International football (football) and rugby are searching for their roots in the mid -19th century Britain when both sports moved away. The differences were codified when a group of students calling themselves a football association set the Cambridge rules in 1863, with a key point to expose the use of their hands to carry the ball. This drove a big wedge and rugby -style advocates (named after the school) continued to form the rugby -union in 1870. Further splitting into rugby -Fraction has led to the rugby league and rugby -union. Football and Rugby League will become a working class sport, while rugby is considered more than an elitist game, played in public schools and international tournaments. These differences in the class remained as football and rugby spread all over the world, as vitantism summed up: "Football is a gentleman playing hooligans; Rugby is a game of a hooligan playing the Lord."

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That line is used in "Invictus", Clint Eastwood's solid sporty biopic sports, the rise of the rugby -the South African to (alert the spoiler) unexpected fame of the 1995 World Cup. It is worth engaging in that little history for both sports because the director uses it to describe the class split in the country at the time, which was also divided along the years. The film opens in 1990; On one side of the road, we see well -missed white players on rugby training. On the road, a group of black children kicks football on fever grass. That path comes a procession with the new free Nelson Mandela (Morgan Freeman), greeted with football fans and frown by the rugby team.

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This scene may be a little on the nose, but it serves its purpose well. After all, Eastwood has a lot to pack in a two-hour film, and he handles two items that the average cinema-promer in the United States may know little about: South African politics and rugby. This underestimated historical gem is just as many biopic Mandela, as is the sporty shiver, so how both halves play?

Based on Johnon Carlin's book "Playing the enemy: Nelson Mandela and the game that made a nation", Clint Eastwood is absolutely no rush to the sports action in the first hour of "Invictus". The greater context of the importance of the World Cup for the process of South Africa's healing after decades of segregation has been more concerned, noting the racial tension because Mandela faces a huge task of uniting the nation. This is summarized by the animosity between the white and non-white members of the Mandela security team, which are considered each other with barely hidden hostility.

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The script at the level of Anthony Pekam focuses on the two most important figures: Mandela and François Piennar (Matt Damon), captain of almost the White National Rugby team. The nickname of Springbox, we see how they became a symbol of apartheid, to the extent that non-white rugby fans routinely cheered on the opposition during international competitions. Stunningly, Mandela thinks that the victory for Springbox in the upcoming World Cup in 1995 (played on South Africa for the first time) can gather the whole country. This idea is filled with skepticism on both sides, but Mandela's wisdom and honesty attracts all of the ship, including the key figure of Pienar.

Morgan Freeman was previously within Mandela in a film adaptation of a leader's memoir titled "Long Walk to Freedom", the role of the end of Idris Elba in the 2013 movie. Freeman met with Mandela repeatedly during the 1990s to study his mannerisms and he embodies the leader with great authority, catching the leader's compassion, and charisma. We only get a few years from the life of the great man here, but the film still works as a respected biopic, and Freeman's performance stimulates the slow burning first half of the film.

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Relatively weak Damon may seem unusual choice to show Pienar at the beginning; It was a Casting selection that forced Clint Eastwood to be creative In terms of their heights (5-meters-10 vs. 6-leg-3). But it is the acting acting, and Damon is doing quietly convincingly to discover the growing pride and the belief that the captain feels like he is tasked with bringing his team to victory for the whole country. Freeman and Damon are sharing some good scenes together, and both have been nominated for an Oscar for their quality work.

Egg chasing fans don't have all the very great movies to cheer, but "Invictus" delivers them when counting. However, we must wait a long time; Eastwood does not give us much rugby until the last match, and the short moments we do basically serve as a fast lesson for viewers who are not familiar with the sport. Fortunately, he devotes the last quarter of the film to recreate the important occasion when Springbox faced the powerful team of New Zealand and their Starvist for Astatmission, Ahon Lomo (Isaac Feaunati).

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This is where "Invictus" really comes in its own as a sports movie. After patiently laid the foundations for what the World Cup final for the nation meant, Eastwood regained that mixture of excitement and trembling that comes before a crucial match. I've always been a footage at the foot, but I remember watching the event back in 1995. After seeing Lomo destroying England with four attempts in the semifinals, the big question was how they could be able to silence him. It would be good to see Lomo in action more before the final was given to people who did not see it at that time a better idea of ​​why he was so frightening, but we become enough to know that South Africans were the biggest pm.

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The long -term start building, both at the stadium and with the people who look at the pubs and at home, successfully capture the buzz before the match. Eastwood's methodical approach also works during the game itself, allowing the tension to grow, as Springbox resolved their opponents. It uses a slow movement to a good effect to the end, recreating that agonizing sense of viewing seconds crawling when your team is in the lead.

I was on the verge of my headquarters in '95 and I was surprised at how well Eastwood managed to evoke the same emotions, giving me a tingles that I haven't felt in a sports movie ever since Pele's bike in "Escape to Victory". Eastwood's movie may be a little too low key for some viewers who are looking forward to reaching the ground, which is perhaps the reason why you rarely bother Lists of the best sports movies. But it is a seriously exciting celebration of how something seemingly trivial, as 30 players knocking lumps from each other can shape the identity of the nation.