film: blood diamond

[SA]

As already mentioned, I too thought the accent was plausible. I worked with a South African (with a very strong accent) for four years. He introduced me to the fact that the SA accent varies in strength and that when listening to someone with a mild South African accent, some words could sound RP and some were downright difficult.

 

[Benefit]

Alright, upon closer examination I will concede the accent may not "suck." It may merely hover in the realm of "not that good." As with a lot of C-grade actors, when they try to pull off an accent they end up being very hit and miss. Still, it's terrible casting. DiCaprio is easily one of the most overrated actors of his generation. He has at most a particle board smattering of talent, and the only time I can say he actually excelled in a role was when he played a mentally retarded kid in What's Eating Gilbert Grape.

I've been real interested in the situation in Sierra Leone since the early 2000s, when I read an interview piece with some former RUF child soldiers where they talked about the things they went through: being drugged and conscripted, being abducted from their homes and forced to watch parents and family members executed by RUF soldiers, going into captured villages and making bets about the sex of an unborn baby and then splitting the mother's belly open to see who had won, the amputations, etc. It was very compelling. I'm fascinated by the human capacity for feral brutality and it's really interesting and tragic how these kids over time became completely desensitized to raping and murder, some times before they were even 10 years old.

I think that right there makes a compelling story. You could produce a beautiful, heartbreaking 2 hour film that, for instance, chronicles an American journalist or something as they travel through 1990s Sierra Leone. Why do you need to Hollywoodize it and insert this really kind of stupid plot about finding a rare and valuable diamond? That's not realistic. There are no Mende farmers in Sierra Leone hiding diamonds and going on wild goose chases with their white South African buddies to find them. You've basically turned the movie into a caper film that borrows from the war-torn annals of Sierra Leonean history in order to give it a fresh flavour.

Frankly, I think it's really very silly and it takes away from the reality of the situation in that country (which, in case you were wondering, has not been resolved due to a combination of bungling US foreign policy and UN peacekeeping efforts and unstable regional politics). This subject matter would have been perfect for some kind of less-than-linear narrative, but the filmmakers apparently felt they couldn't do without the standard dramatic arc and I think they fucked it up.

 

[SA]

"Movies" seem to sell better than documentaries, Benefit.

 

[L2R]

^strange but true!
and it's got a funky beat you can dance to

 

[Turbo Monk]

Heavy, intense, thought-provoking movie with imagery that will stay with you for some time. I know I will never look at another diamond the same.

 

[Grep]

Okay, as me being a South African, his accent made me cringe. Yes I will agree that accents differ from the west to east coast and up north, but jeesh, it did sound awefully forced.

 

[Benefit]

In your face Silly Alien, you amateur linguist!

 

[DarthMom]

lol

 

[psychetool]

This movie was way sad, I was quite drunk the first time watching it and just could not stand seeing all those innocent people slaughtered and tortured, with tearful eyes I had to turn it off. Repeat viewing was much more successful, good plot, good characters, and a good message overall. Four out of five stars. I enjoyed it.

P.S. Fuck diamonds. Unless they are black diamonds on the motherfuckin SLOPES!

 

[SA]

In your face Silly Alien, you amateur linguist!

If you flip back a few, you'll note that I never claimed it to be perfect. I specifically said the accent was "plausible", and "While far from perfect, I found his linguistic performance very acceptable for the purposes of this film.". As for Grep's valid comment of "it did sound awfully(sic) forced", Benefit, you mean to tell me that you accept the constant onslaught of brit accents from Hollywood as unforced?

But yes, let's start a dissection of accents in every single film thread in this forum, just, you know, for argument's sake, yeah? 8)

Were you "just bored at work and wanted to push some buttons on my fuzzy britches" again, Benefit?

 

[Benefit]

You clearly want to make out with me.

 

[posner]

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.

How do you know?

 

[ChemicalBeauty]

Not a spectacular movie, but mildly entertaining.

3 stars

 

[indelibleface]

I loved the movie a lot. Some of the metaphors were blatantly obvious and a tad contrived, but it didn't harm the flow of the movie at all. Everything was done so competently that the cliches are easy to ignore. The pacing of the movie just never let up -- it was all really powerful.

Also, Di Caprio has matured so much as an actor. Honestly, I giggled a bit when his accent first appeared in the film, but after a few minutes I completely forgot that he ever spoke like an American. I disagree that it was a poor accent -- he totally pulled it off. I think people might just be struck weird by the fact that we're not used to hearing him with that kind of voice.

 

[jiggaboo]

wow just watched this movie i really enjoyed it,was a real eye opener...fuck the worlds just one evil greedy place isnt it

 

[Benefit]

Now that I have actually seen this movie, I feel better equipped to comment on it.

Basically, it's a pretty good movie with some very stupid elements. As previously mentioned, there is too much action and too many "close call" gunfights that stretch the bounds of plausibility. There were too many contrived dramatic scenarios: Leo calling his girlfriend from a satellite phone, the whole father and son thing, the fact that they kept bumping into that one-eyed RUF commander and a car chase?? In the middle of Africa?? Shit like that was just so uncalled for. And the imagery is anything but subtle... how many blood-red sunrises and sunsets can you pack into a 2 hour movie??

Aside from the predictable drivel, the movie was very decent. Leo's accent was OK, but he definitely didn't have it totally under control. And yes, I do have a problem with American actors doing shitty British accents. It's a casting issue and I don't understand it. If you're casting this movie, why don't you fucking cast an actor who you know can do the required accent? It's not that hard. Christian Bale would have been a good choice for Danny Archer. I must say, Leonardo DiCaprio surprised me; he made a much better ass kicking soldier of fortune than I ever thought he would.

I didn't like the inclusion of rap music as a leitmotif for the RUF soldiers. The rest of the score was OK, but a more traditional/tribal influence would have been nice. Beautiful location shooting, even if it's not in the right part of the continent. Some of those wide scenic shots should have lasted longer.

As for the narrative, I was spot-on before I ever saw the movie. They Hollywoodized it and turned it into a formulaic caper movie that draws on the conflict in Africa to give it more kick. The redemptive cycles of various characters were predictable and silly. The argument that they had to conform to a Hollywood standard to get the film distributed is bollocks; this film isn't going to have any measurable effect on the social conscience of first world consumers so they might as well have gone for authenticity over silly Hollywood plot twists.

I do like the recent trend of African-oriented films (even though Hotel Rwanda was a bad movie) that showcase the abject poverty, rampant disease, civil wars and foreign exploitation that have hamstrung an entire continent. The history of Africa is an interesting lesson in imperialism, and if you want heartbreaking human stories just research it a little more.

I still think the story of Sierra Leone and the RUF needs to be told sans the Hollywood crap. A heightened focus on the child soldiers would have been nice.

 

[Benefit]

Also, it's worth noting that the government vs. rebel dichotomy was a little over-simplified for the movie. The government militias allegedly conscripted children to fight for them. And that weird rehabilitation center for children in the middle of the jungle was laying it on a bit thick, don't ya think? Could've saved that for the end of the movie, if you were gonna go that route.

 

[mariacallas]

I liked it. It moved me. I only cringed at DiCaprios accent at the very beginning of the movie, the first few lines. After that it was actually not bad.

 

[dr seuss]

i'm not fully au fait with all the regions, but i do have an appreciation of most south african accents, since my partner is a saffa and i've spent some time there... and i think that it's one of the best hollywood south african accents i've heard.

better than charlize theron's, w00p!

 

[indelibleface]

I don't think the inclusion of rap music was bad at all -- those soldiers really did blast American rap music all the time, I've read about it in books. So, it's not really out of place.