Blood Diamond

This is the movie that I've heard lots about, read lots about and know lots about and I've kinda "sworn" not to watch as the usual comment that I have, "Aiyah ... I know what's all about already."

That statement is true though. I've heard about it from Oprah's interview with Leonardo DiCaprio & Djimon Hounsou. Then, a friend of mine has also told me about the story from the beginning till the end complete with its gory details (thinking that I will not going to watch it). And hence, I really know about the movie ... or at least the story about it.

But it's not by chance why I ended up watching this movie. I was supposed to watch "The King" with my friend - The Cooking Pot, my awesome student and her friend. As I was buying the ticket, the sales person told me that it's R21 (only people 21 yrs old and above are allowed to watch) ... then I was shocked. As my students are only ... 18. Hence we finally decided to watch Blood Diamond.

How's my experience with it?
Simply put, it's an eye opener and I don't regret watching a single bit of it even though I know all about the story line and details. Yeah, it's that good. And most importantly the movie carries an important message that needs to be heard by most diamond consumers in the world.

Super Short Synopsis
If you've seen the trailer or even heard about it. It's a journey of 2 men with 2 different objectives but both are related with the pink diamond. Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) a smuggler who needs the diamond to pay his debts and of course to make much much more money. Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a fisherman who's in desperate mode to find his family. Both are working together by looking for the big diamond that Solomon hid during his slavery in the diamond mine.



Tips

• Don't be shocked when you encountered the gruesome facts of civil war, child soldiers and the blood diamond itself. It's necessary and you can't miss any bit of it no matter how horrific it may seem. Because you may be having one of them on your body.
• Appreciate the great talent from Leonardo DiCaprio. His accent is so convincing that at one moment I really forgot that he's Leo the Romeo. Haha.
  

My Take

• Being aware of what people can do just to attain material wealth even though it may cause other people blood and even civil war.
• Child soldier is cruelty. No wonder there's reason why we need to be children first before we become adults.
  
• Sometimes the people you are accused of something are not really the main culprits. One very powerful scene that meant a lot to me from this movie was when Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) spite Leonardo for being a smuggler and whether he feels anything for the cause of so many people's life in his quest of wealth. But he said, the real people to be blamed are people who consume the blood diamonds. People who dream about fairy tale wedding and to have that piece of rock on their fingers. People who saved a year of that salary just to make their dreams come true. So profound.

Trailer


Related Link

See how this 17 year old girl lost her both hands to rebels shootings at Sierra Leone and more information on Conflict Diamonds.