FIFA World Cup just started providing its share of thrills, joys, and deceptions. While I was watching the Moroccan team yesterday, my right foot was uncontrollably trembling, my heart pounding at the national anthem and everyone was glued to the screen with the kind of frozen expression that that only Sports can draw on faces. And tough memories resurfaced, twenty years ago, we had scored three goals against Scotland in one of "these games"; I was tying my shoes, everyone was getting ready to celebrate our qualification to the quarter finals in the street... but Brazil that had previously beat us with three goals against none, the World Champion and team of Ronaldo (bald Ronaldo, not Cristiano) lost against Norway in what should have been an open-and-shut case. A penalty kick at the last minute destroyed all hopes. My brother cried and I took off my shoes.Twenty years later, history, cruelly again, decided to repeat itself, at the last minute, in the worst possible way, one of our players scored against the team, earning Iran the precious victory and filling our hearts with bitterness. See, one can also understand the power of Sport from defeat, sport unites and brings back positive energy for a brief but exhilarating period. It also creates extraordinary bonds between people who had nothing in common except quivering for the same colors. Sports mark a truce, awakening feelings whose negative counterparts are nourished by war and political conflicts the rest of the time.Sport is essential to one country; it is essential to the world. And as I watched Clint Eastwood's "Invictus" one day before the kick off, I felt like I could read in the mind of Nelson Mandela, played in all nuance and depth by Morgan Freeman. What an ironically fitting name for an African leader who was quite the opposite of a "free man" for ten thousand days of his life. Indeed, some iconic artists achieved greatness and died in 27 years, for Mandela, it was the time spent in jail that allowed him to free his mind from hatred and resentment, to achieve his personal greatness through humility, forgiveness and humanity. The film starts at his release as he's cheerfully welcomed by black people while the whites expect the worst. "End Apartheid" was the slogan that the majority of today's population wouldn't remember, not even South Africans... but the miracle happened and Mandela, Madiba as he's respectfully and affectionately called, almost rhymed with Messiah. "Can he run a country?" asks a militant newspaper, Mandela's bodyguard sees a hate campaign but Madiba lucidly says "it's a legitimate question", he's already approaching his role as a unifier not a divider. Coming to office, he invites the skeptical whites to stay unless they think there are irreconcilable differences, what he does is giving them a choice, a freedom, a gift only a man of his experience could value. He also hires white bodyguards and their interactions with the previous team plays like a great microcosm of the reconciliation built up throughout the film, with the power of Sports. Because "Invictus" isn't a biography film as much as it's a Sports film. Mandela has great scopes of achievements... and failures as well, his prestige was a double-edged sword that can earn him hostility from the Afrikaners and when facing unemployment, poverty, and criminality, sports could be perceived as the least of the priorities. The genius of Mandela is to take sport damn seriously, he watches a rugby game and discovers that the Blacks support any team against the Springboks, he's booed by supporters who proudly brandish the old flag and concedes it's a constitutional right. But when he learns that the ANC is going to replace the team with a new name, new colors and hymn, he asks everyone to reconsider the vote, taking time to explain why they're wrong.Mandela wasn't just that all-smiling icon; like Gandhi, he was a natural-born leader. Warned by his secretary about the risk of losing his power, he reminds her that a true leader should be guided by his principles, not fears, he knows reconciliation is impossible without the Springboks. As much as the Whites must forget, the Blacks must forgive. It's not political but human calculation (one of the film's great quotes). Mandela then meets the team captain François Pinaar (Matt Damon) and the two men realize they speak the same language, François always wanted victory but after his pivotal encounter, he understands that the country, hosting the 1995 World Cup, needs the victory, sports don't just make people happy; it unites them in happiness. It was twice a miracle because because South Africa had to play against the iconic All-Blacks whose haka could scare enough to guarantee a victory. "Invictus" isn't just an underdog movie, it chronicles every single effort that made a miracle possible, because the miracle-maker was a miracle by himself. Visiting his cell, François realizes that he could touches two facing walls by simply spreading his arms. Anyone can survive 27 years of jailing, but can any soul? Mandela was the Captain of his soul as he was master of his fate and overcame his demons. François spreads the good word to the team, and like an apostle to a saint (but the film doesn't over-sanctify them) meetings are arranged with young Black kids from the poorer areas. And for once, they forget about soccer and learn about rugby not just from Chester, the only Black player.The team also they learn the hymn "Schosholoza", that haunting melody that reminded me of that magical World Cup in Africa in 2014. The team had to win, and they won, the rest was history. Mandela understood the magic of Sports and used it as a political tool but a human miracle.Maybe Morocco should watch this film before their next game against Portgual... after all, it ain't over until the referee blows his whistle.

