Blood Diamond

Danny Archer:
What if I told you I was a missionary? huh this would be wierd

Danny Archer:
You Americans, you Americans love to talk about you feelings.

Danny Archer:
Look, I don't give a f*** about you! That diamond could be priceless! We split it and you get your family, yes or no. Yes or no!

Danny Archer:
The only reason you're still alive is because you haven't told anyone where it is.

Danny Archer:
That diamond is my ticket out of this... godforsaken continent.

Danny Archer:
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 Archer:
[to Maddy] Well, off the record, I like to get kissed before I get f***ed.

Danny Archer:
[to Maddy] "fly off' huh?"

Danny Archer:
When's the last time the world wasn't falling apart?

Danny Archer:
Who do you think buys the stones I bring out? dreamy American girls who want a story book wedding and a big shiny rock just like the ones they see in the advertisements in your politically correct magazines. So, please, don't come here and make judgements on me, alright. I provide a service, the world wants what we have, and they want it cheap. We're in business together you and me. Get over yourself, darling.

Danny Archer:
We thought we were fighting communism, but in the end it was all about who gets what, you know? Ivory, Oil, Gold... Diamonds. So one day I decided "F*** it," ya know? "I'm gonna get mine."

Danny Archer:
You know I once had this buddy named Maboko. We used to hunt bushmeat together as kids. Now baboons, baboons they were the hardest to catch. We'd always find them by the smell of their sh*t and that's how we learned to track your black terrorists in Angola: by the smell of your sh*t. It's not the same as a baboon's but after you skin it the flesh of a baboon isn't all that different than a man's you know. I tell you, I can track anything. Risk my life like that again and I'll peel you face back off your head.

Danny Archer:
[As Solomon deserts Archer after saying Archer is not the master] Oh that is exactly what I am and you'd better remember it Kaffir! [Solomon knocks him down]

Danny Archer:
Sometimes I wonder... will God ever forgive us for what we've done to eachother...? Then I look around and I realise... God left this place a long time ago.

Danny Archer:
[last words] That's alright. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.

Maddy:
[To Danny] So what are you... a smuggler?

M'ed:
This is my country, man. We here long 'fore you came.. long after you're gone.

Solomon Vandy:
[To his son] I will find you... if it takes my life.

Captain Poison:
Young man, young man, you must understand! The government wants you to vote, ok? They say 'The future is in your hands!'... We're now the future! So we take your hands! No more hands, no more voting!

Captain Poison:
I do not need to kill you Solomon Vandy. If you don't bring me the diamond, I will find the rest of your family, just as I have found your son. I will rape your wife in front of your eyes, slit her throat... and I will keep your daughters for myself. You think I am a devil. But only because I have lived in hell. I want to get out. You'll help me."

Colonel Coatzee:
T.I.A., huh Danny?

Archer:
Who do you think got you out of jail, huh!? That makes us partners!

Solomon:
I am NOT your partner!

Maddy:
You're using him.

Danny Archer:
I am using him and you are using me and this is how it works, isn't it?

Archer:
Where is Commander Zero?

Captain:
I am Captain Rambo.

Archer:
Right, Right. I've seen your films, huh.

[This scene is spoken in Krio, Sierra Leoneian creole]

Commander Zero:
Mistah Achah, Com' heah. You get som'ting for me.

Archer:
Den you sef get som'ting for me, ah?

Commander Zero:
You bring da plane com' firs'.

Archer:
Are you craz'? You ge' fo' pay me firs' for dem.

[Commander Zero walks over to Archer and hands him a small velvet bag. Archer opens it and examines the contents]

Archer:
Dis, no fine, ah? Dis no fine.

Commander Zero:
Dis no more you get, Poo'mui! [white boy]

Archer:
Den you'n yo' boys den can use ona all rotten AK dem, against dem gov'ment troop, and den new weapons dem, ah?

Commander Zero:
Maybe we just kill you and take away what you bring back.

