Invictus

The most recent terrific film I've seen: "Invictus."

This drama based on real events is about what happened after the end of apartheid when newly elected president Nelson Mandela took office. He used the 1995 World Cup rugby matches to unite South Africa. It's a story of courage and forgiveness. (I can't imagine living in a tiny cube for three decades and emerging as a grace-filled person!)

Clint Eastwood directed this film based on John Carlin's book. It stars Morgan Freeman as Mandela and a blond Matt Damon (both Oscar nominated) as Francois Pienaar, the captain of the South African team.

In addition to being a good story, the film has a beautiful soundtrack. After watching, I downloaded the song "World in Union 95." It's the theme song for the Rugby World Cup.

Before seeing this firm, I had thought the poem "Invictus" was a primo example of human hubris. But when read in light of the film's events, it makes more sense to read its closing lines ("I am the captain of my fate; I am the master of my soul") not as a self-sufficient fist raised against God but about refusing to play the victim and embracing the choice we still have to choose what happens on the inside when external circumstances knock us to the ground.