I must bow in admiration for Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio. He could have sold out and used his good looks and early success to become a huge box office star. Instead, DiCaprio has chosen the righteous path and dedicated his career to his craft and making good films and not successful films. If you need a stellar example of what he did not become, simply look at the career of Ben Affleck. After "Titanic," DiCaprio could have signed on for any big film that came his way. Instead, he followed up with "Celebrity," "Beaches," "Gangs of New York," "Catch Me if You Can," "The Aviator," "Departed" and "Blood Diamond." All are good films and none have been guaranteed box office blockbusters. DiCaprio is an actor who chooses good stories and roles that will earn him accolades and push him as an artist. He is already one of the ´great ones´ and I look forward to watching him become one of the true Hollywood legends.
"Blood Diamond" earned five Oscar nominations; three of which were technical and the remaining two earning Leonardo DiCaprio a Best Actor nod and Djimon Hounsou a Best Supporting Actor nod. The film was shut out on Academy Awards night, as DiCaprio´s other film "The Departed" took the most little gold statues home. This very powerful film tells the story of African´s illegal blood diamonds; precious stones that are sold by warlords and rebels of African civil wars and conflicts to earn money for guns and obtained by the forceful indentured servitude of slaves. The story looks at the 1999 civil war in Sierra Leone and finds Djimon Hounsou in the role of one of the slaves forced to mine for diamonds and Leonardo DiCaprio as a smuggler of diamonds and arms. The two Oscar nominated actors for their performances in the film are joined by Jennifer Connelly as an American journalist looking to tell the tale of the blood diamonds and the horrid conditions of the citizens of Africa who are killed and forced to bleed to obtain the precious stones.
Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is captured by Revolutionary United Front rebels when he risks his life to save his family from death of capture. Just before he nearly loses his hands to a machete in a hellacious tactic to keep Africans from voting, Vandy is thrown into a truck to work as a slave and obtain diamonds for the RUF soldiers. Vandy finds an enormous pink diamond that is roughly 100 carats in size. As he is hiding the diamond and nearly captured by one of his slavers, the Federal troops raid the slave camp and Vandy is captured by the Federals and put into jail. There he is seen by an imprisoned diamond smuggler, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio). When Archer is freed by his employer Colonel Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo), he has his cohorts also pay the bail necessary to free Vandy and begin a search for the pink blood diamond.
Journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) has been sharing Guinness beer with Archer; who has a strong physical interest in Bowen, but not enough of an interest to answer her unending questions about the blood diamond trade. In order for Archer to have Vandy lead him to the diamond, Archer must work with Bowen to find his family and place them in safety before Vandy will lead Archer to the slave camp and the location where he hastily hid the immensely valuable rock. During their adventurous journey, Archer and Vandy must escape the rebel assault on Freetown and flee into the jungle. The are constantly avoiding gunfire and always facing danger from Federal troops, RUF rebels and others looking to get their hands on Vandy´s diamond. Archer slowly leaks information to Bowen, in order to get her to assist in his cause and he begins to build a friendship with the leery Vandy.
"Blood Diamond" is a film that tells a powerful tale of real world suffering and danger. The film publicized the blood diamond trade, something that was perpetrated by the civilized world´s thirst for expensive diamond engagement rings and lavish jewelry. Although Archer and Vandy were fictitious characters, the film ends with a conference based upon the factual Kimberly conference that resulted in a 2003 set of regulations that aimed to help curb the blood diamond trade. DiCaprio is excellent as the unlawful and unscrupulous Danny Archer. Djimon Hounsou is another fine actor that has been largely ignored by Hollywood. He is a true leading man and his performance in "Blood Diamond" shows exactly why. The horrendous events and mass murders depicted in the film are events that have actually happened across African and the film deserves some amount of respect for bringing the atrocities to light.
