Invictus – Unbezwungen (2009)

Invictus – Unbezwungen: Directed by Clint Eastwood. With Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng. Nelson Mandela, in his first term as President of South Africa, initiates a unique venture to unite the Apartheid-torn land: enlist the national rugby team on a mission to win the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

“People forget that Nelson Mandela came to power at a time when his country was bitterly divided. There was the bitter experience that white South Africans saw in their neighboring countries,i.e., Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe and other nations where the White colonialist had been replaced by Black African politicians and a stable government had been replaced by corrupt, self-serving regimes where those in power feathered their nests after seizing the assets of their former White citizens and placed all their friends in positions of authority with the result of the country going to the dogs. The scene where the Afrikaaner newspaper remarks, u0026quot;Mendela can get elected but can he run a country,u0026quot; and the superb Morgan Freeman remarks to his bodyguard that the headline raises a good point.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eIn a sense, this film is about Mandela. The rugby team becomes a metaphor of what he faced when ascending to the presidency, a nation divided. Noting that the Black South Africans were cheering for the opposition in the face of the old Apartheid guard whose love of rugby unified them. Itu0026#39;s easy to forget that there was a great division among White South Africans, i.e., the descendants of the Boers, Afrikaaners, and the rest. There was even a middle ground with the u0026quot;Coloreds,u0026quot; Asian South Africans, being caught between these two worlds and there were bitter rivalries among the competing African political interest groups as well.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eMandelau0026#39;s focus on reviving the national rugby team and making it a symbol of a new united nation homes in on the role of Matt Damon, an Afrikaaner whou0026#39;s the captain of the team. Francois is the catalyst that makes this story work and Damon, the rugged Mick from Boston, does a fantastic job showing the transition from hopelessness to hope as many White South Africans felt at that time. The wonderful thing about this film is its touching on all the levels. It goes beyond being merely the story of a single man or group of men. Sure, we love a u0026quot;feel goodu0026quot; movie and of course we love an u0026quot;underdog can winu0026quot; flick, but this film works works because its about people working together to rebuild something new for everybody.u003cbr/u003eu003cbr/u003eThe film reeks with great moments: Pienaar visiting the cell where Mandela spent more than 20 years of his life, thinking and planning; The New Zealand Rugby team doing their Maori threat dance before the match; the jet buzzing the field before the game– and so on. See it. Enjoy it. And, donu0026#39;t forget, itu0026#39;s a bit of history. Romanticized? Somewhat. Mandela wasnu0026#39;t able to solve all of South Africau0026#39;s big problems, but he did one bang-up job for the Springboks.”