FLASHBACK FRIDAY
Invictus: Morgan Freeman as Bridge Building Nelson Mandela
Longing for Inspired Leadership to bring us national healing.
“In order to build our nation, we must all exceed our own expectations.”
— Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela
Last night I watched the film Invictus, the remarkable true story of South Africa’s 1995 capture of the Rugby World Cup. Directed by Clint Eastwood, it’s a wonderful story with impressive performances, starring Matt Damon as team captain Francois Pienaar and Morgan Freeman as the irrepressible Nelson Mandela.
Kudos to Clint Eastwood for the stories he has been bringing to the screen in recent years. This one is again an inspired piece of work and shows that he has learned well the craft of storytelling in film. I don’t think we as Americans appreciate the full impact and power of Nelson Mandela’s life achievements, not only in bringing down apartheid but in becoming the elected president who united this wounded and torn country. It’s the kind of leadership many of us are longing for today.
This would be a great film if for no other reason than to introduce more Americans to the power of poetry to inspire the soul. For it was the nineteenth century Henley poem Invictus from which Nelson Mandela derived the inner strength to overcome…
