The first unforgivable (and more than mildly annoying) thing would be DiCaprio’s dissapearing/reappering South-African accent. Particularly when spoken next to Arnold Vosloo’s native tongue it sticks out. And not in a good way.

***WARNING***HERE BE SPOILERS***

Although Blood Diamond is well filmed I was also really annoyed by the sentimental jibberish that occurs between the DiCaprio and Connelly character. Angry adrenaline fueled sex between these two would have been acceptable within the limits of the plot, but that whole ‘we have come to understand eachother so well and are about to fall in love’-bit was just beyond incredible to me.

I did however actually like the fact that the film was shot from the pov of a white man. Although I understand your point, Marisa, to me it meant that the overal symbolism of the film was carried out in the microcosm of the story as well. After all, what we are looking at for most of the course of this movie, is a black man being jerked around by a white man. Having said that, the DiCaprio storyline was far less interesting than the Hounsou storyline and – specifically – the storyline of his little son being ‘drafted’ to be a child soldier.

I never felt as angry or truly moved watching Blood Diamond as I was when I watched The Constant Gardner. Although it is probably unfair to compare these two films, I am inclined to do so, exactly because of their differences. With Constant Gardener I could almost smell Africa and felt genuinly enraged about what I was being shown. Blood Diamond left me mildly annoyed (I don’t really like diamonds all that much anyway, so I any vow never to buy or want any would be meaningless) but it’s cinematography, however skilled, never gripped me the way the Constant Gardner did.

The most poignant and significant image to me was when the child soldiers are partying and in the background there is a rapvideo playing on tv: an African American male, showing of his ‘bling’ with pride, unaware of or possibly indifferent to the suffering the Africans have to endure to keep him in diamonds. Those ten seconds of film sum up the story and just about broke my heart. Blood Diamond could have done with more moments like this, imho.

Great movie. I loved the feeling of hopelessness that The Constant Gardner gave me and I must say this movie gave me that same feeling. But then I don’t buy many diamonds.

To see this conflict through the eyes of the (white) DiCaprio is not as bad as you make it seem to be: white people who are born in Africa are as African as any other person. The fact that they often belong to the ruling (and oppressing) class, doesn’t make them any less a part of the country they live in, or the mess they help to create.

In my view, DiCaprio is examplary of the hurt “people like him” cause to the continent, but the corporations and militairistic forces always have to use the indigeneous people to get what they want. And that is the violence we see on TV: black people slaughtering black people, with the real culprits off camera. Both parties are fingered here, and the most guilty party gets what it deserves in this movie.

And yes, if it takes a top-billing star like DiCaprio to spread this important message, then so be it. Moreover, this is undoubtedly his best role ever, together with “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”. Leonardo finally has come off age with this intriguing movie.

Must be that DeBeers just signed another HUGE advertising contract with CNN. Call me cynical, but right after the opening weekend of Blood Diamond, I smell a rat.