I'd heard good and bad about Invictus when I went to the movie theater and plunked down my $
5 to see it. (Have to love Kerasotes' Five Buck Club.) But it seemed like a story I would enjoy, and I think Clint Eastwood is a very good director, so I figured I'd give it a try.
Well, it was definitely a movie I enjoyed, and between this one and Gran Torino I've come to feel that Clint Eastwood is an excellent director. His use of camera angles, the way he frames shots, and most of all his ability to tell a very human tale create a movie experience that sucks you in and really gets you involved with the story. Even without car chases, explosions, or incredibly imaginative alternate worlds.
The movie tells the story of Nelson Mandela's early years as President of South Africa after the end of the apartheid era. As most of the world knows, Mandela was held as a political prisoner for 27 years by the white ruling party until he was released in 1990. He was elected President in 1994 and became a symbol of the change from the white minority rule to an inclusive, democratic nation.
It also gets into the challenges he faced trying to change hundreds of years of mindset on both sides of the issue. Early-on, it shows him entering his office in the government building where he now works. White staff members are busily packing their belongings in boxes on the assumption Mandela plans to replace them all with black workers. Instead, he calls them together and says they can leave if they want but he's hoping they'll stay and help him build a better nation. He assures them no one is being fired just for the color of their skin. That sets the tone for the man and his view on bringing the country together.
Still, like all great leaders, he recognizes that he needs an event, some sort of symbol, that can rally the entire nation together and break down the old barriers. He sets his sights on winning the Rugby World Cup. From there, the movie shows how he and Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), captain of the Springboks, South Africa's national team, work toward that goal. It's no small task, by the way, since the only reason South Africa is even participating is that they are the host country and thus must be allowed into the competition. They would not have qualified originally on their own.
While there's plenty of rugby action (which can be tough to follow if you don't know anything about rugby), it's really the people who are interesting, from the black and white Presidential bodyguards learning to trust each other to Pienaar's father's way of relating to their black housekeeper to Pienaar's coming to understand of just how extraordinary it is that Mandela is who he is based on what he's gone through.
And that's the key. I came out of the movie thinking "I should pick up a biography of Nelson Mandela and read it," because he looks to be one of those people who seem to rise up just when a larger-than-life character is needed. Although the movie only touches briefly on his life in prison you get a sense of how unique he is. To come out of it with such a positive and forgiving attitude rather than be hostile and bitter, as most of us would, is nothing short of extraordinary.
In my mind it's definitely worth a look. And seeing it on the big screen is the best way to watch a larger-than-life man take on the world.
As many have reported, Nelson Mandela is a role Morgan Freeman was born to play. His quiet dignity captures the essence of the man, at least the man we've seen on news reels.
--Reviewed by Ken Krause
Recent Comments