Invictus
Short description
Invictus is set in South Africa after the end of apartheid, as Nelson Mandela begins his presidency. Mandela understands that the country remains divided along racial and economic lines, and he looks to rugby as a way to bring its people together. He throws his support behind the national team, the Springboks, and works with captain Francois Pienaar as the squad prepares for the 1995 Rugby World Cup, which South Africa is hosting. The film follows the relationship between the two men as the team's progress becomes a focal point for a nation trying to overcome decades of distrust. It is based on John Carlin's book about that period.
Clint Eastwood directed the film, the thirtieth of the forty features he has directed in chronological order, following Changeling and preceding Hereafter. Anthony Peckham wrote the screenplay, and Eastwood produced with Mace Neufeld and Robert Lorenz. Morgan Freeman plays Mandela and Matt Damon plays Pienaar, with Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng, Matt Stern and Julian Lewis Jones among the supporting cast. The production credits 184 cast members and 44 crew.
Made for a budget of 60 million US dollars, Invictus took in 122 million worldwide. On IMDb it holds a rating of 7.3 from around 174,000 votes, and on TMDB 7.2 from roughly 4,400 votes, while the film critics' rating stands at 6.7 from 238 reviews.
What's left behind the scenes
- The prison cell visited by the South African rugby team was the actual prison cell where Mandela spent the majority of his imprisonment.
- The poem that Mandela gives to François was written by English poet William Ernest Henley and is titled “Invictus”.
- Before filming began, Morgan Freeman and Lori McCreary traveled to South Africa to receive Nelson Mandela's blessing for working on the film.
- Nelson Mandela himself said that only Morgan Freeman could play him. Freeman was the first actor to be approved.
- Nelson Mandela's favorite band, the Soweto String Quartet, was involved in the making of the film.
- During the filming of this movie, Clint Eastwood became a fan of rugby. While in South Africa, he watched rugby for hours every night and discussed the game every morning. Eventually, he began to enjoy the sport.
- Morgan Freeman was friends with Nelson Mandela for many years. The actor prepared for his role by reviewing some recordings of his comrade to refine his accent and speech rhythm. Nevertheless, the most difficult task was to portray Mandela's charisma, which is impossible to copy: “I didn’t want to act like him, I wanted to be him. When you meet Mandela, you know you are in the presence of greatness. He inspires people to be better, that is his calling in life. Some call it the magic of Madiba. I’m not sure magic can be explained.”
- All the rugby games were filmed at Ellis Park Stadium in Johannesburg, where they actually took place.
- During the filming of the games, there were only about 2,000 extras in the stands. Using a special technique, the visual effects team was able to increase the number of fans to 62,000.
- The film is based on John Carlin's book “Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation” (2008).
- Scenes taking place outside Nelson Mandela's house were filmed at his actual residence in Johannesburg, while scenes taking place inside were filmed in a house in Cape Town.
- Matt Damon visited Francois Pienaar to ask the athlete for help in preparing for his role. When Damon arrived at his house, Pienaar opened the door and they simply stared at each other for a few minutes. Then Damon said, "On screen, I look much bigger." The joke eased the tension between the men, and Pienaar prepared an exquisite dinner for Damon. Later, Francois Pienaar said he was impressed by Damon: "He's a great guy, I was struck by his humility and mischievous sense of humor. He wanted to learn everything he could about me, my captain's philosophy, and what it was like for us in 1995. We also talked about playing rugby, what happens during training, and the technical aspects. We had a lot of fun."
- Morgan Freeman is left-handed, but to play Nelson Mandela as accurately as possible, he trained himself to work with his right hand in scenes where it was visible that he was writing, because Mandela is right-handed.
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