Archer:
Then you get one more dede body, instead of aeroplane way-full wit' grenade launchahs! Som'ting I'm gon' go to dem gov'ment! Dem gov'ment, at least dem gon' pay me, ah?

Commander Zero:
Wait, wait, my friend. Here is da ting you want. (Takes out a coffee can full of raw diamonds and pours them into Archer's hand) So many, I not know what do with them all. Hey Archer! Next time, you bring a satellite TV, eh? I want see Baywatch!

Archer:
Ja ja.

[On the news that the rebels are approaching the city]

Archer:
Maybe time to get your family out, huh?

A'med:
And go where? Just fire up the chopper and fly away like you people? This my country, man. We here long 'fore you came; Long after you gone.

Solomon:
You are how old?

Archer:
Me? I'm 31.

Solomon:
And you have no wife?

Archer:
No.

Solomon:
...no children?

Archer:
No.

Solomon:
...and no home?

Archer:
No.

Solomon:
But you have money, yes?

Archer:
Ja...some.

Solomon:
...but not enough?

Archer:
No

Solomon:
If you get this diamond, you will have enough money, yes?

Archer:
Yes.

Solomon:
...then you will get the wife and children.

Archer:
Probably not, no.

[Solomon chuckles]

Archer:
What?

Solomon:
...I'm confused.

Archer:
Yeah? ...Makes two of us my brü.

Archer:
Ah Christ...I've gotta quit smoking, huh?

Solomon:
Why don't you?

Archer:
I tell you what, Solomon. You find me this diamond, I'll quit right then and there, huh! (hah)

Archer:
Cordell... howzit shona?

Cordell:
Long time, pal.

Archer:
How's Alice?

Cordell:
Ah, she's well, thanks.

Archer:
Tim must be in school, right?

Cordell:
Ah, big kids, big problems ya know?

Archer:
Ja ja.

Cordell:
I heard you got into a spot of trouble in the bush, huh?

Archer:
Ah... well, you know the bush, right brü?

[Cordell chuckles]

Archer:
Company doing well?

Cordell:
Can't complain...11 wars in the continent, we're keeping busy.

Archer:
So, what, you here on holiday, huh?

Archer:
...How's the colonel?

Cordell:
He sends his regards.

Archer:
Good, good... score us a loose, huh?

Cordell:
Smoking'll kill you, brü.

Archer:
Ah... only if I live, right?

[Archer punches him in the gut]

Archer:
...Thats for breaking my T.V. brü. Tell the colonel he'll get his money. I'll come see him soon.

Col. Coatzee:
A deal went bad and you owe me money. I'll take a stone as payment.

Archer:
D'you think if I found a stone like that, I'd still be on this continent? [Archer laughs.] Come on!

Col. Coatzee:
[Coatzee smiles.] Ach, Danny...give me your hand. [Archer extends his hand and Coatzee takes a fistful of red earth, lets it fall onto Archer's palm.] This red earth, it's in our skin. The Shona say the colour comes from all the blood that's being spilled fighting over the land. This is home. You'll never leave Africa.

Archer:
If you say so, sir.

[The scene depicts an R.U.F. labour mining camp where captive villagers are forced to mine for diamonds.]

Captain Poison:
The Freetown government and their white masters have raped your land to feed their greed! R.U.F. have freed you!

[Armed guards are shown, supervising the captives.]

Captain Poison:
No more slave and master here! R.U.F. is fighting for the people! R.U.F. is FIGHTING for Sierra Leone!

[One of the workers finds a diamond and hides it in his mouth, apparently successfully.]

Captain Poison:
Any bastard think he would joke with me diamond, I go cut he throat! STOP!

[Captain Poison approaches the worker.]]

Captain Poison:
Give it to me!

[The worker takes the diamond out of his mouth and hands it to Poison, who then shoots him.]

Maddy:
You lost both your parents didn't you?

Archer:
That's a polite way of putting it, ja. Mom was raped and shot and... Dad was decapitated and hung from a hook in the barn. I was 9. Boo hoo, right?

