Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) [Movie Review]

It is weird to think that this movie was produced while Mandela was still alive. It premiered not even a week before this wonderful man died! And now he is gone. But there is no doubt that his memory will live on forever. "They say you die twice. One time when you stop breathing and a second time, a bit later on, when somebody says your name for the last time." I have a feeling that Nelson Mandela will be immortal. He was a great man, however not unflawed, and was an inspiration to many. May he rest in piece.

Now on to the movie. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is based off of Nelson Mandela's autobiography Long Walk to Freedom. This means that there is already a bias towards Mandela and facts could easily be distorted. I am no history major, nor do I intend to be. I will not dispute anything I saw in this movie as false information. I am seeing on numerous forums that many people think Nelson Mandela was a terrorist. I guess if you bring a dictionary into this, you could call some of his acts 'terrorism'. But his acts eventually paved the way to a new South Africa.

I have very little to say about the movie. It was extremely entertaining and informative. The filmmakers did a wonderful job portraying Mandela's dark side instead of simply making him seem like he was a god. At the first rally of the African people that was shown, the rally in which the African's boycotted the bus system; I had chills running down my spine. Something about them all chanting in unison was mesmerizing.
This film's only downfall was it's slow pace shortly after Nelson's release from prison. While it did pick back up later around election time, it felt pretty boring for a few minutes. A minor complaint for this wonderful film.

Rating: 8/10

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