January 17 2010
7
17
/01
/January
/2010
20:16
This weekend I saw Invictus, the story of the Springboks (South Africa's national rugby team) during the 1995 Rugby world cup. Nelson Mandela was freed from his 27-year prison sentence in 1991 and elected as the first black president of this country in 1994.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, to whom we owe the great Million Dollar Baby (and gazillion other films I haven't seen yet), it stars Matt Damon as the Springboks captain and Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Both actors are credible in this poignant atmosphere, where most black people are eager to have the white pay for their behaviour during the apartheid (social and economical separation of the people based on their colour, which lasted from 1948 to 1994 in South Africa).
Nelson Mandela, instead of crushing the white as the latter had done to the black, intends to unite the South Africans into a unique "Rainbow Nation". Not an easy sell after all the oppression the black had suffered for almost 50 years.
Rugby being one of the white people's symbol, only one member of the team is black (Chester Williams), and almost all of the black South Africans loathe this sport (they go to the games to support the other teams!), until the team gets encouraged by Nelson Mandela. The 1995 Rugby World Cup, held in South Africa, represents the first occasion when black and white South Africans seem to unite in their wish to see the national team win.
The movie is everything I like: a strong message sent by an inspirational leader, great directing (I held my breath during the games, what with all those slow-motionning and stuff), great acting, story and music apart from a very cheesy one "Colourblind" by Overtone.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, to whom we owe the great Million Dollar Baby (and gazillion other films I haven't seen yet), it stars Matt Damon as the Springboks captain and Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela. Both actors are credible in this poignant atmosphere, where most black people are eager to have the white pay for their behaviour during the apartheid (social and economical separation of the people based on their colour, which lasted from 1948 to 1994 in South Africa).
Nelson Mandela, instead of crushing the white as the latter had done to the black, intends to unite the South Africans into a unique "Rainbow Nation". Not an easy sell after all the oppression the black had suffered for almost 50 years.
Rugby being one of the white people's symbol, only one member of the team is black (Chester Williams), and almost all of the black South Africans loathe this sport (they go to the games to support the other teams!), until the team gets encouraged by Nelson Mandela. The 1995 Rugby World Cup, held in South Africa, represents the first occasion when black and white South Africans seem to unite in their wish to see the national team win.
The movie is everything I like: a strong message sent by an inspirational leader, great directing (I held my breath during the games, what with all those slow-motionning and stuff), great acting, story and music apart from a very cheesy one "Colourblind" by Overtone.
Judge for yourself, but the rest of the soundtrack was more in the tune of strings or local songs, for instance:
Invictus is the first entry in my top 10 movies of 2010.