Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Nelson Mandela is a man that should be remembered for his incredible fighting spirit that not only helped him achieve his goals, but also be remembered as an important leader to his people. When making movie about such an iconic and historic figure, one has to cast the perfect actor. Idris Elba was very much the right man for the job. The actor is Mandela in every scene he appears and shares the same emotions as our real life protagonist. This is clearly one of the best roles of the year and one of my personal favorites. Naomie Harris is not far off either as Winnie, Madiba's second wife, a woman who stands by her man during his imprisonment, and slowly drifts apart from him as she no longer feels she knows him and his intentions. Much has been said about the movie's plot flaws, something I do not agree with as I found it to be quite entertaining and a great homage to the legend that is Nelson Mandela. Great performances in a fantastic movie.

Rating 8/10

This is an insightful biography about great leader Nelson Mandela who was a South African anti-apartheid revolutionary, politician and philanthropist . He was leader of the African National Congress, who has been imprisoned since 1963 for allegedly inciting riots against the government. As he spend long time in prison amidst tight economic sanctions by the international community, and growing unrest by the natives who continue their fight for equality, and freedom for Nelson Mandela. Amongst mounting international pressure to free Nelson, as well as imposition of crippling economic sanctions, the South African government representative meets with Nelson and agrees to free him . One time freed Mandela served as President of South Africa from 1994 to 1999. He was South Africa's first black chief executive, and the first elected in a fully representative democratic election. His government focused on dismantling the legacy of apartheid through tackling institutionalised racism, poverty and inequality, and fostering racial reconciliation. Politically an African nationalist and democratic socialist, he served as President of the African National Congress (ANC) from 1991 to 1997. Internationally, Mandela was Secretary General of the Non-Aligned Movement from 1998 to 1999.

This is an enjoyable biopic about Mandela's life , an emotive journey from his boyhood by means of flashbacks in a rural village , his imprisonment through to his inauguration as the first democratically elected president of South Africa . The picture has some strong moments as police cruelty on civilians as well security officers' brutality against people , including women , and infants . There's enough background information to give the spectator a taste of what South African life was like under apartheid, detailing hard confrontations , violent environment , fear and tension . The flick describes perfectly a great man who could have lived in bitterness and anger all his existence , seeking vengeance when he ultimately achieved power, but who instead chose to devote himself to democracy and peaceful reconciliation between blacks and whites in South Africa . The main actors , Idris Elba and Naomi Harris give awesome interpretation and the story was professionally directed by Justin Chadwick . Any film that concerns Nelson Mandela is a picture worth watching in my opinion and this one results to be one of the best . Worthwhile seeing for historical characters buffs . Other films based on this historical figure are the followings : ¨Mandela¨ (1987) by Philip Saville with Danny Glover , Alfre Woodward , Warren Clarke , Julian Glover ; ¨Mandela and De Clerk¨ (1997 )by Joseph Sargent with Sidney Poitier and Michael Caine ; ¨Goodbye Bafana¨ (2007) by Billie August with Dennis Haysbert ,Joseph Fiennes , Diane Kruger and ¨Winnie¨ by Darrel Root with Jennifer Hudson , Terrence Howard , Elias Koteas .

The picture was well based on real events and characters whose screenplay was faithfully written by William Nicholson upon Nelson Mandel's autobiography : As Mandela or Xhosa born to the Thembu royal family, Mandela attended the Fort Hare University and the University of Witwatersrand, where he studied law. Living in Johannesburg, he became involved in anti-colonial politics, joining the ANC and becoming a founding member of its Youth League. After the Afrikaner minority government of the National Party established apartheid in 1948, he rose to prominence in the ANC's 1952 Defiance Campaign, was appointed superintendent of the organisation's Transvaal chapter and presided over the 1955 Congress of the People. Working as a lawyer, he was repeatedly arrested for seditious activities and, with the ANC leadership, was unsuccessfully prosecuted in the Treason Trial from 1956 to 1961. Influenced by Marxism, he secretly joined the South African Communist Party (SACP) and sat on its Central Committee. Although initially committed to non-violent protest, in association with the SACP he co-founded the militant Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) in 1961, leading a sabotage campaign against the apartheid government. In 1962, he was arrested, convicted of conspiracy to overthrow the state, and sentenced to life imprisonment in the Rivonia Trial. Mandela served 27 years in prison, initially on Robben Island, and later in Pollsmoor Prison and Victor Verster Prison. An international campaign lobbied for his release, which was granted in 1990 amid escalating civil strife. Mandela joined negotiations with Nationalist President F. W. De Klerk to abolish apartheid and establish multiracial elections in 1994, in which he led the ANC to victory and became South Africa's first black president. He published his autobiography in 1995. During his tenure in the Government of National Unity he invited other political parties to join the cabinet, and promulgated a new constitution. He also created the Truth and Reconciliation Commission to investigate past human rights abuses. While continuing the former government's liberal economic policy, his administration also introduced measures to encourage land reform, combat poverty, and expand healthcare services. Internationally, he acted as mediator between Libya and the United Kingdom in the Pan Am Flight 103 bombing trial, and oversaw military intervention in Lesotho. He declined to run for a second term, and was succeeded by his deputy, Thabo Mbeki. Mandela became an elder statesman, focusing on charitable work in combating poverty and HIV/AIDS through the Nelson Mandela Foundation. Mandela was a controversial figure for much of his life. Denounced as a communist terrorist by critics, he nevertheless gained international acclaim for his activism, having received more than 250 honours, including the 1993 Nobel Peace Prize, the US Presidential Medal of Freedom, and the Soviet Order of Lenin. He is held in deep respect within South Africa, where he is often referred to by his Xhosa clan name, Madiba, or as Tata ("Father"); he is often described as the "Father of the Nation".

