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Invictus (film)

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Invictus
File:HumanFactorInvictus.jpg
Directed byClint Eastwood
Written byScreenplay:
Anthony Peckham
Book:
John Carlin
Produced byClint Eastwood
Lori McCreary
Robert Lorenz
Mace Neufeld
StarringMorgan Freeman
Matt Damon
Adjoa Andoh
CinematographyTom Stern
Edited byJoel Cox
Gary D. Roach
Music byKyle Eastwood
Michael Stevens
Production
companies
Distributed byWarner Bros. Pictures
Release date
December 11, 2009
CountryTemplate:FilmUS
LanguageEnglish
Budget$50 million [1]

Invictus is a 2009 drama feature film based on Nelson Mandela's life during the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Directed by Clint Eastwood, the film stars Morgan Freeman as the then South African President Mandela, and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, the South African team captain.[2] The story is based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation. The film was released in the United States on December 11, 2009.

Plot

After decades in a Robben Island prison, Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) is released in 1990 and works immediately to bring about the end of apartheid and the initiation of full democratic elections where the black majority population can vote. Mandela wins the race for President of South Africa and takes office in 1994. His immediate challenge is "balancing black aspirations with white fears." The country's still-present racial tensions are shown, in part, through Mandela's security team, which is comprised of both new black and old white officials, with the groups immediately hostile to one another despite sharing the same job and goal.

While Mandela attempts to tackle the country's largest problems - including crime and unemployment, he attends a game of the Springboks, the country's rugby union team. Blacks in the stadium cheer against their home squad, as the Springboks (their history, players and even their colors) represent prejudice and apartheid in their mind. Knowing that South Africa is set to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup in one year's time, Mandela meets with Springboks captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon). Though Mandela never verbalizes his true meaning during their meeting, Francois understands the message below the surface: If the Springboks can gain the support of black South Africans and succeed in the upcoming World Cup, the country will be unified and inspired.

Francois and his teammates begin to train, but the players (all but one are white) voice disapproval that they are to be envoys to the poor and public - fearing exhaustion from overwork. Mandela, too, hears disapproval from friends and family. As the tournament approaches, Mandela collapses from exhaustion and the Springboks' only black player is sidelined with a hamstring injury.

The World Cup begins, and the Springboks' sole black player, Chester Williams, is healthy once again. The Springboks, possessing a sub-par record, are not expected to go very far in the field of 16; however, they surpass all expectations and make the finals, only to face a seemingly invincible team from New Zealand. Francois motivates his teammates to overcome their doubts and push their bodies to the limits. After ending in a tie, the game is forced into an extra period, where the Springboks win on a long drop kick and a score of 15-12. Mandela and Francois meet on the field together to celebrate the improbable victory amidst a crowd of 62,000 fans - both black and white.

Reception

The film currently holds an 77% "Fresh" rating with a 6.8/10 average on Rotten Tomatoes based on 151 reviews.[3] Critic David Ansen wrote:[4]

Anthony Peckham's sturdy, functional screenplay, based on John Carlin's book Playing the Enemy, can be a bit on the nose (and the message songs Eastwood adds are overkill). Yet the lapses fade in the face of such a soul-stirring story—one that would be hard to believe if it were fiction. The wonder of Invictus is that it actually went down this way.

Roger Ebert of the Chicago Sun-Times gave the film three and a half stars[5] and wrote:

It is a very good film. It has moments evoking great emotion, as when the black and white members of the presidential security detail (hard-line ANC activists and Afrikaner cops) agree with excruciating difficulty to serve together. And when Damon's character -- Francois Pienaar, as the team captain -- is shown the cell where Mandela was held for those long years on Robben Island. My wife, Chaz, and I were taken to the island early one morning by Ahmed Kathrada, one of Mandela's fellow prisoners, and yes, the movie shows his very cell, with the thin blankets on the floor. You regard that cell and you think, here a great man waited in faith for his rendezvous with history.

Variety's Todd McCarthy wrote:[6]

Inspirational on the face of it, Clint Eastwood's film has a predictable trajectory, but every scene brims with surprising details that accumulate into a rich fabric of history, cultural impressions and emotion.

