Invictus

I recently found a gem—a South African Diamond—so to speak.  I’m not sure where it was, or me for that matter in the last ten years, but there it was in my local library ready for me to “discover.” Invictus is a film that I can’t say loudly enough, is not to be missed! It was given to us by producer-director Clint Eastwood, and let me say, it is a gift to humanity. 

This story is a little slice of the life of Nelson Mandela taken from his book, Playing the Enemy. Mandela is played brilliantly by Morgan Freeman. Apartheid is over but definitely not forgotten, and Mandela shows up for his first day as president of the Union of South Africa to find the “whites” from the former government packing up their offices in boxes and leaving—an assumption. Mandela calls a staff meeting and tells them they are not fired and that if they feel like they can work with him, he would like them to stay. As expected, most leave but a few faithful South Africans choose to stay, some his personal bodyguards. 

Creating a new government-based on a different mindset was, as expected, virtually impossible, made even more so with his hope of inclusivity. I dare say most expected him to toss out the old and bring in the new. In retrospect, from a world apart that would have just been another coup, another transfer of power, where eventually the power would probably have shifted back and forth forever. Nelson Mandela had something different in mind. This story, told through a quite different lens, was a turning point.

Springbok Rugby in South Africa was primarily a “whites” sport. The “blacks” preferred soccer. Mandela approached the Captain of the Springboks, Francois Piennar (Matt Damon), with the challenge of actually winning the Rugby World Cup in 1995, the year after he took office. Francois saw Mandela’s vision of unification and took up the challenge, pulling his team together, working them mercilessly until the last drop of blood, sweat, and tears. 

Invictus is brilliantly acted and insightfully directed. It should have swept the Oscars, but if you recall, there was a lot going on in the United States during that time. 

Nelson Mandela died in 2013. Seventy countries were represented at his memorial services, including four United States Presidents. If this review and film does nothing more than peak your curiosity enough to do a little more research about this brilliant man who spent 27 years in a tiny jail cell for the freedom and equality he believed in, I have made a difference here.