As of December 11th, viewers have been able to see the movie that may take home a handful of Oscars, 'Invictus'. This is the story of two people bring others together. The first story is of Nelson Mandela and his time as President of South Africa. Up until this point in his life, Mandela was imprisoned for about 30 years, because of his anti-apartheid stance. As they show in the movie, Mandela's cell had a single wooden chair in the middle of the room, with a blanket and possibly a thin cot on the floor, accompanied with a pillow. Think about that. 30 years of that kind of life? How he endured it I don't know.
Anyways, after his release on February 11, 1990 he decided to run for President of South Africa. On May 10, 1994, with 62 percent of the vote, Mandela became the first black president of South Africa. Obviously this wasn't warmly recieved by everyone, because there was a ton of racial tension still amgongst the South Africans. Mandela preached that reconciliation would be the necessary step to uniting the country again. The other story of reconciliation is with the South African rugby team, the Springboks. They are in a current slump, much to the shagrin of the country. Racial seperation is shown in their first match the viewer sees, when a man explains to Mandela that the whites are cheering for the Springboks, while the blacks are cheering for England. The reason why they don't cheer for their Springboks, is because it reminds them of the Apartheid and all that happened to them during that time. Mandela than gets news that the Rugby World Cup, hosted in South Africa, is only a year away. He then sends out an invitation for the captain of the Springboks, Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon) to have tea with him. During their meeting, a message is given to Damon that he will have to rally the Springboks, and win over the black portion of South Africa, thus uniting the nation behind their World Cup run.
This is one of the more inspiring movies I've seen in a while. Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as Pienaar will probably be heavy favorites for Best Actor and Supporting Actor respectively. To me this movie shows what the human spirit is capable of. Not many people, after being in prison for 30 years, would do what Mandela did. He did not show any anger, but yet compassion for the same people that threw him in jail. So, if you're looking for that pick-me-up during this dreary winter session, go out and see this; you can't help but feel good after it.
Rating: 3.5 out of 4 stars
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