Invictus (2009)
Biography, Drama, History |.
Invictus is a 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.
On 11 February 1990, Nelson Mandela is released from Victor Verster Prison after having spent 27 years in jail. Four years later, Mandela is elected the first black President of South Africa. His presidency faces enormous challenges in the post-Apartheid era, including rampant poverty and crime, and Mandela is particularly concerned about racial divisions between black and white South Africans, which could lead to violence. The ill will which both groups hold towards each other is seen even in his own security detail where relations between the established white officers, who had guarded Mandela’s predecessors, and the black ANC additions to the security detail, are frosty and marked by mutual distrust.
While attending a game between the Springboks, the country’s rugby union team, and England, Mandela recognises that some black people in the stadium are cheering for England, and not their own country, as the mostly-white Springboks represent prejudice and apartheid in their minds; he remarks that he did the same while imprisoned on Robben Island.
Director: Clint Eastwood
Writers: Anthony Peckham (screenplay), John Carlin (book)
Stars: Morgan Freeman, Matt Damon, Tony Kgoroge, Patrick Mofokeng, Matt Stern, Julian Lewis Jones, Adjoa Andoh
►Cast:
| Morgan Freeman | … | Nelson Mandela |
| Matt Damon | … | Francois Pienaar |
| Tony Kgoroge | … | Jason Tshabalala |
| Patrick Mofokeng | … | Linga Moonsamy |
| Matt Stern | … | Hendrick Booyens |
| Julian Lewis Jones | … | Etienne Feyder |
| Adjoa Andoh | … | Brenda Mazibuko |
| Marguerite Wheatley | … | Nerine |
| Leleti Khumalo | … | Mary |
| Patrick Lyster | … | Mr. Pienaar |
| Penny Downie | … | Mrs. Pienaar |
| Sibongile Nojila | … | Eunice |
| Bonnie Henna | … | Zindzi |
| Shakes Myeko | … | Minister of Sport |
| Louis Minnaar | … | Springbok Coach (as Louis Minaar) |
| Danny Keogh | … | Rugby President |
| Dan Robbertse | … | Boer |
| Robin Smith | … | Johan De Villiers |
| David Dukas | … | Captain of 747 |
| Grant Swanby | … | Co-Captain of 747 |
| Josias Moleele | … | Face Painter |
| Langley Kirkwood | … | Presidential Guard |
| Robert Hobbs | … | Presidential Guard |
| Melusi Yeni | … | Presidential Guard |
| Vuyo Dabula | … | Presidential Guard |
| Daniel Hadebe | … | Presidential Guard |
| Jodi Botha | … | High School Boy |
| Hennie Bosman | … | High School Coach |
| Refiloe Mpakanyane | … | Jessie |
| Jakkie Groenewald | … | Johannesburg Cop |
| Murray Todd | … | Johannesburg Cop |
| Japan Mthembu | … | Local Cop |
| Albert Maritz | … | Springbok Manager |
| Sello Motloung | … | Mandela’s Doctor |
| Meren Reddy | … | Minister of the Environment |
| Lida Botha | … | Mrs. Brits |
| Susan Danford | … | Mrs. Cole |
| Sylvia Mngxekeza | … | Mrs. Dlamini |
| James Lithgow | … | New Zealand PM |
| Malusi Skenjana | … | NSC Firebrand |
| Bart Fouche | … | Prison Guard |
| Johnny Cicco | … | Staff Member |
| Wayne Harrison | … | Staff Member |
| Ashley Taylor | … | Team Crew |
| Gift Leotlela | … | Team Crew (as Gift Loetlela) |
| Kgosi Mongake | … | Sipho |
| Given Stuurman | … | Township Kid |
| Vuyolwethu Stevens | … | Township Kid |
| Ayabulela Stevens | … | Township Kid |
| Nambitha Mpumlwana | … | Trophy Wife |
| Andre Jacobs | … | T.V. Announcer |
| J.R. Redelinghuys | … | Helicopter Pilot (as JR Redlinghaus) |
| Mark Rickard | … | Announcer (voice) |
| Grant Roberts | … | South African Springbok |
| Scott Eastwood | … | South African Springbok |
| Mark Bown-Davies | … | South African Springbok (as Mark Bowen-Davies) |
| Dale Stephen Dunn | … | South African Springbok |
| Graham Lindemann | … | South African Springbok |
| Louis Ackerman | … | South African Springbok |
| Andries Le Grange | … | South African Springbok |
| Thomas Boyd | … | South African Springbok |
| Clive Richard Samuel | … | South African Springbok |
| Richard Abrahamse | … | South African Springbok |
| Sean Pypers | … | South African Springbok |
| Herman Botha | … | South African Springbok |
| Riaan Wolmarans | … | South African Springbok |
| Louis Pieterse | … | South African Springbok |
| Ryan Scott | … | South African Springbok |
| Daniel Deon Wessels | … | South African Springbok |
| Vaughn Thompson | … | South African Springbok |
| Charl Engelbrecht | … | South African Springbok |
| Rolf E. Fitschen | … | South African Springbok (as Rolf Ernst Fitschen) |
| Richard Morris | … | South African Springbok |
| Ryan Olivier | … | South African Springbok |
| Warren Edwards | … | South African Springbok |
| Andrew Nel | … | South African Springbok |
| Rudi Zandberg | … | South African Springbok |
| Renzo Puccini | … | South African Springbok |
| Abraham Vlok | … | South African Springbok |
| Geoff Brown | … | South African Springbok / Australian Wallaby |
| McNeil Hendricks | … | Chester Williams – South African Springbok |
| John Paul Chapman | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Sililo Victor Martens | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Epeli Taione | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Aukusitino Junior Poluleuligaga | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Patrick Bell | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Anton Coosner | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Simon Peter Blakeley | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Salman Safodien Davids | … | New Zealand All Blacks / Western Samoa |
| Warrick Ireland | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Warren Taylor | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Karl Bergemann | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Jean-Pierre Van Zyl | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Mohammed Ridhaa Oamon | … | New Zealand All Blacks (as Mohammed Ridhaa Damon) |
| Mark Snodgrass | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Theodore Groyers | … | New Zealand All Blacks (as Theodore Grovers) |
| Gordon Johnston | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Conrad Marais | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Pieter Engelbrecht | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
| Bjorn Steinbach | … | New Zealand All Blacks |
Sources: imdb & wikipedia