Invictus Review

Invictus the film is nowhere near as accomplished, heartfelt, deep and meaningful as the poem by Ernest Henly from which the film takes its name.

The film has all the hallmarks of a classic Hollywood beat up.
Based in South Africa, the film tells the tale of Nelson Mandela’s unification of South Africa, played out through the triumphant 1995 South African Rugby World Cup.
The South African Rugby Team are a bunch of useless hackers, losers, that is until Mr Mandela uses the team as his political football (stop it).
Nelson Mandela inspires the Captain, who in turn inspires the team, who in turn inspire and unify the whole nation. Enter triumphant music, Mr Mandela and team captain hold the world cup trophy aloft. Pause scene, fade to black.
Morgan Freeman portrays Nelson Mandela brilliantly, evoking the gentle nature of a man driven to make a difference. Equally, Matt Damon is convincing as football captain Francois Pienaar, buff and with a near flawless South African accent.
It helps if you’re a rugby union fan. If not you’ll tire of the slow motion football action. Some people have rated this film the best they have seen. I can’t see it.
Everybody loves an under dog story, and this one lays it on thick. A little too thick for me.
Invictus is a brilliant, timeless poem, a catalyst for inner strength that ultimately kept Nelson Mandela company through his prison term. As a film, unfortunately Invictus fails to justify the poems core, its rich heart of strength and possibility.




Invictus


Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.


William Ernest Henley