Sport as a metaphor for life on the largest of stages

Rating: 8/10 (1 April 2011)

Whatever the problems of modern day South Africa, and there are plenty, the progress that the country has made in the twenty years since Nelson Mandela was released is pretty astonishing. A once pariah nation has taken its rightful place in the community of Nations - not least in sport with its hosting of the three main World Cup tournaments - Rugby, Cricket and Football. The first of these, the Rugby World Cup in 1995, was an act of faith on the part of the international Rugby Union authorities - it could have gone horribly wrong. "Invictus" shows why it didn't - from an organisational and security aspect and, more parochially, from the perspective of the new "Rainbow Nation" itself.
The premise of the film is that the event was a success because of two men - Mandela himself and the South African rugby captain Francois Pienaar. The former extended the hand of friendship to his once bitter enemies in the rugby mad Afrikaner community. The latter, an Afrikaner himself, not only grabbed his President's offered hand but fought the institutionalised prejudice of his family, his team and his people to argue for the maximum co-operation with their country's first and greatest black leader. Mandela had not only his former jailers to deal with - he also had to persuade his own African people that retribution against the Afrikaners would be counter-productive. For example and well portrayed in the film, he had to convince them that it would be right to continue with the Springbok name and colours for the South African rugby team.
Rugby, as shown in the movie, was a metaphor for the challenge South Africa faced post Apartheid. The game in the republic was exclusively white, elitist and predominantly Afrikaner. It was in many ways a symbol for oppression and separate development - the blacks had soccer on rough ground in the townships. The whites had rugby on manicured grass in great stadia in the cities. Rugby was played behind well-guarded gates of the elite schools. Soccer was played on any old piece of dirt. If the black majority was aware of rugby at all it was to cheer on whoever the Springboks were playing - better England than the hated racists of Afrikanerdom. Nelson Mandela knew that if he was to succeed with the highly sceptical white community post democracy, a community where he was still to many a "terrorist", then he needed an ally. This is where Pienaar came in.
Francois Pienaar had inherited, as Captain, a South African rugby team that was low on confidence and despite being the hosts was seen as having little chance in the 1995 World Cup. The media was highly sceptical of the team's prospects and the team itself was struggling to come to terms with the new world of South Africa. When asked to do some coaching in a township they dismissed it as a joke - and were openly contemptuous of the idea that the blacks could even play the game. Pienaar knew that the motor for change could be the charismatic President and Mandela genuinely moved him with his decency and lack of rancour about the past. Asked about his philosophy of leadership Pienaar said that it was "by example" - on and off the field. Rather a Mandelan philosophy as well. This approach combined with some astute selections, including Chester Williams, the first black Springbok, meant that South Africa entered the tournament with a fighting chance. A win over favoured Australia in the opening match set the tone and the Springboks made it to the Final. Here they faced a New Zealand team who had eased effortlessly to the Final - not least because they had the awesome giant try-machine Jonah Lomu in their ranks.
The match sequences in "Invictus" are arguably the best ever seen in a movie about sport. Even the most knowledgeable rugby aficionado will find nothing to quarrel with about the portrayal of the matches - and the Final, which goes on for five minutes or more, is wonderfully portrayed. It was one of those matches where afterwards the cliché "You couldn't make it up" was frequently used. Even though we know the result the tension is extraordinary and the moment when President Mandela appears in a Springbok shirt before the match is surely an iconic moment in history - and not just rugby history. South Africa's win with a drop goal in extra time seems now to be pre-ordained. But that is certainly not how it felt at the time! Whether there is some poetic licence in "Invictus" I don't know - perhaps there is. But it has an authentic feel to it throughout from the portrayal of the interpersonal challenges that Mandela and Pienaar faced and overcame through to the match sequences it has the ring of truth about it. It is an uplifting film in every way with truly remarkable performances from Morgan Freeman as Mandela and Matt Damon as Pienaar. These two Americans, along with Director Clint Eastwood, might not know much about rugby, but they clearly knew someone who does. And they certainly know a great story when they see one - and they tell it with sensitivity, feeling and drama.