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Leonardo DiCaprio and Djimon Hounsou and Jennifer Connelly in an old fashioned adventure quest set amidst a humanitarian
calamity
calamity
Blood Brothers:
Blood Diamond
12-08-06 "Knight Thoughts" web exclusive
By Richard Knight, Jr.
Blood Diamond
12-08-06 "Knight Thoughts" web exclusive
By Richard Knight, Jr.
Leonard DiCaprio is having a bloody year. First, it was the ultra violent Scorsese picture The Departed and now the action thriller with
political leanings, Blood Diamond. Not that I’m complaining – his outsize acting is a joy to watch – but a switch to something
more sophisticated would be a breath of fresh air.
But that in itself might be a gamble. As DiCaprio’s body of work begins to stack up it becomes clearer and clearer that he is a
supreme example of the Everyman – aggressive about his status as a plain old guy. Not some fussy, metrosexual is Leo, no. He’s
grabbing life by the gusto, shaking the dice and following that “Live! Live! Live” advice of Auntie Mame. Danny Archer, the role of
the diamond smuggler that the young actor plays in Blood Diamond is like a blood brother to his Jack Dawson from Titanic, and to
many of DiCaprio’s other parts. This is another character that’s not afraid to take chances; to put into action what the men in the
audience are fantasizing about and to roughly – but tenderly – romance whatever beauty passes his way. This last, of course, is
what the women (and the gay men) are dreaming about. If things had gone another way, these roles would be going to George
Clooney – he has the right physicality and the acting style for them – but DiCaprio, though he still looks like a youngster, has the
proper machismo to take them on.
Blood Diamond itself is set amidst the civil war and bloody strife of Sierra Leone in Africa in the 1990s. Archer becomes involved with
a poor African fisherman, Solomon (Dijimon Hounsou), who has unwittingly been swept up in the violence and has found and hidden
a rare blood diamond the size of a sturdy paper weight. They are joined for a time by a plucky but sexy reporter (played by Jennifer
Connelly in her supremely assured, intelligent style that is alternately thrilling and off putting) who wants to get the goods on the
British consortium which is selling illegally acquired diamonds from the war torn country. The three set on a quest through the rebel
territories to get the diamond – which means, of course, something different to each.
What we have here is basically an update of King Solomon’s Mines, a solemn quest movie ala Romancing the Stone, welded on to the
political stuff. There’s plenty of brutality and high minded preaching mixed in with the action sequences and the cat and mouse
romance between DiCaprio and Connelly. Director Edward Zwick specializes in melding together Higher Purpose, Oh the Humanity!
themes with his action films but makes sure there are moments for the actors to come across (and all three leads here do good
work).
Zwick is a director with two major themes – one is to entertain his audiences through gut busting action, violent sequences and the
second is to enlighten audiences to a humanitarian problem or some other Pressing Social Issue. The Last Samurai, Courage Under
Fire, The Siege, Glory and other Zwick pictures have all been examples of these. In Blood Diamond, the social head shaking quotient
is pretty high but it never overwhelms the under riding story. Zwick is enough of a storyteller to keep things rolling – and though he
wants to preach to his audience and keep them fixated and moved by the horrors he wants us to take note of – he also can’t resist
getting back to the action stuff before too long. Zwick’s movies – and this one in particular – are basically message pictures –
message pictures with action.
That’s a rather unfortunate combo because the two basically cancel each other out once the movie’s over. And that’s probably not
what Zwick has had in mind but sad to say, that’s been true of pretty much every one of his movies. Something he has in common
with Dore Schary. Anyone else remember the latter movies that Schary wrote that worked this same territory 50 years ago?
Didn’t think so.
political leanings, Blood Diamond. Not that I’m complaining – his outsize acting is a joy to watch – but a switch to something
more sophisticated would be a breath of fresh air.
But that in itself might be a gamble. As DiCaprio’s body of work begins to stack up it becomes clearer and clearer that he is a
supreme example of the Everyman – aggressive about his status as a plain old guy. Not some fussy, metrosexual is Leo, no. He’s
grabbing life by the gusto, shaking the dice and following that “Live! Live! Live” advice of Auntie Mame. Danny Archer, the role of
the diamond smuggler that the young actor plays in Blood Diamond is like a blood brother to his Jack Dawson from Titanic, and to
many of DiCaprio’s other parts. This is another character that’s not afraid to take chances; to put into action what the men in the
audience are fantasizing about and to roughly – but tenderly – romance whatever beauty passes his way. This last, of course, is
what the women (and the gay men) are dreaming about. If things had gone another way, these roles would be going to George
Clooney – he has the right physicality and the acting style for them – but DiCaprio, though he still looks like a youngster, has the
proper machismo to take them on.
Blood Diamond itself is set amidst the civil war and bloody strife of Sierra Leone in Africa in the 1990s. Archer becomes involved with
a poor African fisherman, Solomon (Dijimon Hounsou), who has unwittingly been swept up in the violence and has found and hidden
a rare blood diamond the size of a sturdy paper weight. They are joined for a time by a plucky but sexy reporter (played by Jennifer
Connelly in her supremely assured, intelligent style that is alternately thrilling and off putting) who wants to get the goods on the
British consortium which is selling illegally acquired diamonds from the war torn country. The three set on a quest through the rebel
territories to get the diamond – which means, of course, something different to each.
What we have here is basically an update of King Solomon’s Mines, a solemn quest movie ala Romancing the Stone, welded on to the
political stuff. There’s plenty of brutality and high minded preaching mixed in with the action sequences and the cat and mouse
romance between DiCaprio and Connelly. Director Edward Zwick specializes in melding together Higher Purpose, Oh the Humanity!
themes with his action films but makes sure there are moments for the actors to come across (and all three leads here do good
work).
Zwick is a director with two major themes – one is to entertain his audiences through gut busting action, violent sequences and the
second is to enlighten audiences to a humanitarian problem or some other Pressing Social Issue. The Last Samurai, Courage Under
Fire, The Siege, Glory and other Zwick pictures have all been examples of these. In Blood Diamond, the social head shaking quotient
is pretty high but it never overwhelms the under riding story. Zwick is enough of a storyteller to keep things rolling – and though he
wants to preach to his audience and keep them fixated and moved by the horrors he wants us to take note of – he also can’t resist
getting back to the action stuff before too long. Zwick’s movies – and this one in particular – are basically message pictures –
message pictures with action.
That’s a rather unfortunate combo because the two basically cancel each other out once the movie’s over. And that’s probably not
what Zwick has had in mind but sad to say, that’s been true of pretty much every one of his movies. Something he has in common
with Dore Schary. Anyone else remember the latter movies that Schary wrote that worked this same territory 50 years ago?
Didn’t think so.
