Invictus - Unconquered
Invictus - Unconquered (original title Invictus , Latin for 'The Unconquered' or 'The Unconquered') is an American film by the director Clint Eastwood based on the non-fiction book The Victory of Nelson Mandela: How Enemies Became Friends (Original title Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation ) by John Carlin from 2008, which was released in German cinemas on February 18, 2010. Even before the film was released in the United States on December 11, 2009, the film was seen as an Oscar candidate.
The title of the film refers to the poem Invictus by William Ernest Henley , which gave support and comfort to the resistance fighter and later President of South Africa , Nelson Mandela , during the years of his imprisonment.
action
Nelson Mandela was released in 1990 after decades of imprisonment on Robben Island and four years later, after the end of apartheid, he was the first black man to win the presidential elections. One of its main concerns is to bridge the deep gap between the white minority and the black majority. He attends a game of the Springboks , the South African national rugby union team , which is a symbol of the defeated white rule, since rugby is above all the popular sport of the Boers and which most blacks do not support.
Due to apartheid, the team was boycotted by most other national teams from the early 1980s to 1992. With a view to the upcoming Rugby Union World Cup in 1995 in their own country, Mandela convinced the black members of the South African Rugby Association , which was founded in 1992, to keep the old symbols and colors of the team. Mandela meets team captain Francois Pienaar and indirectly gives him to understand that a successful performance at the World Cup is the best way to bring the different population groups closer together.
Many doubt that the sport can overcome 50 years of racial segregation, especially since with one exception only white players belong to the Springboks and the only black player on the team threatens to drop out due to an injury to the Achilles tendon . The mood changes as the players travel around the country ahead of the World Cup and get in touch with the local population, so that blacks begin to support the Springboks too. When Mandela attended the World Cup games and showed himself in a Springbok jersey in the final, he finally pulled the public on his side.
The Springboks, which despite their home advantage and their reputation are not among the favorites, as they were marked by the lack of international match practice after years of isolation, rather surprisingly advance into the World Cup final, where they meet the All Blacks from New Zealand - the best team in the world and the South Africans' greatest rivals for decades. In front of an enthusiastic crowd, Pienaar urges the team to overcome their doubts and to go to their limits. The regular playing time ends in a draw and there is extra time in which the Springboks can prevail and become world champions. On the field of play, Mandela Pienaar presents the World Cup trophy .
production
script
The script is based on the book The Victory of Nelson Mandela: How Enemies Became Friends (Original: Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation ) by John Carlin. The working title of the film was "The Human Factor". The screenwriters met with Carlin at his residence in Barcelona to discuss converting his biographical nonfiction into a screenplay.
occupation
Morgan Freeman was cast as the first actor to play Nelson Mandela, followed by Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar. Matt Damon received intensive rugby training from Chester Williams at the Gardens Rugby Club in Cape Town for his role as team captain .
Awards
Invictus was recognized by the National Board of Review in 2009 with awards for Best Director and Best Actor (Morgan Freeman). Clint Eastwood, Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon each received a nomination for the 2010 Golden Globe Award . Freeman and Damon continued to receive Oscar nominations.
reception
Don Beck , who designed the rugby team's motivation plan in 1995, found the film to be realistic and balanced.
“Eastwood often tells of failure in his old works and revealed a deeply pessimistic worldview in films like Mystic River or Gran Torino . His Nelson Mandela hymn Invictus is all the more idealistic and heroic , which makes the film look flatter than other Eastwood directorial works. He is weakest in the moments when he adopts the conventions of sports film and strongest when celebrating victory over racism. [...] Conclusion: In an emotionally gripping mix of biopic and sports film, Invictus shows a largely unknown chapter of the democratic change in South Africa. "
“This is also shown by Clint Eastwood's first-class staged biography drama, even if it is sporting rather than social and political. The weaknesses and omissions are covered by a great Morgan Freeman and Eastwood's staging instinct. "
“Although the lavishly equipped, well-played film was staged somewhat slowly, it impresses with its nuanced character drawings and culminates in the rousing World Cup game that followed. Nevertheless, he does not look at the continuing problems of today's South Africa. "
Web links
- Invictus - unconquered in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- Invictus - unconquered at Rotten Tomatoes (English)
- Invictus - unconquered at Metacritic (English)
- Invictus - Unconquered in the online film database
- Invictus on the website of Warner Bros. Entertainment (English)
- Invictus - Unconquered. German Film and Media Assessment (FBW) : "Predicate particularly valuable"
Individual evidence
- ↑ Release Certificate for Invictus - Unconquered . Voluntary self-regulation of the film industry , January 2010 (PDF; test number: 121 399 K).
- ↑ Age rating for Invictus - Undefeated . Youth Media Commission .
- ↑ Björn Becher: Invictus: Trailer for the Mandela biopic by Clint Eastwood. In: message. Film releases October 28, 2009, archived from the original on August 19, 2016 ; accessed on August 6, 2016 : "The film is expected to be in German cinemas on February 18, 2010"
- ↑ "Oscar Buzz" in Hollywood - Who will make it in 2010? Zeit Online , November 13, 2009, archived from the original on November 17, 2009 ; accessed on August 6, 2016 (agency report).
- ^ Oscar nominee Morgan Freeman. In: News & Specials. CINEMA Verlag GmbH, accessed on November 18, 2009 (with trailer): "And the Oscars are already waiting ..."
- ↑ John Carlin: The Victory of Nelson Mandela: How Enemies Became Friends . Herder, Freiburg 2008, ISBN 978-3-451-29859-2 .
- ↑ Michael Fleming: Matt Damon to 'Factor' in rugby role. Variety, June 3, 2008; archived from the original on January 4, 2010 ; accessed on June 14, 2009 .
- ↑ Interview with John Carlin, BBC Radio 5, May 21, 2009
- ^ Elisabeth Rappe: Matt Damon Goes Blond For 'The Human Factor'. Cinematical, May 16, 2009, accessed June 14, 2009 .
- ↑ Bienne Huisman: Matt Damon injured at rugby workout. The Times, March 8, 2009, accessed June 17, 2009 .
- ^ Awards for 2009. National Board of Review, archived from the original on June 12, 2010 ; Retrieved December 8, 2009 .
- ↑ The story behind 'Invictus': Man aided team now onscreen ( Memento from January 25, 2010 in the Internet Archive ). Denton Record-Chronicle, December 24, 2009
- ↑ http://www.cinema.de/film/invictus-unbezw,4027810.html Cinema.de
- ↑ filmstarts.de
- ↑ Invictus - Undefeated. In: Lexicon of International Films . Film service , accessed May 28, 2017 .