Blood diamond is a 2006 German-American film that demonstrates Sierra Leone’s civil war between 1992 and 1999. The cinema is co-produced and directed by Zwick Edwin with Leonardo DiCaprio as the staring. The movie portrays a nation torn apart due to scramble for diamonds between government loyalists and uprising forces.  Also, the motion picture depicts the massacres of the war involving the amputation of the citizen’s hands to discourage them from participating in upcoming elections. Blood diamond film demonstrates the African context of trans-nationalism indicating how Sierra Leone was compromised by colonialism (Onuzulike 100). It is through transnational forces that lead to conflict in Sierra Leone resulting to civil war as western nations participated in the diamond rivalry in the nation. Blood diamond film showcases the predicament of civil war in Sierra Leone. The film covers the diamond mine war zones and the financial transactions involved in between warlords and diamond companies. The film brings aberrantly realistic and traumatizing experience of civil conflict based on the resource Riva valley that exists in Sierra Leone.

Civil War

Notably, Blood Diamond film is an action-packed movie that plays into the reality of the civil war existing in Sierra Leone. The film is characterized by killing and mutilation of both uprising forces and the innocent civilians. The movie takes place during the civil war of 1999 and demonstrates the rivalry and the clashes between state forces and the uprising forces (Onuzulike 130). The movie begins with the abduction of Vandy, a local fisherman, by the uprising forces and takes him into slave labor in diamond mining. Vandy manages to secure a diamond and hides it before he is apprehended by the government forces.

DiCaprio plays the part as a South African merchant that trades guns for diamonds. The merchant gets arrested and detained after he was caught smuggling diamonds into Liberia. While in prison, DiCaprio hears about the pink diamond with the fisherman and plans his release from prison in exchange for the diamond. The presence of the resource merchants and their link to the uprising forces facilitates the rise of violence and increased wars as the rebel forces seeking to protect their business undertakings (Onuzulike 110). Thus, the intervention of the government troops to save the citizens intensifies violence as the rebel forces harass the citizens to demonstrate their authority.

The protagonist of the movie is based on three forms that allow fascinating prospective. Through Simon, the film demonstrates the life of the common people of Sierra Leone whose family have been greatly affected by the uprising forces. The player is forced to resort a desperate measure, hiding a life-threatening secret so that to live a normal life with his family. The aspect of the diamond smuggler (DiCaprio) a native White African demonstrates the act of corruption that faces the African communities causing stigma to other civilians that in turn contribute to violence as they seek justice. Also, this aspect demonstrates the western influence to African communities and their influence to contribute to violence (Anthony 29). Trading guns in the African communities majorly to rebel forces attracted violence among the uprising forces and the government troops due to armory power to control and rule immobilized civilians.

The rebels (RUF) despite their numerical inferiority and extremism against the civilians managed to control over two-thirds of the Sierra Leone’s population. This is based on the SLA’s (government army) poor behavior that promotes their capability to authorize their brutality (Anthony 29). Also, the inability of the government troops to locate the RUF enhanced brutality towards the innocent civilians in search of the rebel’s associates. The need to isolate the innocent citizens from their home far from the insurgents enhanced brutality to the civilians by the government troops based on the citizen’s resistance that in turn intensified the war.

The SLA’s sordid behavior inevitably promoted the alienation of a large number of citizens that promoted some to join the resistant rebels. There is the notion of the SLA soldiers to join the rebels as a means to reduce the violence among the government troops and the insurgents (Anthony 40). This aspect attributed to more looting of the resources and trade of diamonds outside the country. This aspect made the rebels and the government troops indistinguishable. Resistant civilians and democratic citizens thus suffered from the brutality of the militias because they were believed to be collaborating with the administration soldiers.

Moreover, the rise of the Kamajors militia led to looting of the government and the RUF troops. This aspect promoted the need for unprotected civilians to join rebels to gain arms and protect their families. The crash between the RUF rebels and the government army by the Kamajors troops intensified further violence in the country as forces strived to demonstrate dominance (Anthony 59). The strength and the success of the Kamajors troops in battle promoted its expansion as gang members joined the group. However, the faction became more corrupt and involved a lot of murder within itself that resulted in its failure and conflicts.

The fall of the Kamajors enabled the government to demonstrate dominance against the RUF forces through the destruction of their headquarters (Onuzulike 220). Also, the spread of propaganda and execution of effective propaganda programs facilitated the success of the government over the rebel troops. After successful defeat and destruction of the RUF strong bases, the government advocates for the Abidjan Peace Accord to promote peace keeping. The diamonds fueled the civil war in Sierra Leone as both the locals and the foreigners scrambled for the limited resources resulting to bloody conflict. The militia, diamond industry and the government benefited from the natural resources which made it difficult to end the conflict.  Additionally, the film illustrates the major effects of civil battle which include poverty, family separation, migration and loss of life (Onuzulike 198).  During the fight, many girls and women were assaulted living them with severe emotional and physical injuries.  Besides, the economy of the state was affected negatively because most of the foreign investors left the country due to unsafe business atmosphere.   

Summarily, the film Blood Diamond depicts a significant illustration of the agony that African nations go through in scramble for valuable resources. Moreover, the involvement of western merchants in African mineral dealing promotes violence as they provide armory weapons to resistant rebels that humiliate innocent civilians. Further, the greed for power and wealth promotes the African civil war as the resistant insurgent portrays their dominance over the state government. More so, government instability promotes violence in the state as militia forms and easily affects the government operations due to the presence of resistant citizens.also, civil war results to negative consequences that make the society to lose people and live in poverty.