Invictus
Written by Andreas Babiolakis
Yesterday, July 18th, was Nelson Mandela’s birthday. To honour him, and embrace my South African roots during these devastating times, I’m reviewing Invictus: a film about the championship winning Springbok team and Mandela’s involvement.
The late '2000’s saw Clint Eastwood’s renaissance era as a strong American filmmaker come to a close. Once Gran Torino came and went, he never really got back to that level of quality ever again. That isn’t to say that it’s his best film (try Unforgiven for starters, and then let’s give Letters from Iwo Jima and Million Dollar Baby some love, plus all of his much older classics like High Plains Drifter and The Outlaw Josey Wales… the list goes on forever), but Gran Torino was the last film of this time period where the maverick filmmaker and actor just felt untouchable. Invictus wasn’t a sign of bad things to come, but looking at the film in hindsight makes it clear that the end was near. Invictus wasn’t the cause of this decline, either. There are similar films that came before in Eastwood’s filmography that are just as “pretty good” as this one. Nonetheless, his best years were still behind him.
Despite trying to break the rules occasionally in some of his finer works, Eastwood loved to do things the Hollywood way quite often as well (he has since resorted to abiding by Hollywood’s conventions permanently). Invictus is a safe film, but it still has Eastwood operating with his most amount of heart. We see the true story of South African president Nelson Mandela shortly after he is elected (and four years after his twenty seven year prison sentence because of his anti-apartheid stance). The national rugby team (the Springboks) weren’t performing well, and the nation deemed the mascot to be a part of the apartheid that was now dismantled: any icons linked to this era were to be destroyed. Mandela saw things another way: why not change how we view this national symbol for the better? To do so, the Springboks would need to go from a global disappointment to the best team in worldwide rugby. Easy, right?
Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon deliver some of their best performances in Invictus.
Invictus is extremely by-the-numbers; even if you don’t know the outcome of the 1995 Rugby World Cup, you can figure out exactly what will happen because of how Eastwood sets the film up, with each and every sports and biopic staple presented here (two of the tamest genres and sets of protocols). You don’t watch Invictus to be surprised. You know you’re going to see some fine performances set to a backdrop of warmth and hope, amidst the evils and hatreds of the world. That’s exactly what you get. Morgan Freeman plays President Mandela with a career-best performance, full of the late leader’s mannerisms and a near-perfect replication of his accent (outside of occasional slips). What really soars is Freeman’s subliminal leaks of Mandela’s hidden feelings or inner thoughts, as if you’re talking to the president directly. We also have Matt Damon as the Springbok captain Francois Pienaar, who makes it his duty to carry Mandela’s quest for unity to the game. Damon is similarly at his peak capacity, and is convincing as Pienaar in almost every single way.
The film gets going, and it’s mostly smooth sailing after only a couple of moments of fear or worry. Damon’s Pienaar is given so many motivational speeches (even when the Springboks are at their worst, with terrible beer included), so winding up to the climactic one may feel a little same-old (but the best monologue is still left for last, at least). With literally zero twists and turns, Invictus is as rudimentary as a film can get. However, with two strong performances to pull the film, and Eastwood finding love in every crevice of society, the film does just enough to be watchable and uplifting. It may feel extremely unrealistic at times, but I’m pretty sure Eastwood was just trying to make a cinematic experience where your faith is restored just a little bit. Major political discussions are avoided, which feels tame to me but could be exactly what you’re hoping for. The rugby matches themselves are formulaic, albeit well made. There’s virtually nothing complicated or challenging here. In general, that poses to be a bit of an unsatisfactory experience. On those days where you just can’t handle anything rough, however, Invictus is there, and as dependable as can be. Before Clint Eastwood’s filmography had its biggest drops, he was at least reliable tonally, and Invictus is indicative of this.
Andreas Babiolakis has a Masters degree in Film and Photography Preservation and Collections Management from Ryerson University, as well as a Bachelors degree in Cinema Studies from York University. His favourite times of year are the Criterion Collection flash sales and the annual Toronto International Film Festival.