A Deep Dive Into Blood Diamond- A Feast For The Eyes

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I remember the first time I heard of this movie. I was in high school (senior secondary school 2) at that time. My Civic education teacher was a big fan of movies. There was something special about him that made students love his teachings. He always connected movies to topics he taught. For example, if he comes to class to teach about a topic, let's say cultism of drug trafficking, he would always connect a movie to the topic. He was magical. He was a big fan of Nigerian movies. All types of Nigerian movies. Not only was he a big fan of Nigerian movies, but he was also a lover of American, Chinese, and Philippine movies. He was an all-rounder.

In one of his lectures, he talked about the civil war, using Sierra Leone as a case study. As usual, he connected this topic to a movie- Blood Diamond. Another thing about my Civic education teacher is that he was a good storyteller. He knew how to use all the storytelling skills to grab listeners' attention. He knew how to keep users on the edge of their seats. Creating anticipation and curiosity was his thing. He connected the movie, Blood Diamond to the topic of the day. He told us the story in a way that made me feel like watching the movie myself. He intentionally kept our curiosity satisfied. When I got home that day, I hopped on my phone to download and watch the movie. I remember how I navigated to YouTube and searched for the movie. Sadly, I was unable to get the original version, only the trailers were available. I couldn't get the complete movie, but I still watched a few trailers and short videos. To a point, those videos satisfied my curiosity.

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I totally forgot about the movie until yesterday when I decided to kill my boredom. I opened my Netflix app and the first movie that popped up was Black Diamond- the movie I've always wanted to watch since I was in secondary school.

First off, the first thing that made me fall in love with this movie is the main character. Leonardo Dicaprio who starred as Danny Archer is the protagonist of the play. I've known him since I was a kid when I watched Titanic. Leonardo Dicaprio’s performance in Titanic was absolutely a blast. He is indeed a talented author.

The movie revolves around three characters- Danny Archer (Leonardo Dicaprio), Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), and Jennifer Connelly (Maddy Bowen). Due to the war in Sierra Leone (against the government and revolutionists,), Solomon Vandy is forcefully taken away from his family to work in a diamond mine. The revolutionists are in charge of the mines and the money they get from the diamonds is used to buy guns, bombs, and other ammunition.

Luckily, Solomon Vandy discovers a pink diamond (the biggest of its kind) capable of changing his life and that of his family. He digs up the ground and hides the diamond. Immediately, the government soldiers ransacked the mining site and arrested the rebels and the workers.

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The narrative switches to another perspective. Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), an ex-soldier and a money-driven diamond smuggler learns about the pink diamond. In his desire to get the diamond and travel out of the continent, he connects with Solomon Vandy, the fisherman whose children and wife had been captured by the RUFs/ rebels. He reconnects with Solomon Vandy and tells him that the only way to save his family is to get hold of the pink diamond. They decide to travel back to the mining site and obtain the diamond.

In their quest, they meet with Jennifer Connelly (Maddy Bowen), a journalist whose main aim is to expose the illicit diamond trafficking in Sierra Leone. Both Jennifer Connely and Danny Archer have things in common, yet they share different perspectives on certain subjects. Danny Archer is portrayed as a greedy diamond trafficker, while Jennifer Conelly is presented as a truth-seeker. Jennifer Connelly believes that if people knew where and how diamonds come from, they wouldn't want to buy things made out of diamonds. Danny Archer on the other hand thinks otherwise. Danny Archer finds a way to convince Jennifer to help him on his quest to discover the pink diamond.

The narrative also caught on with child soldiers. Dia, Solomon Vandy’s child, has been trained alongside other kids to become rebel soldiers and fight against the government. They were taught how to kill. They change their names to kill names like “see me no more,” “trouble” and “baby killer.”

Danny Archer tells Jennifer everything about the illegal trafficking of drug abuse. The resolution ignites when Danny Archer recovers the pink diamond, although he dies, he manages to reveal information about the diamond business, which brings a stop to illegal diamond trafficking and the usage of kids as soldiers.

If you are a movie lover, I highly recommend you watch “Blood Diamond” starring Leonardo DiCaprio and Jennifer Connelly.

Thanks for reading.