Invictus

I am slowly becoming a fan of Clint Eastwood (as a director). Come to think of it, maybe I am already.

I just saw two Clint Eastwood movies back-to-back...



...and then Changeling (again).

Now Invictus was surprisingly good. The thing about watching a movie without expectations is you're in for a few pleasant surprises here and there.

Ever since I read the poem back in high school, I had gone back to it and read it like my personal mantra. And every single time that I did, I gained new perspective, sort of a new way of looking at it. While the words don't change, circumstances do. And, as I would like to believe, every time I read it, it gives me a new perspective of things in general.

Watching the movie did not disappoint. Clint Eastwood did a brilliant job yet again. Morgan Freeman was perfect for the role of Nelson Mandela, and Matt Damon played his role as Francois Pienaar wonderfully. Of course, the story was just as compelling. I now want to read the book on which it was based, "Playing The Enemy."

The poem "Invictus" has always been a source of strength, encouragement, and hope for me, but somehow, the movie--- the story, and how well it was translated into film, gave me much more.

While I know for a fact that William Ernest Henley wrote the poem during a time when he himself was struggling to accept his own fate, it was definitely stirring to watch how the same poem sustained the faith and hope of a person like Nelson Mandela.

The movie's definitely a must-see, and I am quoting below the words that continue to inspire.


*****
Invictus
by William Ernest Henley

Out of the night that covers me,
Black as the Pit from pole to pole,
I thank whatever gods may be
For my unconquerable soul.

In the fell clutch of circumstance
I have not winced nor cried aloud.
Under the bludgeonings of chance
My head is bloody, but unbowed.

Beyond this place of wrath and tears
Looms but the Horror of the shade,
And yet the menace of the years
Finds, and shall find, me unafraid.

It matters not how strait the gate,
How charged with punishments the scroll.
I am the master of my fate:
I am the captain of my soul.