Cordell:
Smoking'll kill you brü..

Archer:
Only if I live, huh?

Archer:
T.I.A., right M'ed?

M'ed:
T.I.A.

Maddy:
(to Archer) What's T.I.A.?

Archer:
This Is Africa, huh?

(After the colonel been shot on his chest)

Colonel:
T.I.A., huh, Danny?

Archer:
T.I.A.

(Archer shoots the colonel as the colonel draws his gun again)

[Archer is dying from being shot to the side]

Archer:
Take it.

Solomon:
Mr. Archer...

Archer:
Take it! Take it!

Solomon:
I thought you'd steal it from me?

Archer:
Ja, it occured to me, huh?

[Archer laughs]

Archer:
Listen, this is Maddy's card, huh. You call her when you get to Conakry, alright? [giving Solomon his gun] And don't trust that pilot for a second. You point this at his head if he f***s around, alright?

Solomon:
I can carry you.

Archer:
You take your boy home, huh. You take him home.

[As Archer is dying of a bullet wound]

Soldier:
Archer, you're a dead man!

Archer:
Ja ja.

Archer:
You publish one word of this story before I give them the stone and I'm dead, huh?

Maddy:
What if you don't come out with the diamond?

Archer:
Then write whatever the hell you want, I'm already dead.

Maddy:
Hello, Maddy Bowen?

Archer:
Thought I'd never call, huh?

Maddy:
And I'm so glad you did. Um, when am I gonna see you?

Archer:
Maddy, I want you to do me one more favor, huh? I want you to go meet Solomon. In Conakry.

Maddy:
In Guinea. Why do you want me to go to Guinea?

Archer:
We found his son, but he's gonna need some help. You understand? Maddy?

Maddy:
You're hurt. Are you hurt?

Archer:
Ja, well, I've got a little problem here.

Maddy:
OK, you, um, you tell me where you are. Archer?

Archer:
I'm looking at an incredible view right now. I wish you were here, Maddy.

Maddy:
OK, then I'm coming to be with you. You just tell me where you are.

Archer:
I don't think so.

Maddy:
Are you still in Kono? Because I can get someone there to help you.

Archer:
Maddy, you find someplace safe for the boy, alright? And keep him out of sight. And get Solomon to London. He's bringing something with him, and he's gonna need your help.

Maddy:
Why aren't you bringing it yourself?

Archer:
I'm saying it's a real story now, and you can write the hell out of it. I'm really happy I met you, you know that?

Maddy:
Yeah, I'm, um, I'm really happy I met you, too. And I wish I could be there with you.

Archer:
That's alright. I'm exactly where I'm supposed to be.

[Archer chances upon Maddy Bowen in a schoolroom, typing on her laptop]

Archer:
[reads screen from just behind her] "In the 90-degree heat, Solomon Vandy drops to his knees rattling the wire with his powerful hands." [Mandy gets miffed at him] What?

Maddy:
Nothing. Do you think I'm exploiting his grief? You're right. It's sh*t. It's like one of those infomercials. You know, the little black babies with swollen bellies and flies in their eyes. So here I've got dead mothers, I've got severed limbs, but it's nothing new. It might be enough to make people cry if they read it, maybe even write a check, but it's not gonna be enough to make it stop. I am sick of writing about victims, but it's all I can f***ing do. Because I need facts. I need names. I need dates. I need pictures. I need bank accounts. People back home wouldn't buy a ring, if they knew it cost someone else their hand. But I can't write that story until I get facts that can be verified which is to say, until I find someone who will go on record. So if that is not you and you're not really gonna help me, and we're not really gonna screw then why don't you get the f*** out of my face and let me do my work?

Archer:
Hmm wow. [chuckles] Do you know that Solomon thinks his son's gonna be a doctor one day? Maybe his baby dies in that camp. Maybe his daughter gets raped. Who knows, maybe both. Do you realize that that diamond is the only chance he has of getting his family out?

