Invictus,” Clint Eastwood’s latest and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon, is not a bio-pic or a sports movie although it has elements of both. It is about reconciliation and forgiveness during a time in South Africa’s history where the possibility of violence is everywhere. The film, based on John Carlin’s book Playing the Enemy, takes place in the mid-1990s, just after Nelson Mandela’s election as the country’s first black president. Many of the country’s whites, Afrikaner nationalists still attached to a system that kept their black neighbors oppressed and disenfranchised, braced themselves for payback. Many of Mandela’s black supporters expect it, too, as their right after decades of brutal apartheid. But Mandela (Freeman) knows that getting revenge would be a disastrous course for the fragile democracy he leads. Instead, Mandela hopes to unite his country with a single goal: support the Springbok rugby team in their bid to win the World Cup. So an alliance develops between the president and Francois Pienaar (Damon), the Springbok captain. Pienaar’s struggle to persuade his team to accept the new social realities is a microcosm of Mandela’s larger project. Also illuminating the progress of racial understanding is the subplot about Mandela’s black bodyguards forced to accept their white colleagues as part of the security coterie. They proceed from hostility to wary tolerance to guarded warmth.
“Invictus” is the result of a master storyteller and Eastwood, working with a script by Anthony Peckham, clearly knows what he wants. This is an absorbing character study of a famous man during a brief period of his life; it is an investigation of the nature of leadership; it is an underdog team sports movie. It all works. And no one else could portray Mandela except Morgan Freeman. He adroitly conveys Mandela’s idealism and shrewd understanding of the importance of symbols and emotions. Freeman allows us to see a complicated man carrying the burden of a long imprisonment that resulted in estrangement from his family. Matt Damon, mastering a difficult accent, plays Pienaar with disciplined understatement. Even though you could argue that “Invictus” has a predictable ending, it hits you squarely in the heart nonetheless. This is a must see movie. 12/11/09
1 comment:
"Invictus" is a story that was made for Morgan Freeman to play. He is perfect for the role of Nelson Mandela, as the blogger noted, perfect! I also thought Matt Damon was good in his portrayel of the rugby team captain. Don't miss this fine picture, one of the best films of the year for it's acting, screenplay and direction. I give it a 5 bagger (popcorn) out of a possible 5.
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