No man is worth his salt who is not ready at all times to risk his well-being, to risk his body, to risk his life, in a great cause - Theodore Roosevelt

“INVICTUS” is Clint Eastwood's masterpiece biographical sports chronicle based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation about the events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup . Although most South African blacks hated the Springbok team, Mandela befriends Captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) and encourages him to win, so South Africans, white and black, will have something positive to rally around together. As the rugby team begins to succeed, Mandela lobbies to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa, and the country does indeed bond over the sport.

It begins with the 1990 release of Nelson Mandela, 27 years in prison and then flashes forward to 1994 when, having been elected South African president, he attempts to rally the country behind their national rugby team, the nearly entirely white Springboks. He hopes the team, still deemed by many as an example of apartheid, can unite people in national pride. For that he needs Captain Francois Pienaar to win the 1995 World Cup. Freeman is fantastic as Mandela. You really can’t imagine anyone else taking on the role, not least because Mandela himself once said that if any actor were to play him he’d want Freeman. Inspirational sports movies have a tendency to be full of overwrought dialogue and sappy, swelling music accompanying the athletic competition. Eastwood's genius is that even though there are enough of both here, the film never feels bogged down by sentimentality. Instead, Freeman is a revelation as Mandela. It's difficult to imagine any other actor playing the iconic leader, and Freeman doesn't disappoint. With every nod, walk, and smile, Freeman fully transforms into the Nobel Peace Prize winner. One particularly memorable scene shows how the players react to Francois handing out the words to the new South African anthem. And despite the movie's serious themes, there's a surprising amount of humor. The black and white guards are wary of each other at first, but by the end of the movie, they're all playing rugby and picking on each other. No doubt it took more than rugby to overcome the deep fissures caused by apartheid in South Africa, but in this movie, love of rugby and of a new nation goes beautifully hand in hand.

Sport has the power to change the world. It has the power to inspire, the power to unite people and to break down racial barriers. Mandela stated that the way to a negotiated solution lay in a simple-sounding formula: reconciling white fears with black aspirations. Nelson Mandela led his people out of the 'shackles' of apartheid, and still forged reconciliation between the races. He had a clear and great vision for South Africa, and was able to set out and accomplish his goals. Nelson Mandela believed in the words of Harry S. Truman, "Do your duty and history will do you justice". He personifies the fact that living isn’t just about doing for yourself, but what you do for others as well. To be free is not merely to cast off one’s chains, but to live in a way that respects and enhances the freedom of others.

APPENDICE

Invictus- A Poem That Inspired Nelson Mandela

'Invictus' (Unconquered, Undefeated) is a Poem by William Henley. Nelson Mandela was inspired by the poem, and had it written on a scrap of paper on his prison cell while he was incarcerated for 27 years on Robben Island.

I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

Out of the night that covers me,Black as the Pit from pole to pole,

I thank whatever gods may beFor my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstanceI have not winced nor cried aloud.Under the bludgeonings of chanceMy head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tearsLooms but the Horror of the shade,

And yet the menace of the yearsFinds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate, How charged with punishments the scroll,                                 

I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.

It’s about one's head being bloody but unbowed, and being the captain of one's soul: A kind of Victorian My Way. As Mandela said, “No one is born hating another person because of the color of his skin, or his background, or his religion. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.” He writes, “Even in the grimmest times I would see a glimmer of humanity in one of the guards, perhaps just for a second, but that was enough to reassure me and keep me going. Man’s goodness is a flame that can be hidden but never extinguished”.

“Mandela is a leader no prison cell, no intimidation, no threat could silence. A man whose belief in future was so powerful that not even 27 years behind bars and barbed wire could destroy his dream that millions could be free. As we follow that dream, we fight to create a new age of Mandela, a new age of global justice."- Gordon Brown