Blood Diamond (film)

Blood Diamond
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Edward Zwick
Produced by	Marshall Herskovitz Graham King Paula Weinstein Edward Zwick
Written by	Charles Leavitt
Starring	Leonardo DiCaprio Jennifer Connely Djimon Hounsou
Music by	James Newton Howard
Cinematography	Eduardo Serra
Editing by	Steven Rosenblum
Studio	The Bedford Falls, Virtual Studios
Distributed by	Warner Bros. Pictures
Release date(s)	December 8, 2006 (2006-12-08)
Running time	143 minutes
Country	United States Germany
Language	English Mende Krio Afrikaans
Budget	$100 million
Box office	$171,407,179

Blood Diamond is a 2006 political thriller film co-produced and directed by Edward Zwick and starring Leonardo DiCaprio, Jennifer Connelly and Djimon Hounsou. The title refers to blood diamonds, which are diamonds mined in African war zones and sold to finance conflicts, and thereby profit warlords and diamond companies across the world.

Set during the Sierra Leone Civil War in 1992-2002, the film shows a country torn apart by the struggle between government soldiers and rebel forces. It also portrays many of the atrocities of that war, including the rebels' amputation of people's hands to discourage them from voting in upcoming elections.

The film's ending, in which a conference is held concerning blood diamonds, is in reference to an actual meeting that took place in Kimberley, South Africa in 2000 and led to the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme, which seeks to certify the origin of diamonds in order to curb the trade in conflict diamonds. The film received mixed, but generally favourable reviews.

Plot

Mende fisherman Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is captured by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels during a raid and subsequent massacre of his village in Shenge, Sierra Leone. Instead of cutting off his hands, the rebels put him to work as a diamond miner under the eye of warlord Captain Poison (David Harewood). Captain Poison uses the diamonds to fund their war effort. One day, Solomon recovers an enormous pink diamond while working. Hoping to keep it for himself, he buries it in a nearby riverbank; Poison discovers the truth, but before he can act, the Sierra Leonean Army assaults the mines. Vandy, the captain, and most of Poison's fighters are captured and subsequently imprisoned in Freetown.

Meanwhile, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), a white Rhodesian gunrunner, is arrested attempting to smuggle diamonds into Liberia. Archer had been transporting the diamonds to an Afrikaner mercenary, Colonel Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo), his former commander in the 32nd Battalion, the most decorated unit of the South African Border War. Coetzee is in turn employed by Tiara Diamond Company executive Rudolph Van de Kaap (Marius Weyers) and his deputy, Rupert Simmons (Michael Sheen). While being held in the same Freetown prison as Solomon Vandy, Archer learns of the pink diamond's existence.

Archer manages to arrange his own release from prison. He also has Solomon freed, hoping that he will lead him to this valuable diamond. Solomon begins working at a hotel. Meanwhile, Captain Poison conscripts Solomon's son Dia (Kagiso Kuypers) into the RUF, brainwashing him to make him a killer.

Archer visits his contacts in South Africa, including Colonel Coetzee. The Afrikaner is angry and frustrated that their previous smuggling operation was foiled. He demands that he receive some of the profits from this pink diamond. Danny remarks that he plans to use his share of the money to leave the dark continent. However, Coetzee disagrees, referencing a Shona legend that the soil of Africa is red because of all the blood that has been spilled by people fighting over the land. He implies that both of them will never leave Africa. Returning to Sierra Leone, Archer locates Solomon and offers to help him find his long lost family, especially Dia, if he agrees to lead him to the diamond. While they discuss the issue, RUF rebels launch a massive attack on Freetown. Archer and Solomon survive the initial carnage long enough to steal away from the ruined city by morning.

In Forécariah, Guinea, American journalist and humanitarian Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), allows Archer and Vandy to infiltrate the Kono with her press convoy in exchange for information on her current story exposing the flow of "blood diamonds" out of Africa. Archer offers proof to Maddy that Van de Kaap and his Tiara Diamond Company control the market by illegally stockpiling vast amounts of diamonds to simulate scarcity. The convoy comes under attack by murderous insurgents. The three narrowly escape and eventually find their way to an encampment where Colonel Coetzee and his private army are preparing for battle; the mercenaries now intend to get their hands on the diamond no matter who or what gets in their way.