After "Titanic," I could have cared less about Leonardo DiCaprio. The film that immediately followed that picture for the actor helped give me an impression that he was just another pretty face who wouldn´t amount to much. That film was "The Man in the Iron Mask" and the only true ´bad film´ ever featuring the actor. DiCaprio had originally caught my attention with his incredible performance in "What´s Eating Gilbert Grape" and ever since 1998´s "Celebrity," he has been on one hell of a hot streak. His performance is only one of the strong points of "Blood Diamond." Both Hounsou and Connelly are good in the film. Along with the stunning and beautiful cinematography, excellent script and solid directing by Edward Zwick, "Blood Diamond" was easily one of the best films of 2006.
"Blood Diamond" earned five Oscar nominations; three of which were technical and the remaining two earning Leonardo DiCaprio a Best Actor nod and Djimon Hounsou a Best Supporting Actor nod. The film was shut out on Academy Awards night, as DiCaprio´s other film "The Departed" took the most little gold statues home. This very powerful film tells the story of African´s illegal blood diamonds; precious stones that are sold by warlords and rebels of African civil wars and conflicts to earn money for guns and obtained by the forceful indentured servitude of slaves. The story looks at the 1999 civil war in Sierra Leone and finds Djimon Hounsou in the role of one of the slaves forced to mine for diamonds and Leonardo DiCaprio as a smuggler of diamonds and arms. The two Oscar nominated actors for their performances in the film are joined by Jennifer Connelly as an American journalist looking to tell the tale of the blood diamonds and the horrid conditions of the citizens of Africa who are killed and forced to bleed to obtain the precious stones.
Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is captured by Revolutionary United Front rebels when he risks his life to save his family from death of capture. Just before he nearly loses his hands to a machete in a hellacious tactic to keep Africans from voting, Vandy is thrown into a truck to work as a slave and obtain diamonds for the RUF soldiers. Vandy finds an enormous pink diamond that is roughly 100 carats in size. As he is hiding the diamond and nearly captured by one of his slavers, the Federal troops raid the slave camp and Vandy is captured by the Federals and put into jail. There he is seen by an imprisoned diamond smuggler, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio). When Archer is freed by his employer Colonel Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo), he has his cohorts also pay the bail necessary to free Vandy and begin a search for the pink blood diamond.
Journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) has been sharing Guinness beer with Archer; who has a strong physical interest in Bowen, but not enough of an interest to answer her unending questions about the blood diamond trade. In order for Archer to have Vandy lead him to the diamond, Archer must work with Bowen to find his family and place them in safety before Vandy will lead Archer to the slave camp and the location where he hastily hid the immensely valuable rock. During their adventurous journey, Archer and Vandy must escape the rebel assault on Freetown and flee into the jungle. The are constantly avoiding gunfire and always facing danger from Federal troops, RUF rebels and others looking to get their hands on Vandy´s diamond. Archer slowly leaks information to Bowen, in order to get her to assist in his cause and he begins to build a friendship with the leery Vandy.
"Blood Diamond" is a film that tells a powerful tale of real world suffering and danger. The film publicized the blood diamond trade, something that was perpetrated by the civilized world´s thirst for expensive diamond engagement rings and lavish jewelry. Although Archer and Vandy were fictitious characters, the film ends with a conference based upon the factual Kimberly conference that resulted in a 2003 set of regulations that aimed to help curb the blood diamond trade. DiCaprio is excellent as the unlawful and unscrupulous Danny Archer. Djimon Hounsou is another fine actor that has been largely ignored by Hollywood. He is a true leading man and his performance in "Blood Diamond" shows exactly why. The horrendous events and mass murders depicted in the film are events that have actually happened across African and the film deserves some amount of respect for bringing the atrocities to light.
After "Titanic," I could have cared less about Leonardo DiCaprio. The film that immediately followed that picture for the actor helped give me an impression that he was just another pretty face who wouldn´t amount to much. That film was "The Man in the Iron Mask" and the only true ´bad film´ ever featuring the actor. DiCaprio had originally caught my attention with his incredible performance in "What´s Eating Gilbert Grape" and ever since 1998´s "Celebrity," he has been on one hell of a hot streak. His performance is only one of the strong points of "Blood Diamond." Both Hounsou and Connelly are good in the film. Along with the stunning and beautiful cinematography, excellent script and solid directing by Edward Zwick, "Blood Diamond" was easily one of the best films of 2006.
