Go out and rent Invictus, the movie about the 1995 Rugby World Cup in South Africa. Starring Matt Damon as Springbok Francois Pienaar and Morgan Freeman as then-President Nelson Mandela. It is an inspirational movie along the lines of what Miracle did to magnify the accomplishments of the US Olympic Ice Hockey team in 1980.
However, as Pienaar points out in this Times UK article, the Springbok team portrayed in the movie was quite different than in real life. That South African side was very capable of winning a World Cup, and though a surprise, it was not as earth shattering as the US hockey team gold medal in Lake Placid.
However, politically, the Springbok victory was enormous for the emerging nation. Clint Eastwood's film does an outstanding job of highlighting Mandela's 27-year imprisonment on Robben Island, and Freeman, who always seems to play the wise man in a room of fools, expertly charts the course of unity by testing his relationship with his cabinet and supporters and enduring the negativity of the white population, who was suspicious of his intentions.
After watching it, I can tell you that Mandela must have been seen as crazy by his supporters for so vehemently pushing for the rest of South Africa to embrace the Springboks--for 40 of the 45 million South Africans a symbol of oppression--in the run up to the Rugby World Cup. In the film, he relates that the prison guards always watched and listened to the Springboks, and the prisoners all rooted against them.
Mandela realized that a sincere gesture to white South Africans would help them adapt to the changes ahead. Backing the Springboks publicly was the easiest way to do it. The film shows a meeting between Mandela and a sports governing council wanting to remove the Springbok emblem and replace it with the King Protea--South Africa's official sporting logo, as well as replacing the green and gold colors.
That situation still makes headlines, as only recently have the Springboks changed to a jersey with the King Protea on the favored left-side and the Springbok moved to the right side.
Invictus is a movie about Mandela. However, the change he insists from the team and from the nation make it an emotional an uplifting film. By making the South African rugby team change its mindset and seize an improbable victory, the Rugby World Cup in 1995 is now remembered as the first great unifying moment in the new nation's history.
And like another great statesman George Washington, Nelson Mandela has a keen eye for unity in the eye of the storm. What was seen as political maneuvering in the past is now hailed as a brilliant and bold political stroke. Great nations are born in such great moments.
Watch Invictus and witness the birth of a nation.
However, as Pienaar points out in this Times UK article, the Springbok team portrayed in the movie was quite different than in real life. That South African side was very capable of winning a World Cup, and though a surprise, it was not as earth shattering as the US hockey team gold medal in Lake Placid.
However, politically, the Springbok victory was enormous for the emerging nation. Clint Eastwood's film does an outstanding job of highlighting Mandela's 27-year imprisonment on Robben Island, and Freeman, who always seems to play the wise man in a room of fools, expertly charts the course of unity by testing his relationship with his cabinet and supporters and enduring the negativity of the white population, who was suspicious of his intentions.
After watching it, I can tell you that Mandela must have been seen as crazy by his supporters for so vehemently pushing for the rest of South Africa to embrace the Springboks--for 40 of the 45 million South Africans a symbol of oppression--in the run up to the Rugby World Cup. In the film, he relates that the prison guards always watched and listened to the Springboks, and the prisoners all rooted against them.
Mandela realized that a sincere gesture to white South Africans would help them adapt to the changes ahead. Backing the Springboks publicly was the easiest way to do it. The film shows a meeting between Mandela and a sports governing council wanting to remove the Springbok emblem and replace it with the King Protea--South Africa's official sporting logo, as well as replacing the green and gold colors.
That situation still makes headlines, as only recently have the Springboks changed to a jersey with the King Protea on the favored left-side and the Springbok moved to the right side.
Invictus is a movie about Mandela. However, the change he insists from the team and from the nation make it an emotional an uplifting film. By making the South African rugby team change its mindset and seize an improbable victory, the Rugby World Cup in 1995 is now remembered as the first great unifying moment in the new nation's history.
And like another great statesman George Washington, Nelson Mandela has a keen eye for unity in the eye of the storm. What was seen as political maneuvering in the past is now hailed as a brilliant and bold political stroke. Great nations are born in such great moments.
Watch Invictus and witness the birth of a nation.
Check out the size disadvantage...Damon is a peanut compared to the real Pienaar.
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