The movie takes on the challenge of the complex story of the role of rugby in unifying the new, post-apartheid South Africa, and is interesting overall. It fails, however, to approach the potential of the actual story. The production comes across as a collection of snippets thrown together more than a cohesive story. Furthermore, the progression of popular black South African emotions towards the team, from hatred to approval and adoration, is poorly developed - and as a result seems somewhat false. This movie comes across as more of a feel good movie about post-apartheid unification in South Africa than the more thoughtful analysis of how this sport was used as a symbol/tool for unification in a nation on the brink of civil war due to a very recent and complex history of racial separation/terror.

Even though he's coming on in age, Clint Eastwood can still dazzle his audience, even when he's behind the camera. For a grizzled veteran, he still manages to come up with good quality pictures, even if not all of them are entirely great. The last really good cinematic masterpiece he truly made before "Invictus" was "Million Dollar Baby". He does have a tendency of over-casting non-performers in his movies like he did in "Gran Torino", even though his intentions were good. But nobody can deny that Eastwood is master in his craft and the productions of his film are taken through heart even if they're not always electrifying. "Invictus" is a very well-made movie based on a true story with touchy subjects and issues that will have you pondering for hours to come. In 1994 three years after South African political activist Nelson Mandela gets released from prison after spending three decades there, he is now the new president of South Africa and his quest to bring unity between the races with the country. When an all Caucasian rugby team who's been struggling for a championship, Mandela decides to step up and fix the team to becoming the best they can be and to erase the divinity within the races in the country. Morgan Freeman was the perfect casting choice as Mandela. He decides that the South African team the Springboks have potential to be championship material and there he meets up with the captain of the rugby team Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon)and felt his first quest was to inject unification among the Springboks as a symbolical way so that the country can have a team to be proud of and the pivotal step to expunge apartheid forever. So we see kind of a two-plot story behind the movie, Invictus". One we have Mandela adjusting his new role as the leader of his country as he's faced with plenty of turmoil that includes outrage, uproarious fear and racism. One pivotal scene was when his all-black security staff was being questioned by the Secret Service guys and later accepted. The other plot is Pienaar's initiative to encourage his rugby team to a winning season while taking part in the activities emanating in the country and trying to come to terms of a nation that's under a political unrest at the time. In one memorable scene Pienaar and his team visit the jail that where Mandela was incarcerated and enter his cell. It was a very subtle moment where the drama in this movie is the most important. The two plots climatically join together as Mandela is seated to see this emotional and very important World Cup of the 1995 Rugby Championships. This final game will not just keep the sports fans enthralled, but the setup is structured beautifully. Eastwood went out of his way to create a country that at the time was struggling with politics and race issues and makes you feel for the people involved in the movie and the World Cup final match is an added bonus to the intriguing scenes depicted in the movie. Though it's a great movie, there are still flaws as well. Unless you know the rules of rugby which a lot of people may not be familiar with (nothing personal) you might be lost in the rules and the way the game is operated. But it wasn't a huge drawback for me, I just wanted to see some good sports. Also there's this rather weird scene in the movie that's supposedly happened in real life, but Eastwood directs it like he's manipulating us into making it feel like a political thriller when it really isn't. But those burps won't spoil my liking for this movie. Even though it's not a perfect film, "Invictus" is still provocative and entertaining and raises a lot of questions and if a movie can generate food for thought, it ranks high in my grading system. It truly has something for those who are enthused by political dramas plus it has something to offer for those who love sports enthusiasts.

This was good but not as good as I was expecting it to be what with Matt Damon, Morgan Freeman and Clint Eastwood directing. Actually it was kind of average with some very long winded sections of dialogue (speeches) and a mediocre outcome to the World Cup.Usually I get all wrapped up in inspirational sports dramas but this final game was kinda meh, with continual cuts back and forth to the crowd, the game, people watching or listening at assorted venues. I guess I was also expecting the movie to be more about the rugby and less about the politics, although I did enjoy the glimpses we get into Mandela's personal life.Truthfully about an hour into the movie the most interesting thing going was the "rainbow" team of the presidential guard and how they were interacting with each other and handling their new boss. Morgan Freeman's portrayal of Nelson Mandela is very good though and Matt Damon puts on a decent South African accent (and certainly got in shape for this role) but the story itself was kinda tedious.It follows newly elected president Mandela as he inspires the (losing) 1995 South African rugby team to strive for the world cup in hopes of soothing the country's racial tensions.