"INVICTUS", the movie

Well, folks, I loved “INVICTUS”! It’s a very good film – not a biopic really but an inspirational movie on Nelson Mandela’s achievement in uniting a nation through sport.

Some time ago, I had already seen “Goodbye Bafana”, a film about the relationship between Mandela and his censor officer and prison guard, James Gregory. Even if the ties portrayed in the film are not 100% accurate, at least we have an idea of how hard it might have been to spend 18 years on Robben Island (of the 27 he spent in prison), breaking rocks, sleeping on the floor of a tiny cell, being humiliated and censored all the time. “Goodbye Bafana” ends with Mandela’s release from prison – on 11th February 1990 – at the very moment in which “Invictus” starts.

Immediately after being released, Nelson Mandela (often called Madiba , an honorary title adopted by elders of his clan) works to end Apartheid and to make peace with those who had put him in jail for so long. The first full democratic elections take place in 1994 and Mandela is elected president of South Africa but as an opposition newspaper put it “He can win an election, but can he run a country?” Indeed, there is much to be done to overcome decades of segregation, racial tensions and violence and healing such a divided nation (present even through his own security team) has to start by those who surround him…

While Mandela attempts to tackle the country's largest problems - including crime and unemployment - he attends a game of the Springboks, the country's rugby union team. Blacks in the stadium cheer against their home squad, as the Springboks (their history, players and even their colours) represent prejudice and apartheid in their mind. Knowing that South Africa is set to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup in one year's time, Mandela convinces the South African rugby board to keep the Springbok team, name and colours the same. He then meets with the Springboks' captain François Pienaar (Matt Damon). Though Mandela never verbalizes his true meaning during their meeting, Pienaar understands the message below the surface: if the Springboks can gain the support of black South Africans and succeed in the upcoming World Cup, the country will be unified and inspired. Mandela also shares with Pienaar that a poem, Invictus, had been inspiring to him during his time in prison, helping him to "stand when all he wanted to do was lie down".

Pienaar and his teammates train, but the players (all but one are white) voice disapproval that they are to be envoys to the poor and public - fearing exhaustion from overwork. Mandela, too, hears disapproval from friends and family. For many blacks, especially the radicals, the Springboks symbolised white supremacy and did not want to support their national team.

Things begin to change, however, as the players went around interacting with the locals. During their last few pre-tournament friendlies, support for the Springboks begins to grow amongst the blacks. The World Cup begins, and citizens of all races turn out in numbers to show their unanimous support for the Springboks. At the suggestion of several security guards, Mandela decides to sport a Springbok jersey with Pienaar's number 6 on it to show his support and his name is chanted repeatedly by the home crowd during his entrance, a contrast to a previous rugby match scene, in which Mandela is booed by some of the whites in the crowd. As momentum builds, even the security team members become at ease with each other and the black members who disliked rugby eventually began to enthusiastically support their national team alongside their white colleagues.

SOURCE: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Invictus_(film)

I really liked this movie. I believe Morgan Freeman truly incarnates the character and Clint Eastwood is very successful in making us admire Nelson Mandela, proud of François Pienaar and Springbok supporters.

A Nobel Peace Prize winner – among many other prizes – Mandela reminds me of Gandhi with his nonviolence strategy. Again, even if the film is not 100% accurate, it is a lesson on forgiveness and simplicity, and as far as I am concerned, a tribute to one of the greatest men of our times, an “unconquered” soul, who gave his very best for the transition towards a multi-democratic South Africa – the rainbow nation – and thus, to world freedom.

Don’t miss "INVICTUS"!!!

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POEMS...
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