Archer and Vandy eventually leave the camp while Maddy boards a plane evacuating foreigners out of the conflict zone. The duo reach Captain Poison's diamond fields, which has been recaptured by the rebels. Solomon approaches Dia, who refuses to acknowledge his father. Archer calls the mine's coordinates in to Coetzee's forces, who subsequently launch an air strike on Poison's men via an Mi-24 Helicopter Gunship. Amidst the chaos, Solomon finds and kills Poison with a shovel. As the outgunned and now leaderless RUF force tries to flee into the jungle, they are finished off by a mercenary strike team on the ground. With the battle won, Colonel Coetzee has Dia rounded up and holds him at gunpoint. He threatens to murder the boy unless Solomon retrieves the pink diamond immediately. Archer knows that the colonel is planning to execute Vandy and his son once he is in possession of the valuable stone. He preemptively kills Coetzee and two of his soldiers, only to be mortally wounded in the process. Dia then takes advantage of the situation to hold a pistol on his father and the injured Archer. After an emotional discussion, however, Solomon manages to convince his son of his own retained innocence and Dia agrees to return home with him, having overcome his mental conditioning.

The three of them flee from the remaining mercenaries and make their way from the valley towards an airstrip atop a nearby ridge where Archer has prearranged to rendezvous with a local pilot, Nabil (Jimi Mistry), in his GA8 Airvan. Before they reach the ridge, Danny collapses from his wounds and hands over the diamond to Solomon, instructing him to take it and use its profits for himself and the benefit of his family. Archer uses an assault rifle to hold off their pursuers as the two others escape in the plane.

Bleeding to death from his injuries, Archer uses his satellite phone to make a final call to Maddy Bowen and ask her to assist Solomon. Realizing that he is dying, Maddy expresses her sorrow that she is not able to be there with him in person. The Rhodesian smuggler replies calmly that he is already where he needs to be. He grasps a handful of red soil, stained with his own blood, and dies looking out upon the African landscape.

Shortly afterwards, Solomon meets with Rupert Simmons, who promises that the Tiara Diamond Company will arrange for his family to be brought to England in exchange for the diamond. Maddy secretly photographs the deal and later publishes a magazine article in which she exposes the trade in conflict diamonds, detailing Rudolph Van de Kaap's criminal actions and ruining him. Later, Solomon is seen preparing to tell of his experiences at a conference on blood diamonds in Kimberley, South Africa. His entrance to the conference meeting hall is met with a standing ovation as the film ends.

Cast

• Leonardo DiCaprio as Daniel "Danny" Archer
• Djimon Hounsou as Solomon Vandy
• Jennifer Connelly as Maddy Bowen
• Kagiso Kuypers as Dia Vandy
• Arnold Vosloo as Colonel Coetzee
• Antony Coleman as Cordell Brown
• Benu Mabhena as Jassie Vandy
• Anointing Lukola as N'Yanda Vandy
• David Harewood as Captain Poison
• Basil Wallace as Benjamin Kapanay
• Jimi Mistry as Nabil
• Michael Sheen as Rupert Simmons
• Marius Weyers as Rudolf Van De Kaap
• Stephen Collins as Ambassador Walker
• Ntare Mwine as M'Ed
• Ato Essandoh as Captain Rambo

Release

Critical response

Though Blood Diamond received mixed reviews from critics. However, Rotten Tomatoes gave the film a score of 62% based on reviews from 210 critics, or an average score of 6.3/10, with viewers giving a score of 90%. Metacritic gave the film an average score of 64% based on reviews from 39 critics, with viewers giving a score of 8.4.

