Invictus

Invictus is a 2009 biographical sports drama film directed by Clint Eastwood and starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. The story is based on the 2008 John Carlin book Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Made a Nation about the events in South Africa before and during the 1995 Rugby World Cup. The Springboks were not expected to perform well, the team having only recently returned to high-level international competition following the dismantling of apartheid—the country was hosting the World Cup, thus earning an automatic entry. Freeman and Damon play the South African President Nelson Mandela and François Pienaar, respectively. François was the captain of the South Africa rugby union team, the Springboks.

The film presents us with the post-Apartheid South Africa, where the then elected president Nelson Mandela faces all the social and economic problems in the country as a result of so many years of oppression. Rugby plays a critical role in the movie, as the tool to promote changes in society, lifting and uniting the nation during the 1995 Rugby World Cup.

Invictus takes us through an emotional ride, as we can expect from any piece about Nelson Mandela. His journey keeps motivating us to this day, and the excellent acting of Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon brings even more life to it. Check it out to see the power of sport and its potential to unite a nation!