Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (12A)

This Oscar nominated (Best Original Song) biographical film of the late former South African President's life is still in cinemas.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (12A)

This review was first published in The Methodist Recorder (www.methodistrecorder.co.uk).

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, based on the late leader’s autobiography, chronicles his struggles against Apartheid South Africa, his time in prison and subsequent election as President.  It’s a rise to power uncharacterised by corruption, and famously hinging on forgiveness which has inspired millions.

The film opens with a brief but electrifying glimpse of Mandela’s childhood, as he undergoes a ritual to become a man in his home town of Mvezo.  Flash forward to his mid-twenties, and we see the respect he already commands from his oppressors, as the young lawyer proves more than a match for his white opponents.  It isn’t long before his ambitions outgrow this career, and he turns his attentions to the resistance movement of the African National Congress.

Director Justin Chadwick spends a surprising amount of time dwelling on Mandela’s love life, as a combination of affairs and overwork tear his first marriage apart.  Scenes and dialogue are included that disappointingly dismiss God, and rule out any real exploration of his religious beliefs.  This is likely more a reflection of the script writer’s worldview, and symptomatic of the supposed need to pander to audiences as Western culture drifts ever further from it’s God-fearing roots.

The film never mentions that Mandela was partly educated by Methodist schools, nor that during his almost three decades in prison was visited by a Methodist chaplain.  His grace and forgiveness of course seem as fruits of the Spirit, but being a very private man for whatever reason he kept his personal beliefs to himself.

Hackney born actor Idris Elba does a fine job in the title role, particularly in the latter half of the film as Mandela’s greying hair accompanies his ever greater pragmatism.  The stand out performance however comes from Naomie Harris as his second wife Winnie - she fills the part with heartbreaking humanity, even as Winnie eventually endeavours to humiliate her husband after his release from prison.  The tragedy is palpable as her attitudes become ever more separate from Mandela’s, and she spirals into bitterness and constant calls for violence, which the film makes clear Nelson only resorted to when all other means failed.

Long Walk to Freedom movingly dramatises key moments in Mandela’s career, investing enough in each for the film not feel like a highlights reel, whilst still giving a compelling sense of his life as a whole.  No easy feat in under two and a half hours.