Long Walk to Freedom is a movie that, in my opinion, set out to show the struggle of one man to liberate his people from the fangs of oppression but failed to do so because it focused on the positive side of the man more than the reality of the situation that made the man who he became.
At different levels, the movie failed to connect with the totality and the reality of the South African apartheid struggle either at an emotionally or at a physical level. The epic story of Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa struggles for freedom were lost in the movie. in effect the movie was over sanitised and even the scenes of violence were handled in such away that we do not connect to the pain and evil of apartheid.
The one place I found moving and emotionally riveting was the point where Mandela’s daughter visited him in prison. The girl's acting was spotless and her angry retort at the white police who told her not to talk politics with her father was a combination of perfect timing, succinct delivery and measured tone. in effect, the acting was so realistic that one would be forgiven if one calls it perfect! It will bring tears to your eyes. Her lines captured the reality of the South African youth under apartheid and the future that wait South Africa post Mandela and the Freedom Fighters era. The world better watch out for the generation that would only hear of the evil of apartheid because the story, if well told, would be more gripping than the reality and my postulations is that it would move people to action that may not follow Mandela laid down path to unity.
Other than that scene the rest of the scenes failed to capture either at an artistic level the beauty or the emotion that would run through such human inhumanity to man. Take the scene where Mandela met his wife for the first time after he was released from jail. That scene failed to tell a beautiful love story. It is Mandela's first private encounter with Winnie after 27 years incarceration! One would expect the emotion of 27 years to come through, rather what we had was a cold and an uninteresting scene devoid of emotion, so much so that it left me wondering if there was any love left between the couple after so many years apart. Except if the director was saying that at the time they met, it was all over, they did not have any love for each other and that they were only going through the motion for photo ops, otherwise, Mandela touching Winnie was like two old friends of the same sex who are straight meeting after the death of a third friend and Winnie’s reaction to Mandela's touch was so dry that I fail to see the love that Mandela talked about until that moment in the movie.
Another scene that i found uninteresting was the negotiation scene. I mean the scene where the Minister of Justice led a high-powered delegation to negotiate Mandela release to be artificial, dry and unimaginative. The scene gave me the impression that the director and scriptwriter were out to present a super human Mandela. I came away thinking that it was over sanitised in order to present a holier Mandela. Even the white dude that was trying to put up an argument when Mandela said he would give the apartheid government nothing in return for his freedom was feeble; I find it hard to believe that a people who have had it all for so long would let Mandela off so easily. On the whole the impression one gets is that, the whole movie, except for one or two scenes plays like the story of Jesus that his followers would try to sell today, the man who did only the right things in the bible. I cannot help thinking that there are some tough argument that transpired in the real meeting between Mandela and his jailers that was lost in this movie. Such argument would have helped to make the movie realistic and it would have enhanced Mandela's character.
Mandela transition from armless struggle to armed struggle did not move that emotional cord that one would have expected. At that material moment when Mandela made the decision to take up arm, what one would have expected is a man whom we all would willingly sacrifice our first child for if that is what it would take to give him the support to take up arm, but alas that was not my feeling. the guy was on the phone talking to someone and then he had an encounter with two white people where he said he what he wanted. I put the lack of emotional connection at that moment of decision to the uninspiring scenes that reeled the mayhem that led to Mandela's transformation, the script writer and director failed to prepare us for the catalytic moment.
The scene between Mandela and his fellow Freedom Fighters following his maiden meeting with the apartheid government representatives who were trying to negotiate his release was terse to say the least. The way Mandela walked out on them and his final word, “ I will do what I think is right” presented Mandela as an autocratic ruler and the fact that his fellow FF did not even challenge his position is not only cryptic but intensify the impression that Mandela does not care for their opinion.
At different levels, the movie failed to connect with the totality and the reality of the South African apartheid struggle either at an emotionally or at a physical level. The epic story of Nelson Mandela and the people of South Africa struggles for freedom were lost in the movie. in effect the movie was over sanitised and even the scenes of violence were handled in such away that we do not connect to the pain and evil of apartheid.
