Clint Eastwood's "Invictus" tells the inspiring true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team to help unite their country.
The heroic and inspiring life of Nelson Mandela: witness to his country being invaded, occupied / systematically looted by British imperialists and Dutch colonial settlers, militant activist in the resistance against the invaders, imprisoned for 27 years, branded a terrorist by many Western governments including our own, supported by people of all nationalities, races and creeds, released in 1990 as the apartheid system fell in South Africa to become president, Mandela eschewed vengeance for truth & reconciliation to unite all citizens and re-establish his country on the world's stage.
What a story, what a life...and yet for some reason, director Clint Eastwood ends up making a Mandela movie that's the historical equivalent of a story about the time Mandela went down to the shops to buy a loaf of bread. Now I'm an Eastwood fan (actor and director) but the events depicted in 'Invicitus' (i.e. how President Mandela utilised the 1995 Rugby World Cup as an event to unite Black and White South Africans) are so trivial that they barely warrant a mention, much less a two and half hour film. For 'Invictius' (meaning 'Unbeaten' in Latin and the title of an uplifting 17th century poem by William Ernest Henley) despite its political origins, is essentially a glorified sports movie. Entertaining and well acted? Yes. A pointless waste of characters? Absolutely. For it may as well be a Rugby variant on 'Any Given Sunday' or 'All The Right Moves'.
Morgan Freeman, in his third Eastwood directed film, is spot on as Mandela and should've won an Oscar for his performance whilst Mat Damon's hilarious "Seth Afreken" accent is the impressions gift that just keeps on giving: "we dedn't no ab'at the ray-cism". That said, Damon, easily the most prolific and interesting Hollywood actor working today, puts in a physically convincing and otherwise believable take on Rugby Captain Francois Pienaar. There's nothing to be said for the acting, even Eastwood's eye behind the camera is as sharp as ever but a weak storyline lets his side down.
Laugh, as Mandela gives Jason Bour...Francois Pienaar the mission to bring home The World Cup. Cry, as the heinous symbolism of the Springbok is reduced to a series of sanctimonious platitudes. And cheer as Matt Damon motivates his team to rise to the challenge in honour of "...the greatest man I've ever met" (and no, he doesn't mean George Clooney). 'Invicitus' isn't a bad film by any stretch of the imagination, but I'd have preferred it if they hadn't involved Mandela at all unless they were going to give him centre stage. Still, if you know the history and don't mind Rugby, you may as well give it a try.
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Please note this is a region 2 DVD and will require a region 2 (Europe) or region Free DVD Player in order to play Based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation Invictus tells the incredible story of Nelson Mandela’s rise to power during the 1995 Rugby World Cup which took place in South Africa Directed by Clint Eastwood the film stars Morgan Freeman as President Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar the South African rugby team captain
Clint Eastwood directs this drama based on events that took place during the first term of Nelson Mandela's presidency of South Africa. In an effort to help unite his racially and economically divided country in the wake of the apartheid system, the newly-elected Mandela (Morgan Freeman) joins forces with Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), captain of South Africa's rugby team The Springboks. Convinced that he can use the universal language of sport to help bring his people together, Mandela rallies the team as it makes its historic run to the 1995 Rugby World Cup Championship final against New Zealand.
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