Production

The film is based on the book Playing The Enemy: Nelson Mandela And The Game That Changed a Nation by John Carlin.[7] The filmmakers met with Carlin for a week in his Barcelona home, discussing how to transform the book into a screenplay.[8] Morgan Freeman was the first actor to be cast, as Mandela. Matt Damon was then cast as Francois Pienaar, despite being significantly smaller than him[9] and much smaller than members of the current Springbok squad.[10] He was given intensive coaching by Chester Williams, another star of the 1995 team, at the Gardens Rugby Club.[11] Filming began in March 2009 in Cape Town. "In terms of stature and stars, this certainly is one of the biggest films ever to be made in South Africa," said Laurence Mitchell, the head of the Cape Film Commission.[12] On March 18, 2009, Scott Eastwood was cast in an unspecified role, but it is understood to be flyhalf Joel Stransky (whose drop goal provided the Springboks' winning margin in the 1995 final).[13] Over Christmas 2008 auditions had taken place in London to try to find a well-known British actor to play Pienaar's father, but in March it was decided to cast a lesser-known South African actor instead.[14] The ex Bath Rugby player Zak Feaunati, who now is head of Rugby at Bishop Vesey's Grammar school in Sutton Coldfield, has been cast as New Zealand player Jonah Lomu.[15] Primary filming in South Africa was completed in May 2009.[8] Grant Roberts was cast as Ruben Kruger, who was the Springboks' other starting flanker in 1995.

Awards

The film has been nominated for three Golden Globe Awards. The film has been nominated in the following categories:

Cast

Release dates

  • USA 3 December 2009 (Beverly Hills, California) (premiere)
  • South Africa 11 December 2009
  • Canada 11 December 2009
  • USA 11 December 2009
  • Netherlands 13 January 2010
  • Australia 21 January 2010
  • Czech Republic 21 January 2010
  • Argentina 28 January 2010
  • Spain 29 January 2010
  • Slovakia 4 February 2010
  • Japan 5 February 2010
  • Sweden 5 February 2010
  • UK 5 February 2010
  • Greece 11 February 2010
  • Italy 12 February 2010
  • Belgium 17 February 2010
  • Germany 18 February 2010
  • Romania 19 February 2010
  • France 24 February 2010
  • Russia 25 February 2010
  • Slovenia 25 February 2010
  • Finland 26 February 2010

See also

References

  1. ^ Thompson On Hollywood on Variety.com
  2. ^ Stephensen, Hunter (March 14, 2009). "First Look: Clint Eastwood's The Human Factor with Matt Damon". Slash Film. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
  3. ^ "Invictus". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved December 16, 2009.
  4. ^ David Ansen (November 25, 2009). "'Invictus': A Whole New Ballgame". Newsweek. Retrieved 2009-12-07.
  5. ^ Roger Ebert (December 9, 2009). "Invictus". Chicago Sun-Times. Retrieved 2009-12-13.
  6. ^ Todd McCarthy (November 27, 2009). "Invictus". Variety. Retrieved 2009-12-09.
  7. ^ Leyes, Nick (March 15, 2009). "Matt Damon takes rugby union to Hollywood. Somanth as Matt Damon's brother". Daily Telegraph. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
  8. ^ a b Interview with Carlin, BBC Radio 5, May 21, 2009
  9. ^ http://nimg.sulekha.com/Others/original700/matt-damon-francois-pienaar-2009-3-8-3-30.jpg
  10. ^ http://www.celebrity-gossip.net/images/thumbnails/matt-damon-3119-3.jpg
  11. ^ Rappe, Elisabeth (March 16, 2009). "Matt Damon Goes Blond For 'The Human Factor'". Cinematical.com. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
  12. ^ "Matt Damon injured at rugby training". The Times (South Africa). March 8, 2009. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
  13. ^ White, James (March 18, 2009). "Scott Eastwood joins the Nelson Mandela pic: Clint casts his son…". TotalFilm.com. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
  14. ^ Jones, Alice-Azania (March 16, 2009). "Pandora: An accent beyond the best of British". The Independent. Retrieved 2009-03-31.
  15. ^ (March 25, 2009). Zak Feaunati to play Jonah Lomu in film, BBC News. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.
  16. ^ Turner, Robin (March 22, 2009) "Life on the set with Clint Eastwood, by Welsh actor", Wales on Sunday. Retrieved on 2009-05-06.
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