Clint Eastwood marks another success with the film Invictus, based on real events that took place in South Africa. The story is based on the former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela portrayed by Morgan Freeman (from Million Dollar Baby & The Dark Knight trilogy) reuniting the black and white people in his country. Mandela shows support to the white Rugby Team of South Africa, the Springboks which became the symbol of the end of South Africa’s apartheid.
Mandela reunifies the angry and furious black Africans and the dominant white Africans with the help of the Springbok captain, Francois Pienaar acted by Matt Damon (from Good Will Hunting, Inside Job and The Departed). Pienaar struggles to maintain the team spirit as the team has not won games throughout the season. He meets the warm and loving Mandela hoping Pienaar would help to bring the black and white Africans together again.
At the start of the film, there was cheerful chanting of the black people which uplifted the atmosphere of the film, and foreshadowed the delightful mood of the entire film. The diegetic sounds and background music were precisely used in each scene of Invictus. It helped portrayed the delight, joy and happiness of the Africans, but also showed suspense and confusion in some scenes.
The colours were well displayed in every single scene of the film. I thought the use of black and white coloured clothing on actors was clever as it suggested to the audience of the apartheid happening in South Africa in the film. The insert of real footage of Mandela being released from Robben Island and his influential speech at the stadium gave the audiences an insight of how powerful Mandela was, and the attention on him in South Africa.
One of the unfocused aspects in the film was about Mandela’s family but there was a scene of Mandela and his daughter. The scene briefly explained how Mandela’s beloved wife left him and his daughter disliked him after he was captured and put into the infamous prison at Robben Island for 27 years. I thought the scene was unnecessary as the film was not about the poor relationship he had with his family but to tell the remarkable change Mandela