As a 37 year old white South African, who never really saw, felt or experienced Apartheid and the way SA was back then as I was too young, I now have a much better appreciation for all the suffering, discrimination and pain that was caused.

Nelson Madela gave up most of his adult life for a cause which has now come full circle and SA is now better off for it, mostly.

A powerful movie, that shows a man more passionate about equality and human rights than his own well being, and sadly at the detriment of his own family.

I strongly recommend every single South African to watch this movie, especially our current government!

Nelson Mandela is one of the most important and celebrated political history, known for his imprisonment, his stand against apartheid and his commitment to peace and racial equality. A film based on his autobiography was always going to be of interest and seen as clear awards bait.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom follows a young Nelson Mandela (Idris Elba) in his early days in politics, working as a lawyer in Johannesburg, 1942 and is approached by the ANC to become an achieve member of the defiance movement. During the cause of the film it follows Mandela's relationship with Winnie Madikizela (Naomie Harris), his move into violence, his trial and imprisonment. But the 1980s South Africa becomes ungovernable the Apartheid regime are forced to open negotiations with Mandela.

Mandela's autobiography is a large book, spanning nearly 800 pages and the film attempts to tell the story of over 50 years of history in a 2 hour, 20 minute package. This results in a bio-pic of broad brushstrokes, giving ups brief snippets of moments in Mandela's life, giving us a glance of events instead of going into any details. This is especially the case of the early part of the film, skipping through Mandela's early political activism, the foray into terrorism and the trial. Even the events on Robbin Island were quick and it was only when the film enters into the political negotiations when there is more of a narrative throughout and we able to feel the violent tension South Africa was going through.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom has an excellent cast with the likes of Elba and Harris and they performs were able to transcend the fact they did not look the like people they did played. They get the voices and mannerisms down as the film explores Mandela's and Winnie's different ideologies later on in the film. They relationship is one of the longest running themes of the films. The supporting cast were also very strong in their performances and there was no weak link in the film.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom was helmed by Justin Chadwick and written by William Nicholson. Chadwick is a very safe director and Mandela is a competently made film. His direction is solid, showing casing the period effective, with set pieces being well set up and well shot as the film goes through a lighting pace. But it was the script that was the biggest let down, with Nicholson rushing through Mandela's life instead of letting moments have a chance to breath. This was a film that either needed to be longer, a three hour epic so many parts of Mandela's life could be explored or been more focused on one or two events. There were parts that were just screen writing tricks then a real moments, like the fist metaphor.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a solidly made, but safe film. There are excellent moments in the second half of the film as South Africa implodes with violence, but it is a very safe film that tries to fit too much in its running time. It is a film that can easily appeal to a middle -aged, mainstream audience.

6.5/10

Watched it earlier tonight. A reviewer was right when he said Chadwick had done a by-the-numbers job on it.

I am Not a fan of biopics. However, I did enjoy 'Gandhi', and, to a relatively lesser extent, 'Aviator'. Those characters too were undeniably compelling, which made the tales all the more riveting. Mandela's character is definitely one such. However, something was lost in translation when it came to filming Madiba's life's work, ironically, in the year that he was finally laid to rest.

No fault lies with the performers, but choosing to sideline a great many supporting characters and not depict the horrors of apartheid in the year of '12 years a slave' (the preview for which played before this one) seems a tad ironic, in not giving the audience something powerful to root against. I don't know if the responsibility rests with the original work itself (in terms of skimming over the details, that is), but the punch, the power, that was sorely needed to make this a rousing epic that it should aspire for, is missing. Someone needs to remake this, if possible, with the same cast, and hopefully make it more powerful/riveting. The old-age makeup on Elba also took me out of the movie multiple times. U2's 'Ordinary love' plays during the end-credits, but I don't know if the movie would have benefited more from it being played over one of the key sequences (take your pick). Perhaps Justin Chadwick was not the man for this job (He took the bite out of 'the other Boleyn girl', so that aspect's consistent enough, that did not make him suitable for this job in any case).

Having said all that, this is still a decent effort, just about right in most departments, and far better than other by-the-numbers predictable/routine fare playing at the local multiplex.