Some movies have long lasting impact on your thought process. 'Invictus' is one of them. The movie is about how South Africa President Mr. Mandela changes mindset of his countrymen through a simple rugby game. The movie starts with Mr. Mandela getting elected as a President. He has many challenges to face. The biggest one is hatred among the racially divided society. In order to create unity among his countrymen, Mr. Mandela requests his countrymen to support the national rugby team. The team is an all-white team except one player. Mr. Mandela invites the Captain of the team for tea. The conversation they have inspires the Captain and creates hope in him. What happens next is worth watching on screen.
What I liked most about the movie is the way they depict Mr. Mandela's positively charged mind. Even after spending almost 26 years in prison, he has no negative feeling about the people who put him there! He knows that the right way towards progress (social/financial) lies in uniting the nation. No matter how much opposition he faces for not removing the Afrikaners (white people residing in South Africa) from his office, for not changing the colors and logo of the rugby team, he remains calm and firm in his beliefs. When his secretary suggests him that he is risking his political career, this is what he says:
"The day I am afraid to do that is the day I am no longer fit to lead."
It is really difficult to forgive those who have hurt you the most and more difficult for those who never asked for it. Mr. Mandela does it with ease. His inspiration lies in the poem titled 'Invictus' by William Ernest Henley.
Here it is
Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
Black as the pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.
Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds and shall find me unafraid.
It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
How charged with punishments the scroll,
I am the master of my fate,
I am the captain of my soul.
The last two lines remain etched in your mind.
