Invictus (2009)
Minister of Sport: "According to the experts, we will reach the quarterfinals"
Nelson Mandela : "According to the experts, you and I should still be in jail"
I love movies. And I love sports too. So when these two are combined, I can't help having a major bias in liking them. The key to a good sports movie is it doesn't focused on the sport itself, but rather on the humanity that connected the people in the sports. Fine example of this are The Damned United, whose focused on the friendship of legendary manager Brian Clough and his assistant, Peter Taylor. Also Ken Loach's Looking for Eric which explored the relationship between a football fan and his idol. Fortunately, Invictus (2010) falls in the same category.
The year is 1995. Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) was only in office for a year. South Africa, despite it's newly status as an apartheid-free country was in turmoil. The tension between the black and the white people are high. The blacks still hold resentment because of decades of oppression, the whites fears that the blacks will run them out of the country. Not to mention unemployment and economic problems, needless to say Mandela had a huge job in his hands.
When South Africa was appointed for that year Rugby World Cup host, Mandela saw an opportunity.During a private meeting with Francois Pieenar (Matt Damon), the SA team captain, he implies that they could do so much more than playing rugby. They can provide some hope of unity and achievement in this World Cup. Although he never said it, Pieenar understood him.
And so it begans, the unlikely story of how South Africa became a world champion. It was inspiring and touching. Even though you don't understand a thing about rugby, you find yourself willing the players to score, to run through tackles. Clint Eastwood proved his skill again as one of the best working director today. The director son, Kyle, the musician who was tasked with providing music for this movie proved to be a good choice. What I like about Eastwood here is that, unlike many movies like this, he didn't dwell on those big inspiring moments, he keep it short but hitting the target nevertheless.
This movie does have one flaw though. I have nothing but respect for Morgan Freeman, he's a great actor, and I know Mandela said himself that if there's a movie about him he wanted Freeman to play him. But one thing that work against Freeman in this movie is that his iconic status proved hard to get overlooked. Freeman was so well known and iconic himself that it is hard to see him as another iconic character. Morgan Freeman did brought that charisma, wisdom and utter respect that we can expect from a man with Mandela stature. Matt Damon I thought did alright, despite not having the right physique for a rugby player. He did have one of the best non-sporting scene in the movie when the rugby team visited Mandela former cell in Robben Island, it's simple yet powerful in the movie message.
I loved the movie despite its flaws though. The fact this is based on a true story and according to some reviews, this movie got it right for about 90% regarding historical accuracies, just make it more wonderful for me. You'll appreciate Nelson Mandela and what he has achieve more if you haven't already. Go and see it.
Nelson Mandela : "According to the experts, you and I should still be in jail"
I love movies. And I love sports too. So when these two are combined, I can't help having a major bias in liking them. The key to a good sports movie is it doesn't focused on the sport itself, but rather on the humanity that connected the people in the sports. Fine example of this are The Damned United, whose focused on the friendship of legendary manager Brian Clough and his assistant, Peter Taylor. Also Ken Loach's Looking for Eric which explored the relationship between a football fan and his idol. Fortunately, Invictus (2010) falls in the same category.
The year is 1995. Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) was only in office for a year. South Africa, despite it's newly status as an apartheid-free country was in turmoil. The tension between the black and the white people are high. The blacks still hold resentment because of decades of oppression, the whites fears that the blacks will run them out of the country. Not to mention unemployment and economic problems, needless to say Mandela had a huge job in his hands.
When South Africa was appointed for that year Rugby World Cup host, Mandela saw an opportunity.During a private meeting with Francois Pieenar (Matt Damon), the SA team captain, he implies that they could do so much more than playing rugby. They can provide some hope of unity and achievement in this World Cup. Although he never said it, Pieenar understood him.
And so it begans, the unlikely story of how South Africa became a world champion. It was inspiring and touching. Even though you don't understand a thing about rugby, you find yourself willing the players to score, to run through tackles. Clint Eastwood proved his skill again as one of the best working director today. The director son, Kyle, the musician who was tasked with providing music for this movie proved to be a good choice. What I like about Eastwood here is that, unlike many movies like this, he didn't dwell on those big inspiring moments, he keep it short but hitting the target nevertheless.
This movie does have one flaw though. I have nothing but respect for Morgan Freeman, he's a great actor, and I know Mandela said himself that if there's a movie about him he wanted Freeman to play him. But one thing that work against Freeman in this movie is that his iconic status proved hard to get overlooked. Freeman was so well known and iconic himself that it is hard to see him as another iconic character. Morgan Freeman did brought that charisma, wisdom and utter respect that we can expect from a man with Mandela stature. Matt Damon I thought did alright, despite not having the right physique for a rugby player. He did have one of the best non-sporting scene in the movie when the rugby team visited Mandela former cell in Robben Island, it's simple yet powerful in the movie message.
I loved the movie despite its flaws though. The fact this is based on a true story and according to some reviews, this movie got it right for about 90% regarding historical accuracies, just make it more wonderful for me. You'll appreciate Nelson Mandela and what he has achieve more if you haven't already. Go and see it.
posted by Chafid at
9:20 PM
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