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Freeman? Damon? Eastwood? There's an Oscar in there Somewhere

Invictus Trailer / TK

Trailers | October 28, 2009 | Comments (20)

Well, apparently we’re going to see a minor resurgence of movies about South Africa’s tumultuous history. First we saw the trailer for the fantastic looking Endgame, and now we have what will likely be a serious Oscar contender. Invictus tells the true story of how Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman) worked to try to begin unifying a deeply divided country by working with Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), the captain of the underdog rugby team to get them to try to win the 1995 rugby World Cup.

Oh, and it’s directed by Clint Eastwood.

It’s a slam dunk story, to be honest. The truth is, the country was completely electrified by the World Cup run, and I vividly remember my family and friends back home going absolutely bananas about the team and their efforts. The trailer looks pretty damn good, and since Clint Eastwood long ago proved that he is literally unable to make a bad movie, it’s got some serious potential.

Here’s the poster as an added bonus:

invictus.jpg

(click to enlarge)


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Comments

"Endgame" was on PBS on Sunday, and it WAS pretty good, if a little long on the "drawn ... out ... speechifying." They ran a sort of "making of" afterward as well, to fill out the two-hour time slot.

Posted by: , (TCFKAB) at October 28, 2009 10:35 AM

"...Clint Eastwood long ago proved that he is literally unable to make a bad movie..."

Mystic River shat on the book, and for the most part the performances ranged from "eh" to "melodramatic". (I'm looking at you, Sean Penn.) If you really want to see Lehane done right, Gone Baby Gone is amazing. However, Million Dollar Baby and Gran Turino shut me the hell up, so count my ticket bought. (Doubley so since Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon are along for the ride.)

Posted by: Doctor Controversy at October 28, 2009 10:40 AM

OK, I had to look it up.

"Invictus" is a short poem by the British poet William Ernest Henley. The title is Latin for "unconquered". It was first published in 1875.

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.

At the age of 12, Henley became a victim of tuberculosis of the bone. In spite of this, in 1867 he successfully passed the Oxford local examination as a senior student. His diseased foot had to be amputated directly below the knee; physicians had announced that the only way to save his life was to amputate. Henley persevered and survived with one foot intact. He was discharged in 1875, and was able to lead an active life for nearly 30 years despite his disability. With an artificial foot, he lived until the age of 53. "Invictus" was written from a hospital bed despite Henley's condition.

Posted by: BWeaves at October 28, 2009 10:44 AM

BWeaves, the final song at the end of Braveheart just crescendoed over you reading that.

And a flock of birds flew away.

And someone stood in a wheat field on an overcast day.

And a bouquet of flowers was thrown into the sea.

And bagpipes were played at a military funeral.

You know, lots of inspirational crap like that :-)

Posted by: scorzi at October 28, 2009 12:14 PM

BWeaves, that's one of my all time favorite poems since I was but a teenager. Got me through some rough moments.

Posted by: Cindy at October 28, 2009 12:36 PM

Damon is just kicking ass and taking names these days.

Posted by: Cindy at October 28, 2009 12:39 PM

Anyone ever notice how alike Matt Damon and Hillary Swank look from some angles?

freaky.

Posted by: figgy at October 28, 2009 12:52 PM

The director must be really annoyed with Freeman's insistence that he get to bang a 19 year old family member onscreen. Douche.

Posted by: Kballs at October 28, 2009 2:19 PM

I have to admit that movies like this always seem bring up strong surges of equally strong emotion. Give me a halfway true historic background, a handful of good actors and some epic music - I'll be crying happy tears and sobbing still long after leaving the cinema.
I'm gonna LOVE it. The trailer gives me goosebumps already. I'm in. Very much.
And by the way: That poem makes me (a convinced atheist) say something along the lines of 'Thank God for William Ernest Henley and these verses'.

Posted by: Padame at October 28, 2009 4:19 PM

People liked Gran Turino? I put it in the American Beauty category: well-made, but transcendent only if you're a suburban douche. What, white people can overcome deep-seated racism and learn to like Asians? Wow.

Posted by: Brenton at October 28, 2009 5:31 PM

I want a jacket with Matt Damon's face airbrushed onto the back of it!

I'll be the coolest kid on the block.

Posted by: Daniel Hall at October 28, 2009 9:03 PM

On Gran Torino: I don't care that they're non-actors, their performance was still bad. I also feel the movie never delivered on the tantalizing premise of Dirty Harry Part 5: Still Squinting Angrily.

Posted by: HappyGobo at October 28, 2009 9:47 PM

Gran Torino is awesome, despite the terrible acting. It was a fantastic movie for long-time Clint fans, because it looked like it was saying a lot about everything that was going on in Clint's story choices all the way from Bronco Billy to Letters from Iwo Jima. And it was simply a nice story!

But I think Clint is really bad at casting, I mean, there are these great actors who work with him like Freeman and now Damon, but the young actors and supporting cast is always pretty bad, if you watch Gran Torino and Changeling the supporting cast is terrible, and for me this is what really holds back his movies. And if you go back to A Perfect World, that movie could be truly perfect if it wasn't for that lame kid, who couldn't act the profound and meaningful scenes he was given. When he doesn't have this problems, he makes some of the greatest movies ever (like in Unforgiven, Mystic River, Million Dollar Baby and Letters from Iwo Jima).

And this Invictus, I have been hearing about this movie for like 3 or 4 years, it was constantly being put back, and now it's finally done it looks really good, the story is great and the main cast at least looks perfect. Can't wait for Invictus!

Posted by: zito at October 28, 2009 10:35 PM

Okay. You got me. I almost started crying watching the effing trailer. I am a sucker for this shit.

Posted by: Kelly Booth at October 28, 2009 10:42 PM

That sounds like Ladysmith Black Mambazo on the soundtrack, which means I call shenanigans on the trailer-making-me-cry bit (because I'm with you there, Kelly Booth). Ladysmith Black Mambazo sound-waves are well-known to have a direct link to the floods-of-tears centres in the brain. Bastards.

Speaking as a South Effrican, I also find Matt Damon's accent mostly quite convincing. The flattened vowels are a bitch to get right.

Posted by: extemporanea at October 29, 2009 4:24 AM

LADYSMITH BLACK MAMBAZO.. No.. It's an acapella group of 6 white guys and 1 black guy.. the group is called Overtone and they (as you can hear) can sing ANYTHING.. there hasnt been a great "african" type soundtrack since Lion King.. cant wait for the soundtrack and of course the movie is gona be awesome..

Posted by: Invictus Buff at October 29, 2009 9:31 AM

Not everyone is drinking the kool aid about this movie, see:

http://africasacountry.com/2009/10/28/it-wasnt-rugby/

Posted by: James at October 29, 2009 3:10 PM

OVERTONE is the band on the soundtrack. They are 7 young hunks. Unbelievable. They feature Yollandi Nortjie, a young African soprano. Clint saw them at a random performance while he was shooting in Cape Town and asked them to record a song for the soundtrack. Ended up being, like, 8 or 9 songs. Check them out: overtoneband.com

Posted by: marie reese at November 1, 2009 7:30 PM

I don't know about this. I love my All Blacks (NZ team) and since they weren't allowed INTO South Africa for a loooong while, it's a bit much to highlight this match. Plus Damon playing rugby will be crap.

Posted by: BananaPanda at November 2, 2009 4:38 PM

I get the need to pull in money by using the big-name stars, but shit can we get some African actors occasionally? Please?

Posted by: Kaybie at November 12, 2009 3:57 AM





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