Invictus
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Released last month in the United States and coming to a screen near you soon, wherever you live, ‘Invictus’ is the 2009 biographical drama film based on Nelson Mandela’s life during the 1995 Rugby World Cup Finals in South Africa.
Directed by Clint Eastwood, ‘Invictus’ is based on the book ‘Playing the Enemy’, by John Carlin and tells the inspiring true story of how newly elected President Nelson Mandela, joined forces with the captain of South Africa’s rugby team, Francois Pienaar, to help unite their country. Mandela believed he could bring his countrymen together through the universal language of sport; a brave move bearing in mind the green shirt of the Springboks represented prejudice and apartheid in the eyes of the black population.
Morgan Freeman stars as a very convincing Mandela, after being given the full backing of the great man himself; indeed he had been chosen to portray the former President long before the production of ‘Invictus’. Matt Damon, with the use of some clever camera angles plays Pienaar.
Damon spent a lot of time with Pienaar researching his character. He also got himself into top physical shape, with a programme of weights, sprints and boxing and was coached in rugby skills by Chester Williams, the only black player in the 1995 South Africa team.
Shot entirely on location in Johannesburg and Cape Town, this is one of the biggest movies ever to be filmed in South Africa and certainly the most high profile movie based around rugby.
During production Clint Eastwood became a big fan of the sport, watching hours of rugby each evening.
The movie is named after the poem ‘Invictus’ by William Ernest Henley, which was a source of great inspiration to Mandela during his 27 year incarceration on Robben Island.
INVICTUS
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.
William Ernest Henley
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