Maddy:
You don't give a rat's ass..

Archer:
Do you understand that?

Maddy:
... about his family.

Archer:
Listen, I need to get to Kono, all right? The only way is with the press convoy. I'm a journalist, and he's my cameraman, all right?

Maddy:
No.

Archer:
Please, Maddy. Please. [puts hand on her shoulder]

Maddy:
NO! [shakes him off]

Archer:
[goes to window] After I smuggle the stones across the border, local buyers get them to a middleman in Monrovia.

Maddy:
[interested at what he just said] Go on.

Archer:
He pays off Customs and then certifies that the diamonds were mined in Liberia. That way, they can be legally exported. Now, once they've reached the buyers in Antwerp, [closes classroom door as he explains] diamonds are brought to the sorting tables, no more questions are asked. By the time they get to India, the dirty stones are mixed with the clean stones from all over the world, and then they become like any other diamonds.

Maddy:
And Van De Kaap knows about all this?

Archer:
When I get to London, I meet with Simmons. Supply and demand. You control the supply, and you keep the demand high. Now, there's an underground vault, where they put all the stones they buy up to keep off the market, so they can keep the price high. If rebels wanna flood the market with a billion dollars' worth of rough, a company like Van De Kaap, who says that they're rare, they can't afford to let that happen. Especially when they're telling some poor sod he's supposed to shell out three months' salary for an engagement ring. Now, technically speaking, they're not financing the war but creating a situation where it pays to keep it going. You understand?

Maddy:
Yes. And where's my proof?

Archer:
[shows her a black book, pointing out contents] Names, dates and numbered accounts. You publish one word of this story before I give them the stone and I'm dead, huh? After I give it to them, then... I leave this continent forever.

Maddy:
If you don't come out with the diamond?

Archer:
Then write whatever you want. I'm already dead.

[Archer and Solomon trek but Solomon suddenly diverts]

Archer:
Hold up there, my man. It's this way, huh? Where do you think you are going? Stop! [confronts Solomon] I said, stop! He is not down there, all right? [but Solomon shoves] All right. You're gonna need some of that old discipline, huh? Now you listen here, my boy, and you listen well. You are not going down there. Are we clear?

Solomon:
You are not the master. [shoves back and walks on]

Archer:
Right now, that is EXACTLY WHAT I AM, AND YOU’D BETTER REMEMBER IT, KAFFIR! [Solomon rushes him at the insult and they fight. As they struggle, Archer recovers and points his gun at Solomon] Don't you f***ing move, huh? Don't you move. Don't you move, huh?

Solomon:
My son is there!

Archer:
Your son is GONE, huh?

Solomon:
He is alive!

Archer:
He's gone!

Solomon:
He's alive! He's there with those crazy people! [Archer holds back] I am his father! His father! I should have protected him! I must go find him. I cannot live without knowing! Shoot me if you want, but I'm going. Why should it matter, I'm dead already!

[Solomon and Archer fight off Colonel Coetzee and his men, and Archer just shot the colonel]

Colonel Coetzee:
TIA, huh, Danny?

Archer:
TIA... [Archer shoots the colonel as the colonel draws his gun again; to Solomon] Keep digging, huh? They'be here any second. [tries to search Coetzee's body for more ammo, but suddenly feels he was also hit]

Solomon Vandy:
[trying to reason with Dia, who has a gun aimed at him] You're Dia Vandy, of the proud Mende tribe. You are a good boy who loves soccer and school. Your mother loves you so much. She waits by the fire making plantains and red palm oil stew with your sister N'Yanda...and the new baby. [gradually gets closer] The cows wait for you. and Babu, the wild dog who minds no one but you. I know they made you do bad things, but you are not a bad boy. I am your father... who loves you. And you will come home with me and be my son again.

Aaaaaaggh...

What are you going to do, China... Shoot me right here?

Archer, confronts Solomon as he rises in the morning from a junk car.

Danie Archer:

"So... What did you do; bury it? Ja... I would have buried it."