5 best Leonardo DiCaprio lines from Blood Diamond, ranked

In 2006, Leonardo DiCaprio starred as a white African gunrunner in Blood Diamond, a film that revolves around the Sierra Leonean civil war that left a scar on the country's economy. Unlike his usual charming roles, this film presented him as an antihero who is also a part of the exploitative cycle arising from internal or external forces. Overall, this Oscar-nominated flick offers a stirring look into the country's internal conflicts by presenting a rampant rise in violence and corruption.

However, Blood Diamond received mixed critical responses upon its release for reasons related to the script, drama, and political stance. Some reviewers pointed out that there is no clear antagonist in the story, which makes it rather scattershot. Others mentioned the issue of the outsider perspective on the country's internal concerns, which makes their pathos just fodder for an intense drama while sidestepping any blame.

While that isn't farther from the truth, Leonardo DiCaprio fans still get to see his fascinating performance, whose moral complications put him at an odd stop in this story. His character tries to help a local black man reunite with his family largely because it serves an ulterior motive.

Here are the best Leonardo DiCaprio lines from Blood Diamond

Blood Diamond is about the increasing violence and destruction happening in Africa while the world profits from the diamonds that come from rampant exploitation. However, it focuses on Leonardo DiCaprio's character as the savior of Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsou), a local resident who hopes to reunite with his estranged family. It shows DiCaprio as Danny Archer, an orphaned man trying to lead a life in this land ravaged by war.

5. "T.I.A, Eh?"

In Blood Diamond, T.I.A. stands for This is Africa. Throughout the film, it acts as a constant reminder between Danny and Solomon, who join each other on a journey for their own goals. However, they face many challenges as a part of being in a war-torn country. So, it acts like a reminder and a comic relief of sorts, where they acknowledge the bad parts of living there for survival.

4. "In America, it's bling-bling, in here it's bling-bang!"

While trying to hustle his way out of the misery, Danny crosses paths with Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly), an American journalist who writes for an English-language publication. She does not beat around the bush and asks him directly about the local diamond trade. So, he points out the difference in perspective between the Americans and Africans. For Americans, diamonds are about the glamor, but for Africans, they represent torture and gun violence.

3. "Sometimes I Wonder, Will God Ever Forgive Us For What We've Done To Each Other? Then I Look Around And I Realize, God Left This Place A Long Time Ago."

Danny comes across as a nihilistic person who does things for mere survival. Barring a few exceptions, he rarely shows his kinder side. With this dialogue, he emphasizes internal dissonance. On one side, he believes that humans should be ashamed of their exploitative actions while realizing that it might be too late for that to do much good anyway.

2. "Let Me Tell You Something. You Sell Blood Diamonds Too."

Throughout Blood Diamond, Danny and Maddy's interactions serve as their different worldviews. Danny admits to his amoral behavior, while Maddy doesn't want to sit around and do nothing while the world goes through conflicts. Yet, her work is eventually going through the same machine that uses moralistic jargon to present themselves as morally superior beings while, in fact, they are not as ideal as they see themselves.

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1. "When Was The Last Time The World Wasn't Falling Apart, Eh?"

Danny's first interaction with Maddy in Blood Diamond shows their different belief systems. Maddy wants to do good for the world that seems to be on the verge of falling apart. However, Danny is nihilistic or at least pretends to be to survive. That's why he makes peace with his reality by reminding himself that the world has always been through severe conflicts.

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