Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013)

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

Fmovies: I had the privilege of viewing a sneak preview of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom at the Austin Film Festival. This magisterial biopic is likely to become the definitive film treatment of the life of Nelson Mandela. It is beautifully filmed and as grand as the beauty of South Africa itself. It is an epic inspiring account of the life of Nelson Mandela spanning his entire adult life from the 1940s to his assumption of the Presidency of South Africa in 1994. The film presents Mandela as both a larger than life heroic figure and at the same time as human being struggling with an almost unimaginable burden as the human exemplar of his nation's struggle. The film is impressive and will bring Mandela's story to millions around the world.

The storytelling is powerful. The portrait of Mandela by Idris Elba is impressive as he presents his journey from young adult to grandfather of new multi-racial nation. He develops from an immature young man to man for whom suffering has created great wisdom, heroism and leadership. While he is presented as a hero, the film still manages to capture his human flaws through the difficulties with both his first and second wives. His dedication to his peoples' struggle comes at deep personal cost. The film is entrancing and deeply moving.

The struggle of his wife Winnie Mandela – portrayed by Naomie Harris - is also deeply moving. She dedicates herself to her husband's struggle, but in some way her struggle is more difficult than his. The pain that strengthens him seems to embitter her and drive the two of them apart. Their love for each other and their courage is both inspiring and tragic. The portrayal of their marriage is heartbreaking. Their marriage becomes yet another casualty of the struggle against Apartheid.

While reviewers will undoubtedly find fault or historical inaccuracies, the film seems an honest portrayal of one of the great figures and one of the great struggles of the 20th century. It is highly recommend for those seeking a little more hope and inspiration.

I'm calling it now: 'Mandela: The Long Walk to Freedom' WILL be nominated for Best Picture by the Academy for Motion Picture Arts and Sciences. Why? It has all the right ingredients. It portrays a worldwide hero cinematically and truthfully (not that the Academy cares about the truth, just look at Argo). Nelson Mandela wasn't a perfect man and the filmmakers admit to that straight of the bat. They also don't just go from scene to scene plotting out Mandela's life, they take their time and allow the audience to enter South Africa and its people and places. It's a very cinematic film. It also allows the audience to leave the theater inspired. I found myself suddenly having a greater appreciation for finding the good in people. I definitely credit this to Alex Heffes, the musical composer who really pulled off a score that (I would say) is better than some of John Williams' score. It's made by an underdog filmmaker, (something the Academy always looks for) and is even endorsed by Mandela himself. It's a fantastic film that I have had the pleasure to see and I hope to see Justin Chadwick and Anant Singh at the Oscars in February.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom fmovies. This is a movie I watched a couple of days ago. I do know a little bit of what happened in South Africa but not enough for me to say "This is wrong, and so's this". I was interested in this because I wanted to see how this movie held up and for what it is... It isn't that bad. I mean I can see people not liking it but I enjoyed it.

Okay so the plot, Nelson Mandela is a lawyer and political activist who cheated on his wife. He continues to fight for Black Rights, gets married again and has more children until he gets arrested. As his time in jail goes on the situation in South Africa becomes more and more out of control and he gets released from jail by popular demand.

Okay, the acting - especially from Idris Elba is fantastic. He gets completely lost in the role of Nelson Mandela and Naome Harris does a good job as his wife, I don't know that much about her to say whether it is accurate or not. Pretty much everyone does a good job in this movie.

The second half of this movie is also really good. It tells the events in the way they have done but also goes pretty in-depth as to what Mandela was like and it was the point in the movie where it didn't seem like he was fighting for Black rights alone, he was fighting for equality on both parts.

I personally think one thing that is interesting here is that instead of most of the anti-racism movies I watch where, for the most part it shocks you with what happened (depending on the time period in which the movie is set) this movie does that but it is more focused on being inspirational rather then this.

If there was a complaint with this movie is even reaching in 2½ hours it seems like they're squeezing a lot in. I mean it's at least a clear 50 or 60 years of this person's life as well as showing what happened to the people around them. I mean I would have loved to see something along the lines of Mandela's early days in trying to overthrow the Apartheid government and ending with the arrest or on the flip side about Mandela being released, Black people getting the right to vote and him becoming President, even those couple of scenes would have worked as an hour and a half movie. However, for what they have - It's not bad.

In the end I really enjoyed this one. I can see why some people wouldn't though but if you're looking for a story showing the entire adult to elderly life of one of history's greatest people showcased as an inspirational story - this is fine. I would recommend it but at the same time I'd also say what it is to expect.

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

Mr. Mandela's story wold be better celebrated in a mini series spanning several episodes if one is to try to examine the real effect of his life and struggle. From his beginning in the legal pursuit to the incredible resolutions his endeavor and great strength delivered to the world, a glancing look is not sufficient to either dissect or fully understand the scope of this man's achievement on all of us and our existence.

There are simply too many elements to the story line of this man's life that cannot be appreciated when so much material is covered in such short order. The early rise of his group, the man's personal confliction, the nature of the apartheid movement and the incredible will of the man to transcend it all is touched upon but never really explored to a level where the impact of his triumph is delivered to the audience.