Tea at Trianon: Blood Diamond (2006)

John Wilson Croker on Marie-Antoinette

"We have followed the history of Marie Antoinette with the greatest diligence and scrupulosity. We have lived in those times. We have talked with some of her friends and some of her enemies; we have read, certainly not all, but hundreds of the libels written against her; and we have, in short, examined her life with– if we may be allowed to say so of ourselves– something of the accuracy of contemporaries, the diligence of inquirers, and the impartiality of historians, all combined; and we feel it our duty to declare, in as a solemn a manner as literature admits of, our well-matured opinion that every reproach against the morals of the queen was a gross calumny– that she was, as we have said, one of the purest of human beings."

~from History of the Guillotine by John Wilson Croker, 1844

Edmund Burke on Marie-Antoinette

"It is now sixteen or seventeen years since I saw the queen of France, then dauphiness, at Versailles; and surely there never lighted on this orb, which she hardly seemed to touch, a more delightful vision. I saw her just above the horizon, decorating and cheering the elevated sphere she had just begun to move in, glittering like a morning star full of life and splendor and joy. Oh, what a revolution....Little did I dream that I should have lived to see such disasters fall upon her, in a nation of gallant men, in a nation of men of honor and of cavaliers! I thought ten thousand swords must have leaped from their scabbards, to avenge even a look which threatened her with insult. But the age of chivalry is gone; that of sophisters, economists, and calculators has succeeded...."

~Edmund Burke, October 1790

Wednesday, May 2, 2007

Blood Diamond (2006)

We usually never watch violent movies but lately my husband and I have been so impressed with Leonardo DiCaprio as a serious actor that we have been having a mini-film festival. I dismissed him as a pretty boy after seeing Titanic, although he was impressive in Gilbert Grape. Now that he is not so pretty and a bit more seasoned, he seems to really become the damaged but heroic characters he portrays.

Last night we saw Blood Diamond, about the brutal struggle in Sierra Leone in the late nineties for control of the diamond mines. DiCaprio is quite good in it. He is plays a diamond smuggler Danny Archer, the scarred survivor of a traumatic childhood. He kno

ws no fear, having already been through everything terrible, but the in depths of his heart there is decency. The film is his odyssey through the inhumane conditions of the Sierra Leone, through slavery, torture, the separation of families, and the exploitation of the weak and innocent. The beauty of the land is in agonizing contrast to the overflowing human misery, aided and abetted by Western businessmen greedy for diamonds.

The real hero of the story is the gentle fisherman Solomon, masterfully played by Djimon Hounsou. Solomon is an example of what a father and husband should be. He puts his family above everything and is willing to risk his life to get them back after they have been taken from him. Even the precious "blood diamond" holds no allure for Solomon except to the degree that he can use it to save his loved ones. He cannot understand why the DiCaprio character Danny does not have a family and does not plan to use his earnings in order to get married. In Solomon's world view, family is what life is all about. Solomon's commitment to his family begins to transform the smuggler, as well as the Danny's love for the beautiful American journalist (Jennifer Connelly.) Love, as well as admiration for her dedication to human rights, inspires Danny to self-sacrifice.

The most disturbing aspect of the film is the kidnapping and brainwashing of children to be used as soldiers. The revolutionary forces would threaten and brutalize young boys into performing bloodthirsty acts. Once again, we see revolutionaries taking children away from their families and indoctrinating them. It is interesting how drugs and rock music played a significant part in the process. What is so terrible is that such horrors continue daily on the African continent. Share

2 comments:

Anonymous said...: dear Elena,

I made a "copy and paste" of your post to a friend who left Congo many years ago as a result of the civil war caused by the greed for diamonds and other natural resources. I know that he is very interested on the movie.

This friend is biologist (like me) and he invested a life´s savings in his scientific laboratory and house from Congo. Both were destroyed by war. He barely escaped alive and his is still haunted by what he saw during his escape. Fortunately his children and wife were in Europe by that time.

He would have liked to raise the kids in his country but they are afraid to return in Africa: one never knows when will be war again.

A sad and true story...; May 4, 2007 at 2:34:00 AM EDT
elena maria vidal said...: It breaks my heart, Paula, the things that go on over there. Thank you for telling us about your friend.; May 4, 2007 at 8:28:00 AM EDT