The Last Blood Diamond of Scotland

Blood Diamond
Leonardo DiCaprio’s accent manages not to spoil a hard-hitting, shocking film that is anything but a comfortable watch.

Diamond smuggler Danny Archer crosses paths with Solomon Vandy, who has found a rare diamond. The action takes place in Sierra Leone, during a civil war between the government and the R.U.F. It would be interesting to know how much of this film was based on a true story.

It is difficult to watch children with guns mowing down streets full of ordinary undefended people. It is difficult as well to hear them swearing and using the kind of language of ghetto America and dirty hip hop. The shock of the film lies in how boys have their hands cut off, are turned against their parents and injected with drugs.

There is a great sense of reconciliation at the end. Danny changes, realising the value of life being more than money, but beauty as well. Solomon gets his family, in full, safe and receives a standing ovation for his bravery and values. Maddie gets her story and it has a huge impact.

Yet, this glamorised ending leaves me feeling a little uneasy. The film ends saying there are 200,000 child soldiers in Africa. There seems to be, if not a happy ending, some sort of resolution to this film. This seems to go against the whole direction of the film, with biting satire on those who are only involved for their own personal gain, and those who, perhaps more damningly, are not involved at all. The worst dismissal is aimed at those who see it and yet do nothing. Seeing ‘Blood Diamond’, we are challenged to seek good people in this world, and see that we fall very short.

This is not a bleak film – it is sewn through with hope. This hope swings on Danny Archer’s change of heart– a realignment of his view – and one which costs him everything. Choices he did not want to make turn out well.

Having said this, this is perhaps the most shockingly realistic portrayal of human character I have seen in a major film. Human’s are not inherently good or bad, according to this film. The worst part is that we are bit of both and when the bad comes out, it is too destructive for words. What lingers is the stark reality – This is real life, this is the world we live in, This Is Africa.


The Last King of Scotland
A young graduate doctor goes to Uganda in search of adventure. He is appointed to a position within the government of the likeable, yet terrifying Ugandan president, Idi Amin. I think this film is better than Blood Diamond.

Cut off from the atrocities that Amin is committing, the growing uncertainty in Dr. Nicholas Garrigan’s mind is compelling, particularly to an audience already in the know. About halfway through the film, there is a total change in atmosphere, where previously everything has been hidden, suddenly we are shown horrendous murders and brutal activity. The whole film turns on its head. It is as if to say, ‘is it ok - if you suspect this is happening, but haven’t seen it - simply to ignore it?’

Amin is presented in a fearsome light – completely changeable in mood. One second he will call a man his friend, the next his paranoia will bring him into an insane rage. He is unpredictable, great to watch, yet at the same time, it is sobering to think that the facts that this film is based on are real lives brutally disposed of.

I was disappointed to discover that James McAvoy’s character Dr Garrigan is fictional. The main appeal of this film, I think, comes from the insight into an African dictator’s mind. Without the realism in this, it becomes a fiction. The weight of this film is, for me, entirely what is real about it, what actually happened.

Shocking and disturbing (particularly, Amin’s punishment for his unfaithful wife), this film leaves a spectator feeling pretty helpless – as if all you can do is watch. Probably, satisfyingly from the director’s point of view, it leaves you asking, ‘what can we do?’