FILM REVIEW: INVICTUS (by Alicia Koenig)

Introduction/General information about the film Title: Invictus (based on John Carlins book : Playing the Enemy : Nelson Mandela and the game that made a nation)

Director: Clint Eastwood

Actors: Morgan Freeman (nominated for the Oscar of Best Actor), Matt Damon (also

nominated, for the Oscar of Best second role)

Date of realization: 2009

Genre: based on a true story

Setting: The story is set in South Africa in 1995, as Nelson Mandela is released from prison

and starts his mandate as president of South Africa. The setting is very important, as the story

is based on a true story. The facts happened at the same time, in the same places in reality,

twenty years ago.

Main character: The main character is Nelson Mandela, played by Morgan Freeman. He was

born in 1918 and died in December, 2013 in South Africa. He was the major leader of the

fight against apartheid in South Africa, which is an institutional and political system based on

segregation between black and white people. Mandela spent 27 years in prison, on Robben

Island, because he was considered as a terrorist and a communist by the South African

government. He is released in 1990 and elected as President in 1994, after the first multi-

racial elections taking place in the country. The movie shows the beginning of his mandate

and his role for the South African rugby team, the Springboks, in the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

In the movie, Mandelas humanity and willing to transform South Africa into a free country is shown through the organization and the proceedings of the Rugby World Cup, which helped

the country to become a real nation by restoring the unity of South Africa inhabitants, black

and white.

The main character changes from prisoner, victim of the apartheid to South-African president

and leader of the pacific fight against apartheid by the end of the story.

Other characters :

1) Another character: Franois Pienaar Details: He is the captain of the South Africa rugby team, the Springboks. His major

concern is for his team to win the World Cup. Franois was born in a family who believes

in apartheid, as his dads reaction after the election shows it. The man claims the end of South Africa because of Nelson Mandelas election. Franois fate is more or less taking a new turn after he meets Nelson Mandela, who wants South Africa to win the World Cup.

Both men share the same hope, Nelson Mandela believing the win would restore his

countrys unity, for everyone, black or white, would be standing behind the national team.

2) Another character: Chester Williams Details: He is the only black player in the rugby team but his role is very important. His

presence in the team is the reason why black people are also supporting the team. Indeed,

if the team was only made of white players, black people would consider it as exclusively

a white team, none of their business. Nelson Mandela knows how important this player is for uniting everyone behind the same team and a same sport.

Theme

This story is about the fight against apartheid through sports, in this case rugby. Eastwood

decided to stage an important piece of South Africas history through one of its major figure, Nelson Mandela. Apartheid reigned over the country for decades, shown by Mandelas imprisonment, and his election was the first step for the abolition of racial segregation.

Mandela is an inspiration to many people all over the world, for he embodies peace, courage

and determination. His fight, which never stopped, not even during his twenty seven years in

jail, shows the ability of a man to put an end to apartheid in peace. Most of the time, we forget

how important sport is in international diplomacy and in maintaining unity in a population

separated for a long time by inequalities and the movie shows it beautifully.

This book showed me/I learned from this story:

I learnt a lot of things through this movie.

I knew who Mandela was; I knew what he had achieved for South Africa in general but I

didnt know details of his mandate and most of all, I had never heard about the Rugby World Cup. Also, I really enjoyed discovering the way a sport can help in restoring unity, above all

rugby, which is a sport that is, in my opinion, too often forgotten for soccer.

The Action

As I already mentioned it above, the movie is based on the true story of Mandelas election as President of South Africa. His everyday life as a president and the humanity which he treats

his people with is shown through his early morning walks in the streets with his bodyguards,

but also his meetings and his official visits. As the Rugby World Cup is about to be organised,

Mandela understands how helpful the event will be to help South Africans be united as an

only population, not separated because of the colour of peoples skin. He decides to put a strong effort in training the team and encouraging the players, starting by meeting its captain,

Franois Pinaar. A special relationship comes out between the two men, who are both

determined to bring South Africa to win. Mandela finds in Pinaar and his team a new energy

to restore the country, and Pinaar raises Mandela as his role model, for he is truly inspired by

the Presidents life and beliefs. The team is weakened because of many losses and the walk to win starts by building confidence to the team towards itself, but also, to South Africa towards

its team. Did the team finally make it to victory? Youll find out by watching the movie ! Evaluation of the book

What did you like about the movie?

I chose to watch this movie because it is considered as a major piece in cinema, due to its

director, Clint Eastwood, but mainly because it is based on a true story and tells about a

winner of the Nobel Prize for his fight against apartheid. As I said it before, I wanted to know

more about Nelson Mandelas life, and I learnt a lot by watching the movie. I also feel like learning even more about him now.

Clint Eastwoods movies are always quite striking, for instance Gran Torino. I kept this movie in mind because its violence and staging of the reality of gangs remained in my mind. I really

admire the directors ability to show reality as harsh as it is and even though Invictus is not so much about violence, once again, it shows reality at its finest point. The fact that the movie is

based on a true story obviously helped giving it a sense of reality, but this is also helped by

the performance of the actors.

Morgan Freeman is quite exceptional in his role. Several times, I had to remind myself I was

not watching a documentary. Their physical resemblance helped Freeman but more than that,

he seems to embody Mandela perfectly. I had seen different public appearances Mandela had

made, and Freeman imitates his way of speaking but also walking with talent.

I am not a huge fan of Matt Damon in general; however, his performance is great as well. The

bonus on the DVD shows how hard he trained for the role, moving from a normal man type of

body to a professional rugby player one. He was helped by the real Franois Pinaar but also

other professional rugby players who were advising him and the other actors on the field, and

spent hours in the gym to get muscles and strength. No surprise he was nominated for the

Oscars, although he didnt win anything.

I really enjoyed the movie in general. Some specific scenes, such as the one where the team

goes to a very poor slum to teach rugby to children and play with them, are emotionally very

powerful. The movie is a happy ending one, which always makes you feel good when you are

done watching it. However, because the story follows the apartheid system, it makes you

think a lot about the changes it stages. In the end, Mandelas success to reunite his people behind a team is amazingly powerful as well, and his determination and courage are definitely

inspiring.

Was the story predictable (could you guess what was going to happen?) Everyone can guess

what is going to happen because the event already happened back in 1995. The picture of the

team holding the cup in their hands on the DVD (yes, I did watch it on DVD, no streaming for

me!) also reveals the end. However, the end is not the most important. What is truly important

is how the team managed to get to victory and the role the win played in the new unity of the

country; basically what the movie is all about.

This is the poem which inspired Mandela

during his years on Robben Island. It gave

its title to the movie. Mandela writes it

down for Pinaar, giving it to him before the

world cup.