How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.
Saw INVICTUS yesterday, directed by Clint Eastwood with Morgan "Who else could play the part - Denzel Washington is still too young" Freeman and Matt "oh my god look at his shoulders!" Damon.Based on the book "Playing The Enemy. Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation. Invictus" the film looks at the life of Nelson Mandela after the fall of apartheid in South Africa, during his term as president, when he campaigned to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup event as an opportunity to unite his countrymen, black and white. The movie follows the usual inspirational ROCKY-dramaturgy of an underdog (in this case the South African Rugby team "Springbocks") making it to the world cup against all odds and with growing enthusiasm of the audience.
Solid craftsmanship
The title comes from the poem "Invictus" that Mandela had written on a scrap of paper while he was incarcerated. In the movie, Mandela gives the poem to his national rugby team's captain Francois Pienaar before the start of the Rugby World Cup. In reality, Mandela provided Pienaar with an extract from Theodore Roosevelt's "The Man in the Arena" speech from 1910. (thank you Wikipedia!)
The movie is classical Eastwood: Clear, foreseeable straight forward story. ("A very good story very well told" Variety) Like a good Jazz standard: no improvisation or tricks. Just concentration on the well crafted conversion of the material.
Like usual, Variety gives a sober estimation on the movie's potential success and impact beyond intellectual or cineastic value: "The names of Eastwood and stars Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon should propel this absorbing Warner Bros. release to solid returns Stateside, with even better prospects looming in many foreign markets, where an unfamiliar sport and South African politics may pose less of a potential B.O. [= Box Office] hurdle."
Ka mate, Ka mate! Ka ora, Ka ora!
An impressive detail: in the movie the team of South Africa have to confront the ALL BLACKS from New Zealand. Before the game starts, the ALL BLACKS do the "Haka". "Ha" means breath, "Ka" means "on fire" - so "Haka" are "firy words". This traditional maori wardance ismeant to intimidate opponents with a choreography presenting the team as one strong man, presenting grim facial expressions, rolling their eyes and sticking out their tongue to put fear in the heart of the enemy and show him that one is going to eat him.
The words express that the fighters are descendants from a long line of warriors making the enemy understand that he is not fighting one man but a legion of warriors.Now, that's effective communication policy!
