By Andrew Lovdahl
Gargoyle staff reporter
Posted Wednesday, Dec. 13, 2006, The OG, arts

AS “BLOOD DIAMOND” opens, we meet Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), an African fisherman who has a loving wife and three children.

His simple way of life is interrupted when rebels, preceded only by the loud music playing on their jeeps' stereos, sweep in and obliterate the village.

The townspeople are killed, mutilated, or imprisoned; Vandy is sent to work in a diamond mine, but his family escapes with their lives.

Digging in a river, Vandy happens across a invaluable pink diamond. He is trying to bury it when a guard, named Captain Poison (rebel soldiers apparently all have names like this), catches him in the act. As luck would have it, government troops arrive at that precise moment and decimate the rebels. Poison is injured but not killed; both he and Vandy end up in prison.

In the prison, Poison loudly informs the inmates that Vandy has hidden the diamond; a diamond smuggler named Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) listens with interest.

Archer was in prison because he was caught trying to move diamonds into Liberia, where they could be legally sold. He needs the diamond so he can pay his employer, the Colonel (Arnold Vosloo), and perhaps have enough left over to leave Africa once and for all. He frees himself and Vandy so that Vandy can lead him to the stone.

Around this time, Archer meets Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist, at a bar. She is hoping to write an exposé on the sale of conflict diamonds, and she attempts to gather information from Archer.

He is defensive at first, but ends up seeking her help — Vandy's family has very likely been taken to a refugee camp, and Bowen has contacts that will locate them.

When the three arrive at the complex, they discover that Dia, Vandy's young son, has been captured and conscripted into the rebel army.

So this is the premise: Archer (and the Colonel) need the diamond, Vandy needs his son back, and Bowen is intent on hanging around with them because of her attraction to Archer.

If there's one thing to compliment the film on, it's the acting talent. Hounsou, who has starred in such acclaimed films as “In America,” “Gladiator,” and “Amistad,” plays Vandy with extreme emotion. His fits of rage and his acts of dogged perseverance are compelling and believable.

DiCaprio, coming off a brilliant performance as a mole in the Boston mob in “The Departed,” presents a passionate and multidimensional Danny Archer. Connelly as the frustrated and idealistic Bowen is equally convincing.

Vosloo, whom you might remember as the revenge-seeking corpse in the “Mummy” films or terrorist Habib Marwan from season four of the Fox drama “24,” plays yet another cold, calculating villain in the Colonel. His line from “Blood Diamond“‘s trailer — “I don't care who's down there; kill them all!” — pretty much sums up his role.

David Harewood is the rebel captain, Poison, and Michael Sheen is Simmons, a British diamond salesman whose qualms about buying conflict diamonds aren't enough to keep him from turning a profit.

Behind the scenes, Edward Zwick (“The Last Samurai”) directs with his usual over-the-top style.

The film takes place in Sierra Leone in 1999, apparently to coincide with historical events and possibly as a concession to the diamond industry. By making the film take place in the past, the severity of the conditions in the mines is lessened.

However, there is almost nothing to suggest that the film is in the past, except for a scene where Archer and Bowen see a TV report on the Monica Lewinsky scandal and comment on how trivial it is compared to the real problems facing the world.

Yes, the film is entertaining and moving. Yes, it shows how much suffering Africa has experienced at the hands of the diamond trade. Yes, the visuals are impressive and the editing is very decent.

But yes, the film also falls victim to clichés and predictability. Surprising plot elements are few and far between, and there are approximately one thousand instances when the background music stops ominously so gunfire and/or explosions can fill the screen. There's just a bit too much gratuitous violence to let the viewer take the film seriously.

The political commentary is relentless. The scenes depicting the suffering in the diamond mines and the training of the child soldiers are nothing short of devastating.

However, as Bowen laments, making the rest of the world aware of the conflict has not done much to stop it. Sure, there have been laws restricting the sale of conflict diamonds (an important one was passed at the beginning of the film), but they still find their way into the market thanks to people like Simmons. Archer and his companions have a saying — TIA, or “This is Africa” — that reflects how difficult it will be to bring peace back to the continent.

In my opinion, the best line in the film comes from Ben, a minor character who lives peacefully in a secluded complex that provides care for amputee victims.

Archer, Bowen, and Vandy arrive at the complex after their convoy is attacked by rebels. During a conversation, one of them makes the point that whenever a natural resource is discovered in Africa, the situation only gets worse. At the end of the scene, Ben delivers a line that got a laugh from most of the audience:

“I hope they don't find oil here,” he says. “Then we'll really be in trouble.”

“Blood Diamond” is now playing at the Savoy 16 (click here for times) and the Beverly Cinema 18 (click here for times). Runtime: 138 minutes. Rated: R.

RELATED

— The film's official site