Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom

Film (2013)

With Idris Elba (Nelson Mandela), Naomie Harris (Winnie Madikizela), Tony Kgoroge (Walter Sisulu), Riaad Moosa (Ahmed Kathrada), Zolani Mkiva (Raymond Mhlaba), Simo Mogwaza (Andrew Mlangeni), Fana Mokoena (Govan Mbeki), Thapelo Mokoena (Elias Motsoaledi), Jamie Bartlett (James Gregory), Deon Lotz (Kobie Coetzee)

This is not a bad cinematic biography; it dutifully outlines the events of Mandela’s life, political activities and long imprisonment in enough detail to give a sense of the whole.

Idris Elba (Nelson Mandela) gives an adequate portrayal throughout, conveying the leader’s determination and political astuteness capably.

For whatever reason, however, not clearly whether in the writing or in Elba’s performance, something about the magic of Mandela’s character gets lost. That depth of character and singularity of vision is only modestly captured in this film. Though there is, near the end of the film, an attempt to show Mandela’s resistance to the urgings of his African National Congress colleagues not to compromise with de Klerk’s regime even after it was clear that it would turn over power to a new, representative government, there is not enough substance to the portrayal of his character to give the gesture weight. Elba gives some sense of this, but it feels like it is a little too late in the story to make its point.

Mandela became a deeply charismatic and inspiring figure not only because of his determination to overturn injustices in South Africa but because of his incredible generosity and vision as a human being and a world leader. Like Gandhi or the Dalai Lama, Mandela was that perfect combination of liberator and humanitarian. While maintaining a sturdy resolve to overcome the challenges of apartheid, he did not, in the wake of victory, capitulate to an embittered payback to the white regime but sought mutual harmony and peace.

Rather than building upon this central feature of Mandela’s character, the script dutifully runs through the facts of his life. It is interesting and illuminating, but not as inspiring a portrayal as it might have been.

Elba made his name playing a suave drug lord, Stringer Bell, in HBO’s The Wire, which he delivered memorably, seeming to fit that role like hand in glove. His attempt at Mandela is a noble one, but much harder to realize. Carried off with a narrative dutifulness, it conveys the story of, but does not quite poetically embody the character of, that very great, recently deceased statesman and humanitarian.

Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela

– BADMan