Clint Eastwood
Invictus

Here we go again, this man whom Sergio Leone described as someone who had only two expressions, with and without a hat, has done it again. And as usual, it's a great work.

The film, as widely shown in the trailer, deals with the importance of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, played in South Africa, in creating a national consciousness in a country divided between whites and blacks, where only 5 years earlier, the representative of the black side was released after 27 years of imprisonment.

And this very political figure in 1995 is the President of the Republic of South Africa: Nelson Mandela.

This man, contrary to what the black population would want and especially to what the white side feared, does not apply a law of retaliation. On the contrary, drawing strength from the experiences of his people, he urges everyone to forgive and not to take revenge.

Despite the words, however, Nelson Mandela soon realizes that the situation he dreamed of is just a dream. Indeed, during the Springboks' test matches (the South African national rugby team), he notices that the whites cheer for the national team, while the blacks support the opponents. And it is precisely from this starting point that the protagonist wants to bring about change; he wants the blacks to cheer for the green and gold too, a team that during apartheid was indeed a symbol of racial segregation as blacks were not allowed to be part of it.

To unite his country, Nelson Mandela summons the national team captain François Pienaar, who, like all Afrikaners, fears the reprisals that blacks will carry out once they are in power. And here the green and gold flanker has a surprise: he discovers in the other not an enemy, not a man driven by revenge. But he finds a man who wants to bring peace to a country torn apart by years of internal strife and on the brink of civil war. And he wants to do it with the culture of the third half.

And in all this, you may ask, what is Invictus? Simply put: Invictus is a poem by William Ernest Henley meaning "Unconquered." This poem allowed Nelson Mandela to face his 27 years of incarceration with his head held high; and just as it gave courage to the president, he hands it over to the captain of the green and gold as a warning and stimulus.

The protagonists of this film are Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. Freeman perfectly portrays Mandela, especially in those images of the 1995 Rugby World Cup that have become famous and unforgettable. Damon, on the other hand, is not at all engaging and at times even a bit cloying. The film, although full of rhetoric, well represents what the situation was like in the mid-nineties in southern Africa.

One note: you can see that good Clint has studied rugby, especially in representing the immense Jonah Lomu, but like a good American, he hasn't grasped the technique, especially in the phases of the game.