A Lesson in Leadership

Rating: 10/10 (1 March 2010)

Allow me to lead you, says Morgan Freeman quietly but authoritatively to his band of party men who are voting for scrapping the Springbok label for South African Rugby team. It is a powerful and defining moment of the film. After taking over as the President of South Africa in 1994, Nelson Mandela sees a huge opportunity to project his country as a multiracial democracy to the world during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The film, based on John Carlin's book 'Playing the Enemy', is a very poignant delineation of how he goes about this task. Much to the chagrin of his close aides, he invests not an inconsiderable amount of time to befriend the Rugby team captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon). In a very memorable sequence of the film, the President invites the Captain to his office for tea and the two exchange notes on leadership. Invictus offers totally credible lessons on leadership, without even a wee bit of pontification. Winning the World Cup becomes a metaphor for uniting a fractured nation.
Invictus (Latin for invincible) is a short poem by William Ernest Henley that Nelson Mandela had with him when he was incarcerated for 27 years. He hands over this inspiring poem to Francois before the start of the World Cup.
The game sequences, and there are plenty of them, are shot and edited with the right amount of tension and clutch your eyeballs completely.
Morgan Freeman plays Nelson Mandela with great dignity and compassion. Matt Damon as the overawed captain is excellent. Director Clint Eastwood has extracted powerful, yet unobtrusive performances.
Invictus is a little gem of a film. It is hard to stay unaffected during its two odd hours. You are not human if you are unmoved. If I had my way I would make Invictus mandatory viewing for all the politicians of the world.