Blood Diamond

Leo leads as Danny Archer. Also, Djimon Hounsou plays Solomon Vandy, the father who wants to protect his family from surrounding violence and injustice. Jennifer Connelly plays Maddy Bowen, an American journalist who ends up helping Danny and Solomon.

Blood Diamond demonstrates the deceptive, brainwashing power of evil. African rebels kidnap young boys and teach them to gun down the same people they had been living with only weeks before. Solomon's son, Dia is thus kidnapped. He is so scarred by the atrocities he does with his own hands that completely forgets his identity, even his own father.

The African rebels resemble a less organized Nazi party. The Nazi's had a similarly mesmerizing effect on young men, so much that they made them forget right and wrong.

The rebels kidnap Dia along with dozens of other young men for the purpose of reprogramming them into killing machines. They purposely erase these young men's identities so they will do whatever is commanded of them. This leads to a powerful encounter between Solomon and Dia, where Dia is pointing a gun at Solomon, confused and scared, not knowing who to trust. Solomon knows instinctively what Dia needs to hear: Solomon reminds Dia who he is. Solomon tells Dia his real name: "Dia Vandy," and where he comes from. Solomon says to Dia, "I am your father, who loves you, and you will come home with me and be my son again." At this point Dia surrenders to his father, gives him the gun.

What an amazingly powerful portrayal of God's love for us, His lost children!

We hesitate to lower our defenses because we want to condemn ourselves, which is appropriate from the point of view of God's perfect law; but God's love makes up for all the ways we fall short.

Notice how this encounter also softens Danny's heart, inspiring him to give up all the worldly cares he had before and sacrifice his life for something greater than himself.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

This is such a powerful movie. After seeing this (more recently than it should have been), it forced me to pick up "A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier" by Ishmael Beah. It's about Ishmael's life as a child soldier in Sierra Leon before being rescued by UNICEF. It's fantastic and deeply moving.

Ken said...

I almost agree with you Erik! It's really powerful movie. Even nominated for Oscar for "Best Men's Role 2nd Plan"