Justin Chadwick's Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is capably made, there is no doubt there, but is encumbered by the dustiness inherent in such sprawling "greatest hits" biopics, and ultimately fails to express as much authenticity as the story warrants.
Mandela is massive in scope, following Nelson Mandela (Idris Elba) from his childhood to the end of apartheid, spanning most of the twentieth century in its wake. Over the course of the film, the viewer watches as Mandela grows from lawyer to activist, is imprisoned for decades, and eventually emerges as one of the most important men in South Africa. The picture pays almost equal attention to his relationship with his wife Winnie (Naomie Harris), as they marry, work together, and eventually split over political differences.
If you're looking for a history lesson about the life and struggle of Nelson Mandela, this is the film for you. However, this is the mistake it makes: like many films steeped in history, and even more commonly, like many films adapted from revered sources, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is not as much an adaptation of the source material into a cinematic, free-standing film, but rather a transplantation of the source material onto the screen. Unlike, a film like Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, Mandela does not make use of history to impart a greater wisdom through film, but rather uses film to create an elevated history lesson, never letting it breathe as if it is its own film.
That being said, it's a perfectly capable history lesson. Justin Chadwick's direction is very solid, even if it lacks a sense of authorship or subtlety. The screenplay by William Nicholson, adapted from Mandela's autobiography, is decent enough, despite being too large in scope and uninterested in being cinematically satiating. Some of the acting is quite good. Elba's performance carries the two and a half-hour film effectively leading with the same mix of power, pathos, and intelligence that characterized his character. Just as good is Harris, who plays her alluring, often desperate, terrorist with a special mix of ferocity and perception, adding layers of complexity to what could have been a "suffering wife" stock character. Also worth mentioning is the costume design by Dana Cilliers and Ruy Filipe, which is surprisingly lovely, and, I suppose, begrudgingly, the catchy, Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated song by U2 which plays over the end credits, even though it's not really that special, and all of U2's songs sound the same, and their really just a lesser, less innovative version of The Smiths or The Cure, but I'm getting off on a tangent…
One small yet meaningful commendation which should be bestowed upon this film, however, is its refusal to pull as many punches as similar Oscar bait historical biopics love to. Chadwick is surprisingly comfortable showing Mandela cheat on his first wife, and engage in minor domestic violence in the earlier scenes. It also faces uncomfortable content towards the end including war and terrorism. At least the film is a history lesson which seems to be interested in truth.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a perfectly solid film with a perfectly solid director, a perfectly solid screenplay, and a couple very good performances. However, its full potential is not realized as a result of its failure to make a real film of itself, opting to operate as a history lesson instead of a piece of cinema.
Mandela is massive in scope, following Nelson Mandela (Idris Elba) from his childhood to the end of apartheid, spanning most of the twentieth century in its wake. Over the course of the film, the viewer watches as Mandela grows from lawyer to activist, is imprisoned for decades, and eventually emerges as one of the most important men in South Africa. The picture pays almost equal attention to his relationship with his wife Winnie (Naomie Harris), as they marry, work together, and eventually split over political differences.
If you're looking for a history lesson about the life and struggle of Nelson Mandela, this is the film for you. However, this is the mistake it makes: like many films steeped in history, and even more commonly, like many films adapted from revered sources, Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is not as much an adaptation of the source material into a cinematic, free-standing film, but rather a transplantation of the source material onto the screen. Unlike, a film like Steve McQueen's 12 Years a Slave, Mandela does not make use of history to impart a greater wisdom through film, but rather uses film to create an elevated history lesson, never letting it breathe as if it is its own film.
That being said, it's a perfectly capable history lesson. Justin Chadwick's direction is very solid, even if it lacks a sense of authorship or subtlety. The screenplay by William Nicholson, adapted from Mandela's autobiography, is decent enough, despite being too large in scope and uninterested in being cinematically satiating. Some of the acting is quite good. Elba's performance carries the two and a half-hour film effectively leading with the same mix of power, pathos, and intelligence that characterized his character. Just as good is Harris, who plays her alluring, often desperate, terrorist with a special mix of ferocity and perception, adding layers of complexity to what could have been a "suffering wife" stock character. Also worth mentioning is the costume design by Dana Cilliers and Ruy Filipe, which is surprisingly lovely, and, I suppose, begrudgingly, the catchy, Golden Globe-winning, Oscar-nominated song by U2 which plays over the end credits, even though it's not really that special, and all of U2's songs sound the same, and their really just a lesser, less innovative version of The Smiths or The Cure, but I'm getting off on a tangent…
One small yet meaningful commendation which should be bestowed upon this film, however, is its refusal to pull as many punches as similar Oscar bait historical biopics love to. Chadwick is surprisingly comfortable showing Mandela cheat on his first wife, and engage in minor domestic violence in the earlier scenes. It also faces uncomfortable content towards the end including war and terrorism. At least the film is a history lesson which seems to be interested in truth.
Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a perfectly solid film with a perfectly solid director, a perfectly solid screenplay, and a couple very good performances. However, its full potential is not realized as a result of its failure to make a real film of itself, opting to operate as a history lesson instead of a piece of cinema.
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