The one place I found moving and emotionally riveting was the point where Mandela’s daughter visited him in prison. The girl's acting was spotless and her angry retort at the white police who told her not to talk politics with her father was a combination of perfect timing, succinct delivery and measured tone. in effect, the acting was so realistic that one would be forgiven if one calls it perfect! It will bring tears to your eyes. Her lines captured the reality of the South African youth under apartheid and the future that wait South Africa post Mandela and the Freedom Fighters era. The world better watch out for the generation that would only hear of the evil of apartheid because the story, if well told, would be more gripping than the reality and my postulations is that it would move people to action that may not follow Mandela laid down path to unity.
Other than that scene the rest of the scenes failed to capture either at an artistic level the beauty or the emotion that would run through such human inhumanity to man. Take the scene where Mandela met his wife for the first time after he was released from jail. That scene failed to tell a beautiful love story. It is Mandela's first private encounter with Winnie after 27 years incarceration! One would expect the emotion of 27 years to come through, rather what we had was a cold and an uninteresting scene devoid of emotion, so much so that it left me wondering if there was any love left between the couple after so many years apart. Except if the director was saying that at the time they met, it was all over, they did not have any love for each other and that they were only going through the motion for photo ops, otherwise, Mandela touching Winnie was like two old friends of the same sex who are straight meeting after the death of a third friend and Winnie’s reaction to Mandela's touch was so dry that I fail to see the love that Mandela talked about until that moment in the movie.
Another scene that i found uninteresting was the negotiation scene. I mean the scene where the Minister of Justice led a high-powered delegation to negotiate Mandela release to be artificial, dry and unimaginative. The scene gave me the impression that the director and scriptwriter were out to present a super human Mandela. I came away thinking that it was over sanitised in order to present a holier Mandela. Even the white dude that was trying to put up an argument when Mandela said he would give the apartheid government nothing in return for his freedom was feeble; I find it hard to believe that a people who have had it all for so long would let Mandela off so easily. On the whole the impression one gets is that, the whole movie, except for one or two scenes plays like the story of Jesus that his followers would try to sell today, the man who did only the right things in the bible. I cannot help thinking that there are some tough argument that transpired in the real meeting between Mandela and his jailers that was lost in this movie. Such argument would have helped to make the movie realistic and it would have enhanced Mandela's character.
Mandela transition from armless struggle to armed struggle did not move that emotional cord that one would have expected. At that material moment when Mandela made the decision to take up arm, what one would have expected is a man whom we all would willingly sacrifice our first child for if that is what it would take to give him the support to take up arm, but alas that was not my feeling. the guy was on the phone talking to someone and then he had an encounter with two white people where he said he what he wanted. I put the lack of emotional connection at that moment of decision to the uninspiring scenes that reeled the mayhem that led to Mandela's transformation, the script writer and director failed to prepare us for the catalytic moment.
The scene between Mandela and his fellow Freedom Fighters following his maiden meeting with the apartheid government representatives who were trying to negotiate his release was terse to say the least. The way Mandela walked out on them and his final word, “ I will do what I think is right” presented Mandela as an autocratic ruler and the fact that his fellow FF did not even challenge his position is not only cryptic but intensify the impression that Mandela does not care for their opinion.
On the other hand, I have a feeling that if Mandela had listened and worked with his fellow FF rather than doing what he, Mandela, thought was right, may be South Africa would have had better deal following their independence. At the end of that scene, the impression I came away with is that he (Mandela) probably struck a deal with the Apartheid government that he did not share with his fellow FF.
While I find the characters convincing in their various roles, I find the plot to be shallow, superficial and unrealistic, especially the role of Winnie Mandela. It was too weak and even the costume, in my opinion, fell short of what we know of Winnie. I did not find the actress convincing in that role.
The labor camp is a sham, the movie is devoid of emotions, and it reels like a Bertolt Bretch Epic play performed in a Stanislavskian style. The riot scene did not elicit the kind of emotion that one would have expected, I have watched Whoopi’s work on apartheid and it brought tears to my eyes when I saw the riot scene, this one was completely bland.
The script is dry and the directorial interpretation missed a lot of chance to exploit abundant historical reality in its portrayal of real life events. One would expect a movie to go beyond life and present us with magic that would move us to the point where we say NEVER AGAIN, this movie did not do that for me.
I have not read the book, but after watching this movie, I need to read the book, I hope, to God, it is not as dry as the movie
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