For most of us diamonds are a symbol of status and wealth, but in the countries where they are mined it stands for nothing more than racial oppression and economic exploitation.

Edward Zwick's "Blood Diamond" is a blend of gripping drama and frightening reality that captures the conflict for the possession of precious stones.

It is an edge-of-the-seat action thriller with morality as its subtext. It's difficult to find a superlative for Zwick's excellent craftsmanship which keeps you hooked till the end.

As the story unfolds you gasp in shock, flinch in pain, shudder at the unrestrained brutality and by the time the movie reaches its climax you are dismayed and disgusted seeing the so-called civilised people losing their sanity in quest for diamonds.

It is one of those rare films that leave you satiated but at the same time has lingering effect on the mind. You are haunted by the images of innocent children, who are kidnapped, brainwashed, drugged and forced to take up arms to terrorise and kill people.

You are likely to have an aversion to the precious stones after watching the film.

Set in Sierra Leone during the 1990's civil war, it revolves around a diamond smuggler Danny Archer (Leonardo DiCaprio), an ex-mercenary who can go to any length to possess a pink diamond found by Solomon Vandy (Djimon Hounsoun), a fisherman.

Vandy is a victim of the civil war carried on by hell-raising rebels executing one of the most brutal military campaigns to make more money for themselves and the so-called sophisticated diamond merchants.

During an attack by a rebel group, Vandy is captured and separated from his family. The rebels forced him to work in a diamond field and while digging for the precious stones he finds a rare pink diamond and hides it. But, before he could retrieve the priceless stone, the diamond field is attacked.

What happens after that forms the climax of the film!

Performance wise it is flawless! DiCaprio is simply awesome. He has certainly come a long from his days of "Gangs of New York". His maturity as an actor is evident in his two back-to-back releases - "The Departed" and "Blood Diamond".

His character has many shades in the film and he excels in each of them, especially in scenes where he brings forth his character's internal conflict.

Djimon Hounsou as Vandy, one of the many Africans who dreams of a normal life, immensely impresses you with his performance. The chemistry between DiCaprio and Hounsou is indeed a highlight of the film.

Apart from DiCaprio and Hounsou, Jennifer Connelly too impresses as a journalist who tries to expose the consequences of the conflict through her write-ups. However, she is aware that it will not have the desired effect on people tucked away in a safe world.

She knows people will read it, discuss it and then go back to their routine lives.

There was a lot of hype about Indian actor Gaurav Chopra sharing screen space with Hollywood biggies, but he just has a blink-and-miss role in the film.

The director has not only succeeded in extracting the best from each of his actors but has also managed to put across a moral message without making it too preachy and melodramatic.

"Blood diamond" is a must see.