With five Academy Award nominations and one win under his belt, Leonardo DiCaprio has become one of the most recognizable and respected talents of Hollywood. From Titanic's Jack to Wolf of Wall Street's Belfort, the actor has taken on several iconic roles and has played them with the utmost forte.
Be it under Quentin Tarantino or Martin Scorsese, DiCaprio has given the classiest of performances and now boasts a sought-after body of work. In all of his memorable roles, diamond-smuggler Danny Archer from Blood Diamond ranks among the best. For his portrayal of the complex Rhoedasian character, the actor was not only lauded for his tricky Zimbabwean accent and catchy dialogues, but also for the poignance in his performance.
"They Want These Guns Too Much To Do Anything Stupid."
This is among Danny's first few dialogues from the film. Landing amidst the torrid lands of West Africa, he talks only business. Even when he's surrounded by armed soldiers of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), he shows no fear.
The reason being that he very well knows they need his weapons, which he's about to trade with them for some blood diamonds. This dialogue establishes that Danny is well-versed with his business and this isn't the first time he's smuggling diamonds.
"When Was The Last Time The World Wasn't Falling Apart, Eh?"
Danny says this when he meets Maddy Bowen (Jennifer Connelly) for the first time. Maddy looks at the TV screen and critiques modern journalism by saying that the world is falling apart, but all we hear about is propaganda and scandals on news.
To this, Danny gives her a rather cynical response by saying the above line. It shows that he isn't as unempathetic to the suffering of the people around him as he seems to be. He has just intentionally blinded himself and accepted the conditions in Africa to survive.
"You're Sure You Are Not A Reporter...Because You Ask A Hell-A-Lot Of Questions, My Man."
When Danny and Solomon (Djimon Hounsou) first team up to extract the diamond and rescue Solomon's family, they don't get along too well. While Danny, as always, is driven by his selfish motives, Solomon is determined to save his family.
However, after a bout of arguments and fistfights, the two decide to comply with each other's rationales and for once, start warming up to one another. That's when Solomon bombards Danny with a series of questions about his personal life. But being clueless about his own life, Danny dismisses Solomon's questions by jokingly asking him the question above.
"That Diamond Is My Ticket Out Of This God-forsaken Continent."
Throughout the film, it becomes evident that Danny isn't complacent to the violence around him. Although hardened by his circumstances, he, too, wishes to leave Africa and start afresh. However, as long as he's working under Colonel Coetzee, he can't do that.
When he learns about Solomon's 100-carat diamond, he finally sees some hope. He realizes that it could be his golden ticket—his way out. That's when he says the above line and desperately tries to find the diamond.
"T.I.A, Eh?"
This one becomes somewhat of a credo for Danny. Every time he finds himself in a dire situation, he knocks it off with a "This Is Africa." The three-letter quote—or rather three-alphabet—holds a lot of heft in the movie's overarching premise because it sums up the entire storyline.
Blood Diamond attempts to give an unflinching portrayal of war-torn West Africa that accommodates breathtaking beauty along with bloodied soils of immense corruption. "T.I.A" becomes a label for these polarizing elements, conveying how beauty and chaos co-exist in the nation's borders.
"Well, Off The Record, I Like To Get Kissed Before I Get F*****."
Maddy Bowen is depicted as a journalist who's sick of reporting news that make little difference in the world. She looks for her big story in Africa, but to no avail. However, when she meets Danny, she tries her best to make him reveal all the secrets of the meaty underbelly of the smuggling business.
When Danny resists, she tries to convince him by saying that all his claims will remain off the record. This enrages Danny and he responds with the above quote. It's just his way of implying that he has no intention of getting screwed over without having anything in return. He understands the dire consequences of revealing the secrets of the diamond business and expects her to scratch his back before he can help her.
"In America, It's Bling-Bling, In Here It's Bling-Bang!"
Being the bold reporter that she is, Maddy wastes no time when she meets Danny. She cuts to the chase and asks Danny about his line of work. That's when Danny warns her by quoting: "In America, it's bling-bling, in here it's bling-bang!"
Danny says it as a reminder that the business of diamonds may be all glorious in America, but in Africa, there's more to it than meets the eye—there are guns, there's violence, and a full-blown civil war. With the quote, he draws a clear line between the perception of a first-world and a third-world country.
"Let Me Tell You Something. You Sell Blood Diamonds Too."
Maddy keeps nudging Danny by reminding him that his contribution to the diamond-smuggling trade is not making things any better in Africa. It is, in fact, just making it worse.
Danny snaps back at her by claiming that she's just like him. He smuggles diamonds from Africa because there's a demand for them in America. "Dreamy American girls" like her want storybook weddings with "shiny rocks." He further thrashes journalism by prodding that the "politically-correct" magazines of America are the ones that are advertising diamonds. So she should be the last person to judge him.
"I'm Exactly Where I'm Supposed To Be."
As Danny takes his final breaths, he looks around and realizes that the continent is not as bad as he thought it is. It was only his circumstances and his perception that made it that way.
This scene comes in tandem with an initial scene where the Colonel tells Danny that the redness in African soil comes from the blood spilled from fighting over the land. When Danny finds his own blood mixed with African soil, he quotes the line above, realizing that he's right at home.
"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."
This one is known to be one of the best quotes of the movie, and rightfully so. It perfectly captures the complexity of Danny's character. He walks around with an emotionally detached and greedy demeanor, but it's all a coping mechanism to deal with his tragic childhood.
With Maddy's voice of reason guiding him, he eventually goes through a major catharsis and sheds his tough facade. That's when he opens up to her and quotes the above. Ultimately, he does prove that despite going through hell all his life, he isn't bereft of kindness.