FILMS

Eastwood’s contradiction: a rugby film about peace

Reviewed by Rebecca Bostic | Dec. 22, 2009 | The Catholic Sun

If films based on true stories weren’t exciting, they wouldn’t be made. That said, filmmakers don’t hesitate to embellish a bit when necessary.

Then there are other films, like Clint Eastwood’s latest, which don’t take much rewriting. The true story really is enough.

“Invictus” (Warner Bros.) is about how Nelson Mandela brought together and united the divided South Africa during the first part of his presidency — using the rugby team.

Eastwood directs, Morgan Freeman plays Mandela and Matt Damon plays Francois Pienaar — the captain of the South African Springbok rugby team. Mandela and Pienaar inspire a level of playing that far exceeded expectations for the 1995 team.

The film feels like an Eastwood film, too, be it in the best and worst ways. The acting by supporting characters feels unnatural at times, the dialogue is heavy-handed and the music incorporated into the film is just plain cheesy. But the star performances are tremendous, the story arc is perfectly constructed and the ending is incredible.

The ending of “Invictus” — the 1995 World Cup — is recent history and known by many. But, while the rugby match scenes are as gripping as any action sequences in a summer blockbuster, the World Cup isn’t the point.

The film opens with Mandela’s election as the first black president of South Africa — a nation that had long practiced legalized racism — and the white minority is fearful.

Amid this division, Mandela steps in with a plan to unite the nation. The Springbok team is beloved by all white South Africans and loathed by black South Africans who view the team and even their green and gold colors as symbols of their recent oppression.

By forging a relationship with the team captain, Pienaar, Mandela inspires the struggling team, getting both white and black South Africans to support their efforts.

Rugby is the excuse Eastwood uses to tell Mandela’s story without making him a saint. Freeman’s Mandela is human, has strengths and weaknesses, but above all, is committed to forging peace in his country.

In the film, Mandela speaks many times about the power and necessity of forgiveness. Although the white minority in the country had very recently oppressed the black South Africans, Mandela is determined to leave it behind. Black South Africans forgive the oppression, in a sense, by supporting the rugby team.

“You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall love your neighbor and hate your enemy.’ But I say to you, love your enemies,” Jesus tells his followers on the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5: 43-44). This is what Mandela asks of his countrymen. His legacy proves the power of love and forgiveness.

Mandela, as Eastwood is careful to show, was neither messiah nor demigod. He was a man who decided to love and, in so doing, inspired a nation to rebuild in a spirit of forgiveness. Oh yeah, and the nation had a rugby team.

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Media critic Rebecca Bostic is a regular contributor to The Catholic Sun. Comments are welcome. Send e-mail to letters@catholicsun.org.