SUSO

One Team, One Nation

"Sport's most iconic image and the story behind it..."

To quote John Carlin, author of the book Playing With The Enemy, the basis for the film Invictus that breaks in UK cinemas this month;

"By far the most fabulous and memorable political event I've ever witnesses was the Rugby World Cup Final of 1995."

That Carlin would refer to a World Cup final thus, as a'political event', points to the the power sport genuinely exerts over politics.  And Nelson Mandela, as intelligent a politician as ever there has ever been, was the man to recognise this.  The man to recognise that sport can move people emotionally to such an extent that it could and did unite a once fundamentally fractured nation. The man to move against this opportunity and challenge.  For those familiar with the turmoil of post-apartheid South Africa, the scale of this achievement was and remains breathtaking.

Morgan Freeman has gone on record as saying he had wanted to play Nelson Mandela in a film for many years but it was always about waiting for the right story and formula.  Carlin's tale offered him the formula and angle he was looking for.  And early critique suggest Freeman delivers a masterful performance in the role he was perhaps born to play (so says Mandela's own daughter..).  And while Matt Damon's involvement in the production is an inevitable point of controversy the same critics suggest he delivers a solid performance (with a worthy accent) allowing the focus to reside where it should, on Mandela as portrayed by Freeman.

Ahead of the realease of the film, and in Morgan Freeman's words, here is the opportunity to familiarise yourself with the story behind the image.

Categories Film Tags Sport Politics Endeavour suso Film General

By Juan on 23/1/10