INVICTUS

Ma's View:

Yesterday ( 09/02/10) was "cheap Tuesday" so we took time out to go see Invictus.  For us it was already a "must see", being about Nelson Mandela and with Morgan Freeman in the lead.  Throw in that it was directed by Clint Eastward and how can you go wrong?   We were not disappointed.  Even Matt Damon excelled himself in a custom made role of the rugged Rugby captain, Francois Pienaar, but Freeman inhabits his role with masterly ease, capturing the gentle strength, wisdom and simple unpretentiousness of the (then) new President.  And the sound track was very good as well!

The movie does not pretend to be a full 'bio' of Mandela; instead, as the title suggests, it seeks to portray the essence of the man - the mysterious strength that allowed him to emerge from 27 years in prison with forgiveness in his heart.    It was this strength which enabled him to face and solve the problems of South Africa in post-apartheid years and build a unified nation out of chaos.  One of the tools he used to do this was Rugby, for he recognised that sport breaks down cultural and class barriers and he immediately perceived the importance of retaining the Springboks name and colours (even though traditionally hated by the blacks as a "white-boys team") and promoting the team as a symbol of the reconciliation of his "rainbow" nation.  The movie follows Mandela's collaboration with the captain, Pienaar, to inspire the team to victory in the 1995 Rugby World Cup where they came from the under-dog position to defeat the mighty All Blacks.

Eastwood tells the story in a straightforward and compelling fashion, building surely to the climax of the match (a little over-long even if you are a Rugby fan) and the achievement of Nelson's goal of reconciliation through the support the team receives from black and white alike.  We learn, as does Pienaar, the words of William Earnest Henley's poem which inspired Mandela to remain unbowed after so long in prison - "I am the master of my fate; I am the captain of my soul".  Consummate story teller as he is, Eastwood does not allow the monumental nature of his task to obscure the humanity of the story and so all the minor characters are fully fleshed out and their issues illuminated - from the mixed-race security team to the black housekeeper of the Pienaar family and Mandela's own uneasy relationship with his daughter and ex-wife, all are woven into the tapestry.

A wonderfully inspiring story about a great man!

My score:  8/10


Pepe's View:

I am always suspicious of movies showing at Cineplexes as inevitably they do not live up to their hype.  "Invictus" however is a movie that restores my faith in at least some of the blockbuster movies showing in these popcorn palaces.  Clint Eastwood should run classes on how to tell a story without sex, without too much sentimentality and without becoming corny for all the new wave of "gun" directors.  His mastery of the story telling process without forgetting the importance of the characters makes Invictus one of the great movies that is at once inspiring, entertaining, informative and moving.

There are a number of beautiful small touches in the movie - the dark skinned boy who sits beside a "white" police car outside the stadium during the final of the world cup so he can listen to the match on the police radio and slowly throughout the course of the match gets closer and closer to the car until he is sitting on the bonnet and eventually celebrating with the policemen.  This tiny cameo  captured in real terms what Nelson Mandela was tring to do through Rugby - break down the barrier of race.  Similarly, the  black and white bodyguards for the president slowly came to respect and  understand each other through the process of guarding the president during the world cup. 

The poem at the basis of the film "Invictus" by William Ernest Henley was quoted in part in the film but I would have liked to have been able to read it myself even if only during the end credits.  This is a minor flaw though as  the acting is superb (especially Morgan Freeman), the direction is first class (loved the seamless interspersing of real footage from the time), the story telling is entertaining and I came away inspired once again by that extraordinary man Nelson Mandela.

A must see movie.

Score:   9/10