Last Samurai director Edward Zwick has created yet another adventure story but this time using a more modern conflict and raising some searching questions about the role of the modern consumer and big businesses in suffering and conflict taking place in the third world.

Leonardo Di Caprio has been nominated for an Oscar for his performance as Danny Archer, a ruthless diamond smuggler out to chase the biggest treasure in the trade - a 100-carat pink diamond - and make his millions. It all begins for him when he is in Sierra Leone and runs into Solomon Vandy, played by Djimon Hounsou, who has the misfortune of finding this rare diamond while working in a rebel held mine. You may remember Djimon Hounsou from the Oscar winning film Gladiator where his dream was to one day gain his freedom and find his family. If you do remember, then you may get the impression he has been typecast into this role. Nevertheless, he gives a masterful performance in this powerful film.

The backdrop for this epic is the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone in 1999, which ended only recently. It rarely made the news, but there were two issues which did occasionally make the world news - the use of child soldiers and the financing of the war through illegally traded "conflict diamonds" or blood diamonds. Both of these issues are central to the message of this movie. Zwick also brings in subplots which detail how the criminal operations work to get these precious diamonds out into the market so that they can end up as every girl's best friend. He investigates the role of big businesses and important commercial centres like London and Antwerp (in Belgium). He also discusses the colonial past of Africa and how the Imperial powers set the precedent for some of the brutalities we witness (or don't witness due to lack of media coverage) today. And most of all how the money comes back to these same old powers in the modern weapons trade. But the underlying theme is the struggles of the individuals as they seek to make the best they can out of the situation and each achieve their dreams. Throughout the film the audience cannot help but sympathise with Solomon Vandy who has lost his home, his family and his son as a child soldier and now is at risk of losing his life. But it is the character of Danny Archer that is the more complex, on the one hand a diamond smuggler who will do anything to make money but on the other the only real prospect Solomon has of surviving his situation and ever rescuing his family. It is this combination that makes for a great film. The tragic and brutal parts of the film are well balanced by some scenes of real comedy which will make you laugh without taking anything away from the tension in the film - after all everyone has to laugh in life sometimes, no matter how bad or serious things are.

The film is complimented by a great score composed by James Newton Howard and is almost worth watching just for that. There is also the great scenery, which served to augment the feeling of tragedy in this war to such a beautiful country.

Of course the story is also fictional just because it's good doesn't mean that the usual quota of Hollywood artistic licence isn't taken - for example notice the lack of landmines or even threat of landmines when the action moves into the countryside and a very active war zone. Despite this, the message cannot fail to get through that satisfying the wants of the Western consumer for diamonds and protecting Western jobs in the arms industry has a very real and painful cost in human suffering and blood in other parts of the world. If that message gets across and some change is affected, then any artistic licence taken in this film may well end up being more worthwhile than any G7 or G8 or UN conference on what the problem is and how it might be tackled.

On this subject, Hindu Voice spoke to Heena Patel from Shakti Marg about their fair trade campaign and she explained: "We are involved with working with companies here in the UK to ensure that they buy and produce fair trade products especially in the third world. We have also started to work on consumer awareness here in the UK so that people really know what they are buying and the true cost of certain products that appear very cheap but have huge social costs. We have tried raising the issue of Conflict Diamonds here in the UK too but none of the big diamond merchants we contacted in London even replied to us. Unfortunately, we don't have any contacts in Belgium where the diamond business has many Hindus working and dealing in it and perhaps they might be more willing to listen to us and help us to do more to stop the continuing flow of conflict diamonds into jewellery shops all over Europe and America. Only when people are educated about the true cost of these stones will they start to say no and start to make a difference in war-torn areas of Africa ".

My recommendation is to watch the film even if it's just for the entertainment. Hopefully it will make you think twice before you buy/ask for a (or another) diamond in the future.