“TIA” : That Is Africa

    In 1999, the Civil War consumed the Sierra Leone. After the rebels attacks his village, Solomon Vandy, a fisherman, get separated from his family. He was forced to work in the diamond field where he discovers a huge pink diamond. While hiding it, the Commandant of the Rebels sees, but the rebels are attacked by the government army and Salomon is arrested. In jail, the commandant tells the prisoners that Salomon found a priceless stone. The African mercenary smuggler, Danny Archer who witness all the scene, proposes Solomon his help to find his family in exchange of the diamond. To reach his goal, Danny uses Maddy Bowen, an American idealistic journalist which aim is to get information about diamond smuggling. Each one of them were linked to that pink diamond : The Commandant of the Rebels : to fund their actions, Archer : to get out of Africa, Maddy : to track down diamond smuggling and Solomon : to get his family back…

Blood Diamond

Edward Zwick is not (The Last Samurai, Glory) at his first war movie. They couldn’t find a better director to combine History and fiction into a magnificence drama story. And, the actors were also well cast. Leonardo DiCaprio, the handsome guy from the blockbuster “Titanic” becomes a mercenary with a perfect South African accent. I have to say that during “Titanic” phenomenon, I never thought he can play such a character. But, his movies tell far more about his talent : The Beach, Catch me if you can, The Departed. Nevertheless, despite of his great job, the eyes turn on Djimon Hounsou (Beauty shop, Gladiator), his physical presence and his drama acting just mean. And not to weightless Jennifer Connelly (Hulk, A beautiful mind) , she was pretty convincing in the journalist who wants to make the difference. The movie was nominated for five Oscars in 2006, including : Best Performance by an Actor in a Leading Role for Leonardo DiCaprio and Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role for Djimon Hounsou.

“Blood Diamond” is based on truth events that happened in Sierra Leone. To refresh the history, The Sierra Leone Civil War began in 1991, initiated by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). The R.U.F. used the diamond field to fund their union. Smuggling, massacre, terrorism and many other atrocities were done by the rebels during 9 years of conflict. Tens of thousands died and more than 2 million people were displaced and became refugees attempting to escape the civil war. It was officially declared over on 18 January 2002. But till now, there is still 200 000 child soldiers in Africa

Politic steadiness is one of main bases to an economic development for a country. Unfortunately, political power is the most unstable in Africa. In Madagascar, for many times, the country was destroyed by conflicts between the government and their politic antagonists : 1972, 1991, 2002 and 2009. The situation nowadays is not as terrible as a civil war described in the movie. But if things still go that way, it may lead to a civil war. I hope I’m wrong. “TIA” they said in the movie, which means : “That Is Africa”. Are we that lost ?