I was 15 when the Rugby World Cup happened in South Africa, I’d seen during my early teenage years the nature of the country change in law, but the old rift between cultures remaining and even getting worse.
I saw the nation getting behind a team that, not long before, much of them had despised. When we beat Australia in that first match, I saw this country gain hope where, previously, there had been despair. A shared hope – that we could win that thing. Saw us unite behind a team that, not long before, had been underdogs.
Saw that series become, the first thing, that all South Africans could really share, and when we beat all the odds and defeated New Zeeland in that final… I saw us party together, saw the start of a festival that, over several weeks, would begin to forge a new South African shared culture, the one we live in today.
So I went to see Invictus with a mixture of excitement and scepticism. The history of Nelson Mandela up until 1994′s inauguration was well known, but what he did for this country in that next year, culminating the world cup, how it changed our nation was an extremely important part of the history which those outside this nation hardly knew. For those of us who live here, and love this country, that first year is why we see Mandela – not as a politician, but as a statesman, a leader, and a servant of his people.
That was the part where, he truly differentiated himself. Winning a struggle for freedom – many have done that, most fell to corruption and petty revenge afterward. Nelson Mandela said “now let us bury the hatchets, and build a better future together” and led the way – by example.
Invictus tells that story, in a way that I believe will convey it to the outside world as the enormous piece of history it truly was, in a way that even those of us who were there – who watched it unfold on our televisions and danced in the streets at it’s culmination would feel renewed in the spirit of those days. Not just remember them, but relive them. And in a way that the many 14 year olds in this country who weren’t there, who never experienced that, can learn it and, I have no doubt, understand it.
I struggle to admit it but this year saw two South African movies that are both, among the best movies ever made. District 9 must gain massive credit for being truly a “made here by local talent” movie, Invictus has two American stars surrounded by an otherwise South African cast instead. But while District9 was a great sifi action movie, a genuine parodic study of South African culture and one of the most orriginal stories I’ve ever seen, Invictus is a piece of history retold with exceptional skill.
While district9 will be a classic among film buffs for generations, Invictus should be required watching in every school in the country from now on. Bravo Clint Eastwood for excellent directing, John Carlin for writing the book about the events before we could forget, Morgan Freeman for playing Madiba… just as we remember him, and Mat Damon for living up to the daunting task of playing Francois Pienaar with, I thought, far more success than I would have expected.
Without spoiling the movie, I can just say… every single one of those memories that made us love that time… will be there, be relived, and celebrated. I have never written a review without some critique before, but this time – I’m making an exception. I can find no fault with Invictus. Go watch it.