I must bow in admiration for Mr. Leonardo DiCaprio. He could have sold out and used his good looks and early success to become a huge box office star. Instead, DiCaprio has chosen the righteous path and dedicated his career to his craft and making good films and not successful films. If you need a stellar example of what he did not become, simply look at the career of Ben Affleck. After "Titanic," DiCaprio could have signed on for any big film that came his way. Instead, he followed up with "Celebrity," "Beaches," "Gangs of New York," "Catch Me if You Can," "The Aviator," "Departed" and "Blood Diamond." All are good films and none have been guaranteed box office blockbusters. DiCaprio is an actor who chooses good stories and roles that will earn him accolades and push him as an artist. He is already one of the ´great ones´ and I look forward to watching him become one of the true Hollywood legends.
"Blood Diamond" earned five Oscar nominations; three of which were technical and the remaining two earning Leonardo DiCaprio a Best Actor nod and Djimon Hounsou a Best Supporting Actor nod. The film was shut out on Academy Awards night, as DiCaprio´s other film "The Departed" took the most little gold statues home. This very powerful film tells the story of African´s illegal blood diamonds; precious stones that are sold by warlords and rebels of African civil wars and conflicts to earn money for guns and obtained by the forceful indentured servitude of slaves. The story looks at the 1999 civil war in Sierra Leone and finds Djimon Hounsou in the role of one of the slaves forced to mine for diamonds and Leonardo DiCaprio as a smuggler of diamonds and arms. The two Oscar nominated actors for their performances in the film are joined by Jennifer Connelly as an American journalist looking to tell the tale of the blood diamonds and the horrid conditions of the citizens of Africa who are killed and forced to bleed to obtain the precious stones.
Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is captured by Revolutionary United Front rebels when he risks his life to save his family from death of capture. Just before he nearly loses his hands to a machete in a hellacious tactic to keep Africans from voting, Vandy is thrown into a truck to work as a slave and obtain diamonds for the RUF soldiers. Vandy finds an enormous pink diamond that is roughly 100 carats in size. As he is hiding the diamond and nearly captured by one of his slavers, the Federal troops raid the slave camp and Vandy is captured by the Federals and put into jail. There he is seen by an imprisoned diamond smuggler, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio). When Archer is freed by his employer Colonel Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo), he has his cohorts also pay the bail necessary to free Vandy and begin a search for the pink blood diamond.
Journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) has been sharing Guinness beer with Archer; who has a strong physical interest in Bowen, but not enough of an interest to answer her unending questions about the blood diamond trade. In order for Archer to have Vandy lead him to the diamond, Archer must work with Bowen to find his family and place them in safety before Vandy will lead Archer to the slave camp and the location where he hastily hid the immensely valuable rock. During their adventurous journey, Archer and Vandy must escape the rebel assault on Freetown and flee into the jungle. The are constantly avoiding gunfire and always facing danger from Federal troops, RUF rebels and others looking to get their hands on Vandy´s diamond. Archer slowly leaks information to Bowen, in order to get her to assist in his cause and he begins to build a friendship with the leery Vandy.
"Blood Diamond" is a film that tells a powerful tale of real world suffering and danger. The film publicized the blood diamond trade, something that was perpetrated by the civilized world´s thirst for expensive diamond engagement rings and lavish jewelry. Although Archer and Vandy were fictitious characters, the film ends with a conference based upon the factual Kimberly conference that resulted in a 2003 set of regulations that aimed to help curb the blood diamond trade. DiCaprio is excellent as the unlawful and unscrupulous Danny Archer. Djimon Hounsou is another fine actor that has been largely ignored by Hollywood. He is a true leading man and his performance in "Blood Diamond" shows exactly why. The horrendous events and mass murders depicted in the film are events that have actually happened across African and the film deserves some amount of respect for bringing the atrocities to light.
