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The Departed + Blood Diamond
Sep. 18th, 2007 03:12 pmThe Departed Or "A film that made Alexandra change her mind about Leonardo Dicaprio"
As much as I still can't quite understand why an Academy Award was given to a remake I want to say that this film had a huge impact on me. Martin Scorsese's films were always something of "I admire the way it is made but it doesn't make my heart beat faster and it doesn't make me cry" category up to "The Departed". Oh, it all has changed. I was crying and I was clutching Mr.Alexander's hand and I was laughing. And all this considering I already knew the ending. :D
( more with spoilers and pictures )
On a wave of my new interest to Leonardo DiCaprio I re-watched "Blood Diamond"
Blood Diamond
It isn't a bad film and it definitely strives for a great idea. But as much as I think something MUST BE DONE about the diamond trade I can't say I liked the film wholeheartedly. Is it possible to wholly uphold the idea that is behind a film and not like the film itself? This is my dilemma with "Blood Diamond".
Almost straight away I felt manipulated as some of the details of the diamond trade were omitted or mentioned in passing. In the film we are shown the horrors of the blood diamond market and the suffering of the African people. But the main problem I see with the diamond trade is that it is a monopoly where De Beers companies control the market. There are reports about appalling conditions in their mines where they still refuse to use dust-suppression methods. So even when a diamond is coming from a legitimate source this still means the suffering of the African workers and their low pay. And there are serious criticisms that "Clean Diamond Trade Act" and the Kimberley Process are helping in maintaining of the monopoly on the diamond market by De Beers.
I was also very surprised that we are still not over "a nice white American journalist will come on a great white horse and sort all the problems of the people in Africa" idea. Yes, white people should feel responsible for what is happening in Africa because the root of all evil is really in the hundreds of years of slavery. And I don't see any way forward here yet but may be the first thing we should do is to let the people in Africa decide their problems..This absolutely doesn't mean that we shouldn't help. (I apologise for the opinionated nature of this paragragh).
(All this said – Leonardo DiCaprio was fantabulous as Danny Archer.)
As much as I still can't quite understand why an Academy Award was given to a remake I want to say that this film had a huge impact on me. Martin Scorsese's films were always something of "I admire the way it is made but it doesn't make my heart beat faster and it doesn't make me cry" category up to "The Departed". Oh, it all has changed. I was crying and I was clutching Mr.Alexander's hand and I was laughing. And all this considering I already knew the ending. :D
( more with spoilers and pictures )
On a wave of my new interest to Leonardo DiCaprio I re-watched "Blood Diamond"
Blood Diamond
It isn't a bad film and it definitely strives for a great idea. But as much as I think something MUST BE DONE about the diamond trade I can't say I liked the film wholeheartedly. Is it possible to wholly uphold the idea that is behind a film and not like the film itself? This is my dilemma with "Blood Diamond".
Almost straight away I felt manipulated as some of the details of the diamond trade were omitted or mentioned in passing. In the film we are shown the horrors of the blood diamond market and the suffering of the African people. But the main problem I see with the diamond trade is that it is a monopoly where De Beers companies control the market. There are reports about appalling conditions in their mines where they still refuse to use dust-suppression methods. So even when a diamond is coming from a legitimate source this still means the suffering of the African workers and their low pay. And there are serious criticisms that "Clean Diamond Trade Act" and the Kimberley Process are helping in maintaining of the monopoly on the diamond market by De Beers.
I was also very surprised that we are still not over "a nice white American journalist will come on a great white horse and sort all the problems of the people in Africa" idea. Yes, white people should feel responsible for what is happening in Africa because the root of all evil is really in the hundreds of years of slavery. And I don't see any way forward here yet but may be the first thing we should do is to let the people in Africa decide their problems..This absolutely doesn't mean that we shouldn't help. (I apologise for the opinionated nature of this paragragh).
(All this said – Leonardo DiCaprio was fantabulous as Danny Archer.)
