Clint Eastwood's 'Invictus' (2009)- Cliche yet inspiring

Invictus is a bio-pic based on Nelson Mandela's life during the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Directed by Clint Eastwood; the film stars Morgan Freeman as South African President Mandela and Matt Damon as François Pienaar, the South African team captain.

Predictable movie…yet what work in its favour is Clint Eastwood’s perceptive direction.

Though the movie might not be rousing enough for certain audiences due to its predictable flow, yet what it has working for it is Freeman’s & Damon’s portrayal of real life characters that is admirably convincing.

Invictus tells the true story of how Nelson Mandela joined forces with the captain of South Africa's rugby team, Francois Pienaar, to help unite their country. As newly elected president, Mandela believed that the universal language of sport could bring people together in the wake of apartheid. As a result, the nation's underdog rugby team made an unlikely challenge on the 1995 World Cup Championship – a tournament where very few expected them to do well in.

The film is based on a book by John Carlin “Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation”. The film draws its title from a short poem of the same name, by the English poet William Ernest Henley.

Morgan Freeman plays a newly-elected Nelson Mandela, who wants to use his power for reconciliation, rather than just continuing his predecessors’ oppression of the opposition and perpetuating the cycle. The blacks hate the Springboks because the racist Afrikaners love them and that’s what Mandela wants to change.

As a theme the film seems somewhat repetitive of using sports as a unifying medium for an Apartheid torn nation; what appeals most, to me in particular are a few scenes in the film. The most alluring being the one where Pienaar visits the prison cell where Mandela was held for 27 years, on Robben Island. What is most interesting about this scene is the way in which Pienaar imagines Mandela & his life in that cell & prison, as you hear the poem ‘Invictus’ being played in the background. You feel the same emotion that Damon’s character portrays on screen, that it is the same place where a great man waited for a future that made him an inspiration & motivation to an entire nation. It is as the last lines of the poem ‘Invictus’ states

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

I also liked the scene where Mandela invites Pienaar to have tea with him to make a personal appeal to him about lifting the team as a national team rather than a symbol of the past bigotry. Mandela speaks of leading by example and exceeding expectations, and leaves Pienaar astonished at the idea that they can dare to dream about winning the World Cup. As well as the scenes of interaction between the black & white officers assigned to Mandela’s security, in the film.

If the award nomination of a film makes it any benchmark to view a film’s credibility & success of a film, then I guess this film makes great strides due to its actors solely. Even the Academy Awards (Oscars), 2010 have nominated both Freeman & Damon in the Best Actor & Best Supporting Actor categories, respectively.  The Film also went on to win many critical awards and accolades in many award circuits around the globe.

The thing that is most appealing, and also probably the best fit for the film, is Freeman’s portrayal of Nelson Mandela. Many characters in past have attempted to portray Mandela’s character on screen, yet no one has come so much close to it as Freeman.

So my final word on the film is that even though the themes of racial discrimination & sports film might be clichés to some, what appeals in Eastwood’s ‘Invictus’ is its strong emotions and its actors.

Invictus (2009)

Dir: Clint Eastwood

Starring: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon

Producers: Clint Eastwood, Lori McCreary, Robert Lorenz, Mace Neufeld, Morgan Freeman

Screenplay by: Anthony Peckham

Cinematographer: Tom Stern