The many atrocities of Africa have been depicted in several Hollywood movies over the past few years. Most notably, the brilliant 2004 release Hotel Rwanda. Earlier this year, The Last King of Scotland and Catch a Fire joined the mix. The latest entry is Blood Diamond.

Academy Award nominated actors Leonardo Dicaprio and Djimon Hounsou play two men on the run from African rebels. They know where a precious diamond is buried and the militant rebels and the South African government want to find the diamond for basically the same reasons - greed and capital.

Hounsou plays Solomon Vandy, a noble fisherman whose village is destroyed by rebels. His family flees and he is captured. He is forced to work in the diamond mines. While working, he discovers the biggest diamond ever found. He hides the diamond thinking he can use it to find his family and to retrieve his only son, who has been captured by rebels and brainwashed into becoming one of them.

Dicaprio plays Danny Archer, a smuggler who is looking to make a quick buck. He knows that Solomon knows the diamond’s whereabouts and he manipulates Solomon into taking him on the journey to retrieve it.

Along the way, Archer meets Maddy Bowen, an American journalist who hates seeing the devastation in that region of the world. She writes for an influential political magazine and feels that her words might shed light on the horrors she has witnessed first hand. Maddy is played by Academy Award winner Jennifer Connelly. She eventually wins Archer’s heart and soon his motivation to retrieve the diamond changes.

The three join forces to bring Solomon’s story to the forefront; hoping to bring an end to the illegal diamond smuggling trade and to all the bloodshed that is a direct result of it.

Blood Diamond is yet another story of the plight of third world lands. This time around, the plight is more about greed than power as were the examples I mentioned earlier. This movie was a bit too boring and predictable for me. Don’t get me wrong, I understand its importance. These acts are horrible and unfortunately they are still being committed. I really admire the filmmakers’ bravery in making this controversial film, but as far as story, I felt a bit bored.

The bloodshed and brutality was ample and I am personally tired of seeing this type of brutality on screen. Woman and children being murdered and tortured is not what I enjoy seeing. I know it happens daily in these countries, but this time around it was just too much. Actually seeing children turned into cold blooded killers was too much for me.

This movie has a powerful message and I applaud the effort. I’m just tired of seeing the same type of movie over and over again. That being said, the performances were top notch. Hounsou was the stand out here. I’m sure his name will be added into the award mix along with Derek Luke and Forest Whitaker who gave powerful performances in two of the above mentioned films. Hounsou has already won the National Board of Review award for Best Supporting Actor. I’m sure many will follow. The movie itself may be considered as well. It was powerful. I can’t deny that fact.

by Thomas Ferguson