I had high expectations for this movie, and while it was a good movie, it certainly wasn't as good as I had hoped. It's not one of Clint Eastwood's finer films, but it's still better than most Hollywood drivel nowadays. Nonetheless, I think the film was good in showing how sports can bring people together, in a time and place where unity was much needed. I would be interested in seeing a movie made that focused solely on Nelson Mandela, or perhaps on the overall struggle to end Apartheid in South Africa. But only if Morgan Freeman is in it. Seriously, could anybody else play Mandela?
The title of the film comes from a poem by English poet William Ernest Henley that, according to the film, Mandela often read while in prison.
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.
In the fell clutch of circumstance
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.
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.
As part of ESPN's 30 for 30 series of documentaries, a documentary entitled The 16th Man aired, showing some of the true story of the South African rugby team. Here is a link to the film's website for more information and some clips from the film:
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