Mandela - Long Walk to Freedom

 Mandela – Long Walk to Freedom 2013

• Director: Justin Chadwick
• Also seen by this director: The Other Boleyn Girl, Bleak House
• Based on the autobiography of Nelson Mandela
• Cast: Idris Elba, Naomi Harris
• Personal “oh yeah him/her” reaction, i.e. have seen this actor in:
• Idris Elba – The Mountain Between Us, Molly’s Game, The Dark Tower, 100 Streets, Pacific Rim, Prometheus, Thor, Twenty-Eight Weeks Later, The Wire, Crocodile Shoes
• Naomi Harris – Our Kind of Traitor, Spectre, Skyfall, Small Island, Pirates of the Caribbean, Tristram Shandy, Dinotopia, 28 Days Later, White Teeth
• Why? Mandela. Elba. Harris.
• Seen: 28 November 2021      

       If you haven’t read Nelson Mandel’s Long Walk to Freedom, do it. Mandela has long been my hero. I remember so clearly the day he was released. We happened to be in London at the time. What an historical experience.

       The film covers his life. From lawyer in the 40’s, political activism in the 50’s and 60’s, imprisonment for nearly 30 years, release, divorce from Winnie, the presidency.

       It’s a close, personal and moving portrait of Nelson Mandela the man, and Winnie Mandela the political activist. Elba and Harris had huge demands on them to play these roles. They both did a splendid job.

       If you’re old enough to remember some of this history-in-the-making, see this film. If you are so young that all of it is only history, see this film. 

5 * of 5.