Invictus premiers tomorrow night in the UK but I saw it at a special screening last Sunday morning at the wonderful Duke of York Picturehouse in Brighton, one of the first cinemas in the world to opens its doors in 1910.
I suspect Morgan Freeman would pay good money to play the role of Nelson Mandela (and perhaps he did, he is one of the producers) and as I watched the skillful, but deeply conventional, story telling I wondered who the film was aimed at...not the millions around the world who marched and boycotted and campaigned for Mandella's release or anyone who is old enough to understand the horror of apartheid.
They don't need it.
I think it is aimed at the generation for whom Mandela is an old guy whose name is trotted out whenever the word hero is mentioned. This film explains why.
Invictus is propaganda on the side of the angels, education for equality, and its lack of sophistication is one of its strengths.
2 comments:
Hi Bridget, I was also at the preview screening at the Duke of York's last Sunday! Wasn't it busy?! I think Invictus is a very powerful film and it really gave me an insight into why Nelson Mandela was such an amazing man. The way he used rugby and the 1995 World Cup to reunite the nation and change people's perspectives is truly awe inpsiring. A must-see film!
Hannah (www.theseasidescribbler.blogspot.com)
Wasn't it generous of the Duke of York to arrange a free members only showing? I love that cinema. We were on the squashy sofas upstairs in the balcony area.
Agree with you about the film, although the makers missed one iconic image that I vividly remember from the news coverage of the '95 rugby World Cup. Nelson Mandela was - of course - prominent in the crowd but he would have stood out anywhere wearing a garish Hawaii type shirt and jumping up and down in unselfconscious glee
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