Movie Review #3: Invictus

It should be noted at the outset that the opinion expressed in this review is not shared by the two gentlemen who accompanied me to the screening of this film. They both felt that there was something missing. A little of this, some of that, more of such-and-such. For my money, Invictus was as perfectly crafted as any film in recent memory. Eastwood builds the perfect balance of tension from the racial divide that defined South Africa for so long, the clear and present threat of assassination of that nation's first black president and a rugby team facing an upcoming world cup they have no business participating in, much less winning.

In the same way that Spielberg told the story of the holocaust through the specific lens of Schindler's List, Eastwood takes one chapter of Nelson Mandela's life to show how the courage of one man to forgive centuries of injustice inspired a nation to move into a new era. When Mandela took office, the challenge he faced was vast. South Africa was divided along very strict racial lines. The white Afrikaners had many fears, not the least of which was reprisal from a long oppressed black populace. The black South Africans were ecstatic with hope that finally they had a representative in the highest level of government. It was with great wisdom that Mandela realized that alienating the white populace would be detrimental to the future of the country he would now lead. In a very risky move he urged the sporting council, now comprised solely of blacks, to reverse their decision to do away with the name, colors and symbol of the national rugby team, the Springboks. Long seen as the white people's team, most black South Africans would root for any team that played the Springboks. Instead of abolishing the Springboks, Mandela enlisted their help and rallied his country around their rugby team.

This movie was about many things. It was about rugby, it was about the aftermath of Apartheid in South Africa it was about Nelson Mandela. What struck me the most, on a personal level, was the theme of forgiveness. We all struggle at some level with forgiveness in our personal lives. We're hurt by things that people say and do. It takes a conscious act of the will to forgive. It is an act of great courage. Now multiply those hurts to the scale of centuries of oppression, degradation and marginalization. How much courage does it take to be the first to stand up and forgive that much pain? As one of Mandela's bodyguards makes clear, he is not a saint, he is a man. If this man can forgive and lead a whole people to forgiveness and the beginnings of reconciliation, perhaps the hurts in our lives are not unforgivable.