to be pretty contrived, then again I'm just obsessed with realism. Still really enjoyed this movie - although I agree with the above posters about the slightly excessive action, which barely seems to affect the characters involved. 4/5 ... worth seeing :)
 
L2R said:
Wow, wood. I didn't expect you to glow this film so much. You've just upped my eagerness to see it by one. Previously, i was on the positive lean from indifferent, whereas now I'm probably going to see it.



i feel the same way, but unfortunately, my wife doesn't :(

you know they have lab created diamonds nowadays that are as goog as the real thing, hopefully they will rid the world of needing the real thing.

i just don't get the appeal of the stone. :\

silly, re the accent...i am an american and don't have a clue as to the differences in dialects. i just thought it sounded very fake, and forced.
 
DarthMom said:
silly, re the accent...i am an american and don't have a clue as to the differences in dialects. i just thought it sounded very fake, and forced.
That was precisely my suspicion, DarthMom. How can people claim an accent sounds fake when they aren't intimately familiar with what the real thing sounds like. I think people are just overly used to hearing Received Pronunciation English (English English) in Hollywood films in any non-American setting to accept anything else.
 
I thought the accent was fine. In fact, i was thinking in that accent when writing my post about the movie. I couldn't help it.

but then again, i dated a south african for 3 years.
 
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