Caught BLOOD DIAMOND at Somerville Davis this evening. Helluva good film! A great balance of action, drama, and adventure, and okay, if you're not careful, you might just learn a thing or two. A compelling tale with thrills and intensity that matches CHILDREN OF MEN. The BLOOD DIAMOND story is more conventional than CHILDREN, of course—an updated and actioned-up CASABLANCA meets TREASURE OF THE SIERRA MADRE.Freetown in 1999 is on the verge of being overrun by rebels who already terrorize the Sierra Leone countryside. It is here, in the midst of violent civil war, that the lives of our three characters converge. Leo plays Danny, the mercenary and smuggler scoundrel, pushing arms and diamonds, playing the rebels against the government and vice versa, always out to make a buck. Jennifer Connelly is Maddie, the globetrotting journalist with a heart who may have a slight adrenaline problem. Djimon Hounsou is Solomon, the fisherman whose family has been shattered by the civil war and whose discovery of an extraordinary diamond might save them all—buy Danny his escape from Africa, provide Maddie with leverage enough to write a story that will Do Some Good, and allow Solomon to rescue his family from the ravages of the Sierra Leone conflict.
Beware, I use the word "adventure" to describe the story, but don't think it pulpy, like RAIDERS fare. The vicious assaults on villages, the abduction and brainwashing of children, the conflicts between rebel, military, and mercenary forces, are all very well done and don't hold much back, to a harrowing degree at times, as the camera doesn't wince at executions or savage beatings.
Leo's solid as the ready-for-anything South African soldier of fortune, and Jennifer's disarming as a fearless 21st century Lois Lane, but Djimon, as doting father and fierce protector, may steal the show.
One snippy criticism. I'm sure most viewers would agree it's a small thing, if it even registered at all, but for me, it broke the movie experience just a little. I wish the filmmakers would feel more comfortable with having the audience read subtitles. Some spoken dialogue *is* appropriately non-English, and so subtitled, but there are some words between Solomon and his family that I would expect to have been in the character's native tongue that are instead delivered in English. It seemed out of place and not so natural, y'know? Being aware that the director was at the helm of THE LAST SAMURAI might have set me up to be extra alert for just such a thing, tho, as I thought that SAMURAI committed a similar minor offense.
T. I. A., bra...
Keep on keepin on~
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