Accolades

Award	Date of ceremony	Category	Recipients and nominees	Result
79th Academy Awards	February 25, 2007	Best Actor	Leonardo DiCaprio	Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Djimon Hounsou	Nominated
		Best Film Editing	Steven Rosenblum	Nominated
		Best Sound Mixing	Andy Nelson, Anna Behlmer, Ivan Sharrock	Nominated
		Best Sound Editing	Lon Bender	Nominated
Broadcast Film Critics Association Awards 2006	January 14, 2007	Best Actor	Leonardo DiCaprio	Nominated
		Best Film		Nominated
		Best Supporting Actor	Djimon Hounsou	Nominated
64th Golden Globe Awards	January 15, 2007	Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama	Leonardo DiCaprio	Nominated
Las Vegas Film Critics Society Awards 2006	December 18, 2006	Best Supporting Actor	Djimon Hounsou	Won
National Board of Review Awards 2006	December 6, 2006	Best Supporting Actor	Djimon Hounsou	Won
Satellite Awards 2006	December 18, 2006	Best Actor – Motion Picture Drama	Leonardo DiCaprio	Nominated
13th Screen Actors Guild Awards	January 28, 2007	Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Leading Role	Leonardo DiCaprio	Nominated
		Outstanding Performance by a Male Actor in a Supporting Role	Djimon Hounsou	Nominated
Teen Choice Awards	2007	Choice Movie Actor – Drama	Leonardo DiCaprio (Also for The Departed)	Nominated
Visual Effects Society Awards 2006	February 12, 2007	Outstanding Supporting Visual Effects in a Motion Picture	Jeffrey A. Okun, Thomas Boland, Tim Crosbie, Neil Greenberg	Nominated
Washington D.C. Area Film Critics Association Awards 2006	December 11, 2006	Best Supporting Actor	Djimon Hounsou	Won

Soundtrack

Blood Diamond: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack
Film score by James Newton Howard
Released	December 19, 2006
Genre	Contemporary classical
Length	61:26
Label	Varèse Sarabande
Producer	James Newton Howard
James Newton Howard chronology
Lady in the Water Blood Diamond The Lookout

Blood Diamond: Original Motion Picture Soundtrack is the soundtrack to the film of the same name. It was composed by James Newton Howard, and won the "Soundtrack of the Year" at the 2008 Classical BRIT Awards.

Track listing
No.	Title	Length
1.	"Blood Diamond Titles"	1:32
2.	"Crossing the Bridge"	1:41
3.	"Village Attack"	1:52
4.	"RUF Kidnaps Dia"	3:02
5.	"Archer & Solomon Hike"	1:55
6.	"Maddy & Archer"	1:56
7.	"Solomon Finds Family"	2:09
8.	"Fall of Freetown"	4:45
9.	"Did You Bury It?"	1:36
10.	"Archer Sells Diamond"	1:40
11.	"Goodbyes"	2:40
12.	"Your Son is Gone"	1:21
13.	"Diamond Mine Bombed"	4:31
14.	"Solomon's Helping Hand"	1:11
15.	"G8 Conference"	2:36
16.	"Solomon & Archer Escape"	2:12
17.	"I Can Carry You"	1:30
18.	"Your Mother Loves You"	2:24
19.	"Thought I'd Never Call?"	3:56
20.	"London"	2:38
21.	"Solomon Vandy"	2:11
22.	"Ankala" (Performed by Sierra Leone's Refugee All Stars)	4:12
23.	"Baai" (Performed by Emmanuel Jal with Abd El Gadir Salim)	4:37
24.	"When Da Dawgs Come Out to Play" (Performed by Bai Burea, featuring Masta Kent and Bullet Rhymes)	3:19
Total length:		61:26

Home media

The DVD was released in Region 1 format on March 20, 2007. Both a single-disc and a two-disc version are available. High Definition versions on HD DVD and Blu-ray have also been released with a R rating in the USA and a rating of MA in Australia.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Military use of children
• Postcolonialism

External links

• Official website
• Blood Diamond at the Internet Movie Database
• Blood Diamond at AllRovi
• Blood Diamond at Rotten Tomatoes
• Blood Diamond at Metacritic
• Blood Diamond at Box Office Mojo