| Invictus | |
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Theatrical release poster |
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| Directed by | Clint Eastwood |
| Produced by | Clint Eastwood Lori McCreary Robert Lorenz Mace Neufeld Morgan Freeman |
| Screenplay by | Anthony Peckham |
| Based on | Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation by John Carlin |
| Starring | Morgan Freeman Matt Damon |
| Music by | Kyle Eastwood Michael Stevens Overtone |
| Cinematography | Tom Stern |
| Editing by | Joel Cox Gary D. Roach |
| Studio | Spyglass Entertainment Revelations Entertainment Malpaso Productions |
| Distributed by | Warner Bros. Pictures |
| Release date(s) | December 11, 2009 |
| Running time | 134 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English Afrikaans Maori |
| Budget | $50 million[1] |
| Box office | $122,233,971[2] |
Invictus is a 2009 biographical sports drama film directed by Clint Eastwood starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. The story is based on the John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation about the events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup, hosted in that country following the dismantling of apartheid. Freeman and Damon play, respectively, South African President Nelson Mandela and François Pienaar, the captain of the South African rugby union team the Springboks.[3] Invictus was released in the United States on December 11, 2009. The title Invictus may be translated from the Latin as undefeated or unconquered, and is the title of a poem by English poet William Ernest Henley (1849–1903).
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After 27 years in jail, Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) is released in 1990 and subsequently elected President of South Africa. His immediate challenge is "balancing black aspirations with white fears", as racial tensions from the apartheid era have not completely disappeared.
While Mandela attempts to tackle the country's largest problems—crime and unemployment, among many others—he attends a game of the Springboks, the country's rugby union team. Mandela recognizes that the blacks in the stadium cheer against their home squad, as the Springboks represent prejudice and apartheid in their minds. Mandela remarks that he did the same while imprisoned on Robben Island. Knowing that South Africa is set to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup in one year's time, Mandela convinces a meeting of the newly-black-dominated South African Sports Committee to support the Springboks. He then meets with the captain of the Springboks rugby team, François Pienaar (Matt Damon), and implies that a Springboks victory in the World Cup will unite and inspire the nation. Mandela also shares with Pienaar a poem, "Invictus", that had inspired him during his time in prison.
Pienaar and his teammates train. Many South Africans, both white and black, doubt that rugby will unite a nation torn apart by some 50 years of racial tensions. For many non-whites, especially the radicals, the Springboks symbolised white supremacy. However, both Mandela and Pienaar stand firmly behind their theory that the game can successfully unite the country.
Things begin to change, however, as the players interact with the locals. During the opening games, support for the Springboks begins to grow among the non-white population. By the second game, citizens of all races attend to support the Springboks and Mandela's efforts.
The Springboks surpass all expectations and qualify for the final match against New Zealand All Blacks—the most successful rugby team in the world then and now. Prior to the game, the Springbok team visits Robben Island, where Mandela spent 27 years in jail. Pienaar mentions his amazement that Mandela "could spend thirty years in a tiny cell, and come out ready to forgive the people who put [him] there".
Supported by a large home crowd of both whites and blacks, Pienaar motivates his team. The Springboks win the match on a last-minute long drop-kick from fly-half Joel Stransky (Scott Eastwood), with a score of 15–12. Mandela and Pienaar meet on the field together to celebrate the improbable and unexpected victory. Mandela's car is then seen driving away in the traffic-jammed streets leaving the stadium. As Mandela watches the South Africans celebrating together in the car, Morgan Freeman's voice is heard reciting the poem, "Invictus".
The film is based on the book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation by John Carlin.[5] The filmmakers met with Carlin for a week in his Barcelona home, discussing how to transform the book into a screenplay.[6] Morgan Freeman was the first actor to be cast, as Mandela. Matt Damon was then cast as team captain Pienaar, despite being significantly smaller than him[7] and much smaller than members of the current Springbok squad.[8] He was given intensive coaching by Chester Williams, another star of the 1995 team, at the Gardens Rugby League Club.[9] 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.[10] 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).[11] 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.[12] The ex-Bath Rugby player Zak Feaunati was cast as New Zealand player Jonah Lomu.[13] Primary filming in South Africa was completed in May 2009.[6] Grant Roberts was cast as Ruben Kruger, who was the Springboks' other starting flanker in 1995.
Invictus was met with generally positive reviews. Review aggregate Rotten Tomatoes reports that 76% of critics (and 87% of the Top Critics) have given the film a positive review based on 218 reviews, with an average score of 6.6/10. The critical consensus is: Delivered with typically stately precision from director Clint Eastwood, Invictus may not be rousing enough for some viewers, but Matt Damon and Morgan Freeman inhabit their real-life characters with admirable conviction.[14]
Critic David Ansen wrote:[15]
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[16] 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 - François 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.
Shave Magazine's Jake Tomlinson wrote:[17]
Eastwood's film shows how sport can unify people, a straightforward and moving message that leaves audiences cheering. The sports, accurate portrayal and the solid storyline earn this movie a manliness rating of 3/5. However, the entertainment value, historical accuracy and strong message this movie delivers earn it an overall rating of 4.5 stars. Definitely, worth seeing.
Variety's Todd McCarthy wrote:[18]
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.
The film opened at #3 with US$8,611,147 behind The Princess and the Frog and The Blind Side. Currently, its worldwide total stands at US$122,233,971, with US$37.4 million in North America.
Don Beck who had helped the rugby team to be successful in 1995 found the movie faithful to the true story: “I thought it was steady and balanced.”[19]
The film was nominated for four awards from the Broadcast Film Critics' Association in the following categories:
The film was nominated for three Golden Globe Awards in the following categories:
The film was nominated for two awards from the National Board of Review in the following categories:
The film was nominated for two awards from the Screen Actors' Guild in the following categories:
The film was nominated for two awards from the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association awards in the following categories:
The film was released on May 18, 2010 on DVD and Blu-ray Disc. Special features include:
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