[TRIBUTE] MANDELA MOVIE "LONG WALK TO FREEDOM" TRAILER
Long Way to Freedom does much justice to this amazing life turned legacy. Based on South African President Nelson Mandela’s autobiography of the same name, which chronicles his early life, coming of age, education and 27 years in prison before becoming President and working to rebuild the country’s once segregated society and directed by Justin Chadwick, the film stars Idris Elba as Mandela and Naomie Harris as Winnie Mandela. The film has already become the South Africa’s all-time highest grossing picture following its release in November
The film aims to portray its hero not as a flawless icon but a man with his flaws, like any other man. As much as his first marriage and his treatment of his first wife Evelyn Mase (Terry Pheto) is not glossed over, later on as his second marriage to Winnie falters, she is not portrayed a villain either. In fact, I dare any woman watching not to feel sympathy for Winnie, knowing perhaps she would not become the woman fate forced her hand to become had circumstances been different.
While Idris Elba’s strong physique does justice to a larger than life figure, and credit where it is due, he seems to have fully grasped not only the accent and speech patterns but also the body language of his character, I was not able to suspend disbelief and picture Stringer Bell as Madiba. Naomie Harris looked more West African than South African; however she made the feistly, militant Winnie her own.
A poignant movie about a beautiful soul, now all the more worth watching in the aftermath of its hero’s passing