Invictus

I saw the movie Invictus last night. If you don't know, the movie is about South Africa's bid for the Rugby World Cup after then end apartheid when Nelson Mandela became President. I have to say that this is a great movie. It is increadibly inspiring. I was thinking about why I found this movie so inspiring and what I came up with is that this movie focuses on two stories that on their own are very inspiring, but are so intertwined that they need to be told together. Nelson Mandela's outlook on life is truly amazing. It is rare that you find someone who was so greatly wrong not to seek revenge and instead look at the bigger picture. For most when they get on top, they feel that it is their turn to do the oppressing, to set only their agenda. It is like high school with the upperclass men picking on the freshmen and sophomores. The underclass men say that they aren't going to be the same, and yet the cycle never seems to end. Of course this example doesn't show the same level of cruelty and hate that was present in South Africa, but I think that emphasises the point even more. There was so much disparity that when the change of power took place it is amazing that a leader who could see through everything was elected. So I find that story itself to be inspiring.

As for the sports story, it is also quiet inspiring. While Springboks, the South African rugby club, don't have the same problems to overcome, their path is not easy. Their story starts as a team with also most no chance of even getting into the finals of the World Cup. And with the inspiration of their country and their president they overcome they overcome their difficulties to face one of the most fearsome teams in rugby, the All Blacks. So it is definitely an underdog story that inspired their nation and in doing so brought people together that never thought that they could be united.

Definitely worth seeing, and I plan to go again.