Stars: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Tony Kgorge, Riaad Moosa, Jamie Bartlett, Terry Pheto, Gys de Villiers and Robert Hobbs.
Writer: William Nicholson; based upon an autobiography by Nelson Mandela.
Director: Justin Chadwick
Rating:
The biggest problem with biopics is that a lot of times they tell you pretty much what you already know and nothing beyond that. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, as the very name suggests, shows quite a few highs and lows of the life of the South African revolutionary. At the start, they show Mandela (Ibris Elba) who is a successful lawyer in a village, and soon he is a popular speaker who talks openly against racist policies.
Mandela who has a family is also seen having a relationship with Winnie (Naomie Harris) who becomes his longtime wife and supports the cause Mandela fights for. Mandela who believes in the cause proudly says that he is prepared to die for a free and democratic South Africa. To fight the injustice, Mandela takes some bold steps which make him popular but soon the authorities sentence him to life imprisonment and he is moved to Robben Island where he and some of the other activists are ordered to break rocks in the yard. Simultaneously, his wife keeps the fight going outside the prison. Though Mandela is behind bars, he is the hero of the nation and his people will fight till they get him out of the prison.
Ibris Elba delivers Mandela's honesty and dedication to a tee as can be seen in his character. Naomie Harris is rather robust, she plays a strong wife of a very strong man and does the job very well, leaving a strong impact.
The screenplay by William Nicholson was adapted from Mandela's autobiography and that makes things work in the favour of the film. Justin Chadwick keeps the focus of the story right but misses the punch!
Contrary to Mandela's life that had enough drama, the film fails to capture any of it...making it boring at times. It works because of the real life story of Mandela. An iconic world figure deserves a much better biopic! Here they don't call it a 'long walk' for no reason, the film is 140 minutes long and that is very long for this genre.
No doubt it's a story waiting to be told in every form but it could have been much better!
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