Invictus Information

INVICTUS

Clint Eastwood's 2009 film Invictus tells the story of South Africa's home-field victory in the 1995 rugby World Cup and how it helped unite the nation, which had recently elected Nelson Mandela in its first free elections since apartheid.


Although discord and segregation between racial groups in South Africa have existed since colonial times, apartheid -- "a system of legalracial segregation enforced by the National Party government in South Africa between 1948 and 1994, under which the rights of the majority black inhabitants were curtailed and minority rule by whites was maintained”

Apartheid finally ended in the early 1990s, and the first free elections were held on April 27, 1994.

The first elected President was Nelson Mandela, played by Morgan Freeman inthe film, who had been held captive by the South African government for 27 years but was determined to forgo revenge in favor of forgiveness. Invictus traces the beginning of his presidency, with an emphasis on his support of the rugby team and growing relationship with the team's captain, Francois Pienaar, played by Matt Damon. In the film, Mandela manages to bring his country together behind theunifying force of sport.


At the time of Mandela’s inauguration, nobody could have possibly imagined that rugby could help bring this about. Almost everyone saw it as a white man’s game.

The National Sports Council agrees to the President’s request, somewhat reluctantly, but there is much more to do. Director Clint Eastwood remarks:

This story takes place at a critical point inMandela’s presidency. I think he demonstrated great wisdom in incorporating sport to reconcile his country. He knows he needs to pull everybody together, to find a way to appeal to their national pride - one thing, perhaps the only thing, they have in common at that time. He knows the white population and the black population will ultimately have to work together as a team or the country will not succeed,so he shows a lot of creativity using a sports team as a means to an end.

His next move is to invite Francois Pienaar for tea. He quickly wins the rugby captain’s respect and galvanises him to inspire his team to achieve greater things. Mandela asks Peinaar, ‘How do we inspire ourselves to greatness when nothing less will do? How do we inspire everyone around us?’ He mentions that, while he wasin prison, he was inspired by a poem, though he doesn’t tell Pienaar what it was. Soon afterwards, the Springboks players are dismayed to hear that they are to do rugby coaching in the townships as part of the PR for the World Cup. Pienaar refuses to challenge the order, however. ‘We’ve become more than a rugby team and we’d better get used to it,’ he insists. It is a hugely successful move, withchildren in the townships responding enthusiastically and the players becoming inspired by the reactions. Matt Damon comments:

Mandela basically asks him to exceed his country’s expectations and his own expectations and win the World Cup. It’s an enormous request, but Francois knows that it’s actually bigger than any rugby match. And along the way, the entire team realise they have become animportant instrument in bringing their country together.

By the time the Rugby World Cup starts, President Mandela has positioned himself as the Springboks’ number one fan, and the slogan ‘One team, one country’ seems to be becoming a reality. Screenwriter Anthony Peckham says:

Mandela realised he had a perfect opportunity to address the part of the electorate that had not voted for him . .. that, in truth, feared him. White South Africans followed the Springboks religiously, so to use the forum of the World Cup was brilliant. But it wasn’t just a game; it was the fact that Mandela embraced a team that black South Africans hated and almost by force of will dragged all of the people into following them.

The Boks’ extraordinary, and completely unexpected, performance in the...