Movie Review: Blood Diamond (2006)

Written by Ross Cavins

Thursday, 06 March 2008 00:55

Sparkling

The plot of Blood Diamond centers around the smuggling of conflict diamonds from the war-ravaged Sierre Leone into the world economy. Leonardo DiCaprio plays the smuggler who discovers a refugee that knows the whereabouts of a 100 carat raw diamond and braves everything to retrieve it from a land deluged in civil war.

A gem of a movie, Blood Diamond keeps you on the edge of your seat with action so realistic, you'll feel sick when the movie's over.

At first I had no desire to see this movie, partly because movies with this much violence don't interest me and partly because I wanted to keep the controversial subject at arm's length. When viewed under a microscope as this film accomplishes, the issue of conflict diamonds threatens to change your view of precious gems.

Although the story is fictional, it is steeped in actual fact and historical events and with a little imagination, one can easily picture the Van der Kaap company as its real-life counterpart - de Beers. Yes, de Beers has a virtual monopoly on the diamond market. And yes, they buy them and stockpile them, ensuring their monopoly by controlling diamond supply with an iron fist.

It's an ugly game, buy Australian opals instead.

More about Diamonds: www.diamondfacts.org , Wikipedia - de Beers

Verdict: