Experiencing History

Rating: 10/10 (17 November 2011)

One of the most interesting and the most inspiring history films of the decade is Clint Eastwood's Invictus. The film is based on the book written by John Carlin "Playing the Enemy". It is the story of the South African president Nelson Mandela (starring Morgan Freeman) who after his release from 27 years of imprisonment on the Robben Island chooses extremely creative way to bring about reconciliation. His plan involved employing the captain of African rugby team Francois Pienaar, starring Matt Damon, to win with the "Springboks" the World Cup 95' and by the means of mutual victory culturally unify the African nation. In the opening scene Eastwood gives a viewer a short insight into what exactly the film is going to be about. It starts with an establishing shot showing a green sport field where white young boys, dressed in striped jerseys, practice rugby. When we hear a whistle the boys restart the practice and the camera zooms in. Then there is a tracking shot used to follow the ball until it lands near the fence. Suddenly, using a crane shot the camera jumps over a sharp fence and traversing road in order to show a completely different image on the opposing sport field. On this pitch we can see black boys practicing football. The whole pitch, surrounded by a dilapidated fence, is covered with brownish dust. The boys are dressed in dirty clothes chasing chaotically something that resembles ball. Most of them have bare feet and are noticeably smaller and skinnier than the white boys. Then Eastwood swaps the pitches several times, using a crosscuts, as if to enable a viewer to see the differences between them. Moreover, using medium and long shots interchangeably he allows a spectator to observe the scenery in greater detail. After several seconds we can hear hoots from the road and both the black and the white boys stop their practice to see what is happening. Now the camera points at the crossing road where a line of cars approaches the scene. The black boys start cheering and screaming continuously "Mandela!" "Mandela!". When the camera pans 180 degrees we can see white boys curiously watching the passing cars. Suddenly, Eastwood uses full shot to point at one of the boys and his coach. When the boy asks his instructor "Who is it, sir?" the instructor replies "It is a terrorist Mandela. They let him out. Remember this day, boys. It is the day when our country went to the dogs." After the dialog the director uses a jump cut to show a short stock footage montage (an aspect ratio changes to 1.33:1) which spans the tumultuous four years between Nelson Mandela's release from prison and his inauguration as President of South Africa. Invictus is not only the story about Nelson Mandela, Francois Pienaar or a rugby Cup, but also the story about problems that all South Africans encountered in the 90s. The film presents the country which is divided into the whites and the blacks and two prominent persons who struggled to unify their country by the means of rugby Cup that took place in South Africa in 1995. Invictus is a brilliant history movie, taking its viewers to a journey through the South Africa of 1990s, faithfully portraying this particular period of time. Through history films like Invictus people can watch some great personalities not only from the last decade like Nelson Mandela but also persons from a totally different epoch. It is not easy to do such kind of movies as this genre very often requires specific props, language spoken by actors, costumes, or even specially designed whole cities to express the authenticity of a particular period. I believe that this genre provides us not only with a lot of entertainment but is also an excellent history lesson.