Directed by: Edward Zwick Cast: Leonardo DiCaprio Djimon Hounsou Jennifer Connelly
Set against the backdrop of civil war and chaos in 1990's Sierra Leone, 'Blood Diamond' is the story of Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio) - a South African mercenary - and Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) - a Mende fisherman. Both men are African, but their histories as different as any can be, until their fates become joined in a common quest to recover a rare pink diamond that can transform their lives.
While in prison for smuggling, Archer learns that Solomon, who was taken from his family and forced to work in the diamond fields, has found and hidden the extraordinary rough stone. With the help of Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist whose idealism is tempered by a deepening connection with Archer, the two men embark on a trek through rebel territory.
I couldn't get up right away after watching this for the first time, my body wouldn't let me move. This film had such a big impact on me. Movies like these are the ones that need to be seen, people need to know, to understand what goes on in the world, I hate it when people say, "well if I don't think about it it's not real" Well this is real, very real. Blood Diamond shows you what goes on, child soldiers, violence, cruelty. I know a lot of people are saying this is just another one of those movies, like Hotel Rwanda, and yeah ok it kinda is, but it's the truth. I never realized the gravity of it all, what people go through so we can have our jewels. This movie is incredible, Leo DiCaprio has my respect as an actor and a person, he was amazing in this, and of course Djimon Hounsou, who was absolutely brilliant. So I say definately see this film, it's so amazing, really makes you think. But that's just my view. The RentHead.
To add a little something here is a video clip of some of some shots of the movie with one of the songs from the movie, it's called Shine on Em' performed by Nas
They wanna shine on 'em Shine on 'em Yeah
They dug me out the soil in the Mines of the Motherland Now I'm misplaced, one hand to another hand Illegal smugglin', people strugglin' Wish they could just throw me back in the mud again Yeah, guess that's how we got here Slave Trade then the Diamond Trade Every child's afraid When his Mother and Father get sprayed Forced in the Army, young killer Brigade Gets a new name and then he give his nose glue Til' his mind can't take what he's gon' through Lookin' in that dirt for that ice so blue Then The Royal Family, the ice goes to And this thing has to change, feelin' half-ashamed As I rap with my Platinum chain When you shop for a gift for me You think about the misery? The same way we made Apartheid History We can do the same thing to the conflict ice But everybody wanna shine, right?
Everybody wants Heaven but nobody wants dead Everybody wants Diamonds without the Bloodshed Everybody wants Heaven but nobody wants dead Everybody wants Diamonds without the Bloodshed They wanna Shine on 'em Shine on 'em
My VVS glimmers on my chest 200-thou-encrusted watch on my wrist I wonder how people starve to death When God bless the land that lacks the harvest The stone's equality, but they homes are poverty And the whole world ignores the robbery Bought my girl pretty rocks when she's mad at me Tear-drop shaped, uh, perfect Clarity It shocks, so many are killed annually 'Cause of greed, lust, and pure Vanity Stop talkin' and do somethin' about it Every Holiday Season, Jewelry stores crowded Kids snatched from their homes, Mutilated alive Husbands separated from wives, keep a Jesus piece to be fly But back in the day there was a time when they called us shine
Everybody wants Heaven but nobody wants dead Everybody wants Diamonds without the Bloodshed Everybody wants Heaven but nobody wants dead Everybody wants Diamonds without the Bloodshed They wanna shine on 'em Shine on 'em
