Invictus

Last night we watched what should have been selected as last year's Best Picture at the Oscars. Don't get me wrong. I saw The Hurt Locker. It was an excellent film. A powerful story that needed to be told.

Invictus was better. An uplifting story based on true events is always more inspiring than a depressing story based on real situations. Inspirational qualities of course don't necessarily make a film great, but this one was.

Invictus is a simple film about Nelson Mandela, the newly elected president of South Africa who has only just been released from prison, and his desire to keep the traditions of the national rugby side: their colors, their symbol, their nickname: The Springboks.

Nelson Mandela is played by Morgan Freeman, in my opinion one of the greatest actors of the modern era. Matt Damon plays Francois Pienaar, the Afriakaaner captain of the team. Mr. Damon is of course not quite the accomplished thespian that Mr. Freeman is but in my opinion he has recently proven himself to be much more diverse than I would have thought after Good Will Hunting and Chasing Amy. His South African accent is a bit better than Leonardo DiCaprio's from Blood Diamond, more subtle, but then his role is also less prominent. Clint Eastwood also continues to prove as the director that he can do much more than act tough.

Anyway the film is of course just a very thin slice of the topic of Mandela, South Africa, Apartheid, Political Prisoners and Human Rights. It takes all these weighty subjects and focuses them into the idea of Mandela supporting the Springboks and doing everything he can to see that they win the Rugby World Cup that was hosted in South Africa in 1995.

A very simple overview of history to better understand the South Africa situation: South Africa is the southernmost country in the diverse continent of Africa. It contains what is known as the Cape of Good Hope. In the 1600's the Dutch East India trading company was regularly sailing around this cape to reach India and Asia for trade. They eventually formed the Dutch settlement Cape Town which is now a modern city.

Long story short the Dutch continued to settle in South Africa and after fighting over territory with the British several times eventually the modern government and power structure in the nation ended up being run almost exclusively by whites known as Afrikaaners or Afrikaans. This set up a rather unique situation in South Africa because although racism has existed for eons in many places it is rare that the minority is in power oppressing the vast majority as was the case in South Africa during Apartheid.

Before I go on forever about all this backstory basically Nelson Mandela spent over thirty years as a political prisoner of the white government. They incarcerated him for nothing more than speaking out against Apartheid. In the film as in real life he is released from prison and quickly elected the president of the new democratic government.

I don't know how true to real life the film is but I suspect there is some poetic license. In the film Mandela decides to support the Sringboks, who represent all things Afrikaan and Apartheid to his people. He decides that he wants to bring the nation together, not to divide it.

I won't give away the whole plot but I'm sure it's pretty obvious what happens. That being said this is a great film because it tells a fun little part of the story of a great, great man. Nelson Mandela was one of those rare people who lead with a passion for the human condition. Like the Dalai Llama, Mohandes Ghandi, and even Jesus Christ he had that rare quality of forgiveness for his tormentors that has inspired entire cultures so many times.

There is a great line from the film when Matt Damon is talking about Mandela after visiting his old prison cell and he says:

"I was thinking how a man could spend thirty years in prison, and come out and forgive the men who did it to him..."

Mandela uses the Springboks as an example to his countrymen of this kind of forgiveness. That is leadership.

The film is actually named after a poem written in 1875 by English poet William Ernest Henley titled Invictus, which means Unconquered in Latin. Supposedly Mandela read the poem to himself often while he was in prison and it inspired him to many things. This may or may not be true, I have not looked it up, but the poem IS rather inspiring nonetheless. I will share it with you here:

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.

These are beautiful, powerful words and I think they fit quite appropriately with the subject of the struggles of the nation of South Africa and its people. Things are by no means perfect there but I look forward to enjoying the FIFA World Cup this summer which takes place in South Africa as well.

Hopefully this nation and its people will continue to improve their condition and have a bright future ahead of them.

Sorry for the rambling post but I was late to work this morning and had to throw this together without any preparation. I'm only reading it once to proof it, so please forgive the errors that surely will slip through.