ENVIRONMENTAL COMPONENT TO THE FILM: OVERVIEW
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| A real mine's yield |
Throughout the film Blood Diamond, the environment serves to direct the action, dictates the story, drives the action, and supplies the central diamond itself. Different environments are associated with different examples of human behavior: for example, Archer acts differently to Solomon in the jungle than in the savannah, just like Maddy has a different relationship with Archer in the cities than in the bush. Taken together, the environment ultimately serves to combine the divided notions of power and human corruption.
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| Capetown Vineyard, Colonel's Residence |
The environment is used in Blood Diamond to create a vast difference in how we view power. We see these powerful (often white) individuals living in these beautiful places, seemingly enjoying paradise. On the other hand we see those poverty stricken living in tiny shantys. If they are in beautiful areas they have created a scourge in that beauty. Conversely, the film uses aerial shots of beautiful landscapes throughout the film. These environments are completely lacking of the human touch. Then after it zooms into where people are its either a mine, or a shanty that seems to take this beauty and destroy it with disregard. The only exception is very powerful people's living areas.
Blood Diamond essentially revolves around the bifurcation of two landscapes: the urban and the rural (there are only a few pseudo-"suburban" or otherwise non-urban and non-rural scenes in the film, which are mainly the refugee centers). The urban landscape is comprised of the congested (but fairly modern) sprawling Freetown, which is overrun and subjected to prolific violence. Capetown serves as the counter-balance to the "wild-west" feeling Freetown; it's where the Colonel (initially seemingly above and removed from the violence) has his home, which doubles as his tactical operations center
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| Fleeing Freetown |
and vineyard, and where the civilized Maddy Bowen travels after being evacuated from the mercenary camp's relentless pursuit of the diamond. Additionally, each urban landscape is scattered with various slums and run-down "ghettos." This urban landscape is a smaller subset of the rural, where a majority of the action and character development takes place. After fleeing the chaotic Freetown, Archer and Solomon embark on a cross-country endeavor; Archer in pursuit of the diamond for his own purposes, Solomon in pursuit of his family and, eventually, his abducted turned child soldier son. The duo hike across Sierra Leone and Archer briefly spends time in the Liberian highlands. The landscape changes with the action; peaceful grasslands and savannas are set against beautiful sunsets and congenial-even jovial-relations between Archer and Solomon (reference:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3g2QE4Kn4m0). As Archer gets closer to the diamond and Solomon his son, tensions escalate. This is reflected in the natural world by a darkening of the environment as the pair move into thicker vegetation and, eventually, outright jungle. The jungle is representative of the heart of darkness and human malfeasance in this film. At one point in the film, at the lowest depths of their relationship, Solomon alerts a roving patrol comprised chiefly of child soldiers to the pairs location after believing he had found Dia (his son, and he was mistaken).
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| Jungle Violence |
The two flee and barely escape after covering themselves in vegetation. Archer, who is infuriated at the lack of discretion on the part of his partner, stalks, kills, and butchers a baboon while Solomon sleeps. Solomon is awoken suddenly, covered in foliage and unsure of his surroundings in the dark jungle, as Archer paces around him and relates some of his war stories. The gist of Archers threat is that, should Solomon be so careless in the future and again endanger Archers life, the former mercenary (and perhaps war criminal??) would treat the black African in much the same way as the baboon he had just dispatched for sustenance. Again in the jungle but later in the film's progression, Archer, Solomon, and Maddy stumble upon an NGO tucked into the jungle. The organization works with children orphaned by the regional violence and former child soldiers, providing them an alternative and rehab from the life of a young fighter. The three connect with the director of the NGO, who drives through the jungle to take them to their next destination. However, after being stopped at a random rebel checkpoint manned by children, the director is senselessly and brutally executed, forcing the three main characters to crash the vehicle and flee, again into the jungle. The contrast between the peace found in the savanna and brutality experienced in the jungle is representative of the duality of human nature and corruption displayed throughout the film.
The film has a surprising lack of connection to any kind of animal (apart from humans). Though much of the film occurs in the "bush," Archer, Solomon and Maddy are only barely affected by the natural life surrounding them. The only non-domesticated animal in the film is a dead one (the previously mentioned baboon Archer kills to make a point and for food). Though they traverse dozens of kilometers of savanna, the characters encounter essentially no natural life; this is surprising and likely a conscious cinematic decision given the variety of fauna native to Sierra Leone.
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| Common Chimpanzee, Largest and Most Populous Genus of Chimpanzee Found in Sierra Leone, |
In addition to antelope, the savannas would likely be populated with African Bush Elephants, giraffes, and the occasional hippo. The jungles would likely be filled with chimpanzees, apes, different types of hog, and even the Slender-Snouted Crocodile. None of these animals are acknowledged in the film to any extent. While the environment is a central component of the film, natural "fauna" life is significantly less important than the geographic and "flora" that drives the action. This is understood by Colonel Coatzee's remark about the red soil, "this red earth, it's in our skin. The Shona say the color comes from all the blood that's been spilled fighting over the land. This is home. You'll never leave Africa," and again as Archer's blood mixes with the red earth in his final scene. (33.28-33.42, 2:08.31) This was likely a cinematic decision as the inclusion to any major extent of non-human creatures could detract from the political and social message the film is making.
In a stark contrast to the lack of native fauna in the film is the striking importance of humanity. The film revolves mostly around the differences between White Africa and Black Africa, as demonstrated by the two main characters. However, there is an undertone of the competition between Africa and the West; Maddy Bowen is an American journalist intent on bringing international awareness to the illegal diamond trade and openly admits that she is not representative of the average
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| Captain Poison: Chief Field Level Bad Guy |
American as she is out to make a difference, not gain material wealth. Additionally, the ultimate "bad guys" who provide the financial backing for the illegal diamond trade and all of it's evils are the Van de Kaap Diamond conglomerate based in London. Perhaps Archer summed up the conflict between Africa and the West in his initial discussion with Maddy, "In America it's all bling-bling. But out here it's bling-bang." (26.31) Importantly, the larger social connotation is that between White Africa and Black Africa. The most ruthless and barbaric individuals are, typically the Black Africans running the child-soldier rings and the diamond mine. Conversely, the White Africans bring a violent history of calculated violence and use technology to their advantage. Archer and the Colonel share a history of guerrilla repression of enemies, potentially through the use of terrorism, and the Colonel uses overwhelming firepower and logistical support in his attempts to recover the diamond. Even Solomon acknowledges the discrepancy, in his summation of the film's racial question: "I know good people who say there is something wrong with us, inside our black skin. That we were better off when the white man ruled. But my son, he is good." (1:40.10-1:40.25)
