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Re: Blood Diamond
Excellent film that is educational, but doesn't feel like we're sitting in school. DiCaprio is the person everyone is going to see on the screen, but the actor we should all fixate on is Djimon Hounsou. He exudes power, emotion, fear and love in every scene he's in, no matter what's going on around him. There are few people who could hold their own against DiCaprio and he's already worked with most of them. I'm be shocked if Hounsou didn't get a Supporting Actor nod for this.
DiCaprio does a flawless English accent through the entire thing and Jennifer Connelly doesn't end up being the obligatory love interest. The location shooting is just breathtaking, as are the comparisons between the bloody war over diamonds and then the tranquil natural beauty of Sierra Leone.
One of the major things that struck me was the casual brutality of killing and of war. When children are encouraged to pick up weapons and gun down women and other children...when whole villages are wiped out for no apparent reason...seeing it on the screen portrayed like this makes you stop and think. Is it even possible that if the entire world sat down to watch this at the same, we'd stop needlessly killing each other?
Just about the only part I had a problem with was the DiCaprio/Connelly scene near the end on the phone. It just struck me as wrong. Otherwise, all I was expecting it to be. Definately recommended.
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