After "Titanic," I could have cared less about Leonardo DiCaprio. The film that immediately followed that picture for the actor helped give me an impression that he was just another pretty face who wouldn´t amount to much. That film was "The Man in the Iron Mask" and the only true ´bad film´ ever featuring the actor. DiCaprio had originally caught my attention with his incredible performance in "What´s Eating Gilbert Grape" and ever since 1998´s "Celebrity," he has been on one hell of a hot streak. His performance is only one of the strong points of "Blood Diamond." Both Hounsou and Connelly are good in the film. Along with the stunning and beautiful cinematography, excellent script and solid directing by Edward Zwick, "Blood Diamond" was easily one of the best films of 2006.
"Blood Diamond" earned five Oscar nominations; three of which were technical and the remaining two earning Leonardo DiCaprio a Best Actor nod and Djimon Hounsou a Best Supporting Actor nod. The film was shut out on Academy Awards night, as DiCaprio´s other film "The Departed" took the most little gold statues home. This very powerful film tells the story of African´s illegal blood diamonds; precious stones that are sold by warlords and rebels of African civil wars and conflicts to earn money for guns and obtained by the forceful indentured servitude of slaves. The story looks at the 1999 civil war in Sierra Leone and finds Djimon Hounsou in the role of one of the slaves forced to mine for diamonds and Leonardo DiCaprio as a smuggler of diamonds and arms. The two Oscar nominated actors for their performances in the film are joined by Jennifer Connelly as an American journalist looking to tell the tale of the blood diamonds and the horrid conditions of the citizens of Africa who are killed and forced to bleed to obtain the precious stones.
Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou) is captured by Revolutionary United Front rebels when he risks his life to save his family from death of capture. Just before he nearly loses his hands to a machete in a hellacious tactic to keep Africans from voting, Vandy is thrown into a truck to work as a slave and obtain diamonds for the RUF soldiers. Vandy finds an enormous pink diamond that is roughly 100 carats in size. As he is hiding the diamond and nearly captured by one of his slavers, the Federal troops raid the slave camp and Vandy is captured by the Federals and put into jail. There he is seen by an imprisoned diamond smuggler, Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio). When Archer is freed by his employer Colonel Coetzee (Arnold Vosloo), he has his cohorts also pay the bail necessary to free Vandy and begin a search for the pink blood diamond.
Journalist Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) has been sharing Guinness beer with Archer; who has a strong physical interest in Bowen, but not enough of an interest to answer her unending questions about the blood diamond trade. In order for Archer to have Vandy lead him to the diamond, Archer must work with Bowen to find his family and place them in safety before Vandy will lead Archer to the slave camp and the location where he hastily hid the immensely valuable rock. During their adventurous journey, Archer and Vandy must escape the rebel assault on Freetown and flee into the jungle. The are constantly avoiding gunfire and always facing danger from Federal troops, RUF rebels and others looking to get their hands on Vandy´s diamond. Archer slowly leaks information to Bowen, in order to get her to assist in his cause and he begins to build a friendship with the leery Vandy.
"Blood Diamond" is a film that tells a powerful tale of real world suffering and danger. The film publicized the blood diamond trade, something that was perpetrated by the civilized world´s thirst for expensive diamond engagement rings and lavish jewelry. Although Archer and Vandy were fictitious characters, the film ends with a conference based upon the factual Kimberly conference that resulted in a 2003 set of regulations that aimed to help curb the blood diamond trade. DiCaprio is excellent as the unlawful and unscrupulous Danny Archer. Djimon Hounsou is another fine actor that has been largely ignored by Hollywood. He is a true leading man and his performance in "Blood Diamond" shows exactly why. The horrendous events and mass murders depicted in the film are events that have actually happened across African and the film deserves some amount of respect for bringing the atrocities to light.
After "Titanic," I could have cared less about Leonardo DiCaprio. The film that immediately followed that picture for the actor helped give me an impression that he was just another pretty face who wouldn´t amount to much. That film was "The Man in the Iron Mask" and the only true ´bad film´ ever featuring the actor. DiCaprio had originally caught my attention with his incredible performance in "What´s Eating Gilbert Grape" and ever since 1998´s "Celebrity," he has been on one hell of a hot streak. His performance is only one of the strong points of "Blood Diamond." Both Hounsou and Connelly are good in the film. Along with the stunning and beautiful cinematography, excellent script and solid directing by Edward Zwick, "Blood Diamond" was easily one of the best films of 2006.
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