Embed Size (px)
Citation preview
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
What did the makers of the film Invictus choose to leave out about Nelson Mandela?
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
Objectives
In this activity you will:
Discuss whether the film Invictus is an accurate portrayal
of events.
Explore whether films can deliver accurate history.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
Why make a film about a rugby match?
Between 1948 and 1994, South Africa saw decades of apartheid.
The black majority were denied the right to vote, were treated
brutally by racist police and were forced to live in overcrowded
townships with very few facilities.
The whites, meanwhile, lived in the best houses on the best land.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
Why make a film about a rugby match?
Nelson Mandela was one of many people who decided to do
something about this situation.
He initially believed that the only way to end this system was by
violent revolution.
After being found guilty of blowing up an electricity substation, he
served 27 years in Robben Island prison.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
Why make a film about a rugby match?
In prison, Mandela became convinced that forgiveness and
reconciliation were the best ways forward.
He learnt Afrikaans, the language of the minority white group who
held all the power.
He befriended his guards and got to know their history and passions
– particularly rugby.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
Once released, Mandela helped the last white President, F.W. De Klerk, negotiate an end to apartheid and
introduce free elections to South Africa.
Nelson Mandela became the first black President of South Africa.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
Why make a film about a rugby match?
The Rugby World Cup was held in South Africa in 1995.
South Africa reached the final and Nelson Mandela attended,
dressed in the green shirt of the Springboks, the mainly white
national rugby team.
The mostly white crowd called out ‘Nel-son, Nel-son’.
The Springboks beat New Zealand 15-12 and Nelson Mandela
presented the trophy to the captain, Francois Pienaar.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
To many people this image represented the new,
‘rainbow country’ of South Africa. The event was
seen as such a turning point, and a film was
made of the event called Invictus.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
Why make a film about a rugby match?
Many people watched the hugely popular film and yet some critics
complained it missed key events out and made Mandela’s role look
more important than it was.
It left out details of Mandela’s early life. Viewers do not see the
young Mandela, proud of his fit boxer’s body and immaculately
dressed by the same tailor as South Africa’s richest white
millionaire.
It leaves out the food poisoning that affected most of the All Blacks
team just two days before the final, after a group of Far Eastern
gamblers bribed a waitress to poison the water served in their hotel.
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
To get you thinking…
Why might film-makers want to give a positive impression of
Mandela?
What does this topic tell us about the problems of evidence?
What does this tell us about the power of the media and our need to
question it?
© HarperCollins Publishers 2010
Interpretation
Historical interpretations
Now its your turn… Is it ever morally right to only tell one side
of the story?
Similar criticisms have been made of the films Pearl Harbor and
Engima. – Who makes history? – Do we always get all sides of the story? – Why do we have to be careful?
