I can quite easily sit hear and explain it in every detail for the introduction, babble on about some nonsense to kick start this blog post, however, I'm going to keep this short and sweet... Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom was one of the most incredible films that I've ever seen and i cannot begin to explain how much i loved it. Cinematography was simply stunning. Some of the camera shots that cut from the vast south African landscape to extremely intermate and close up shots of Mandela, played by Idris Elba, was just fantastic. A particular favourite (among several shots) was the opening scene of Mandela 'becoming a man' within his African tribe and the recurring theme that poses and plays within the entire story - it was just pure genius. Another favourite scene was when Mandela visits his home once again when him and Whinnie get married, the close up shots that the camera uses and the genuine intermacy of their connection was just perfect.
Acting - sublime. Idris Elba and Naomie Harris were just wonderful and the relationship the both of them had was beautiful, and this is something i found extremely interesting within the film; the way they tell the relationship of Mandela and Winnie. The only information I've ever learnt about their relationship was my mother telling me how much of a terrible person Winnie Mandela was, and hearing how many south Africans hated her, however, in this film it clearly shows how much, on a completely unconditional scale, how much Mandela loved her. It showed how despite Mandela's imprisonment, she was just as much a victim, if not more so, then Mandela. I loved how the film didn't sugar-coat Mandela, it showed his affair in a previous marriage and i didn't show him to be perfect. It showed how prison did change him, and it showed how he openly disagreed with most of the society, black and white. It showed his own mental change and, quite emotionally, it showed the breakdown of Winnie and Mandela's relationship, and it was filmed so well that it was unbelievably heartbreaking for the audience to watch.
And if the overall look and visual style, acting and approach to the narrative wasn't amazing enough already, the best thing about the entire was quite simply the story it told. I grew up in the generation where Mandela was 'just some south African guy'. I'm too young to have experience the changes he made, and I'd only ever hear his name on occasion if my parents would randomly mention him. Before entering the cinema, my knowledge on Mandela was extremely limited. So when i did finally learn of his story, learn about all the challenges he faced, but still remained strong - it was just incredible... He was just incredible. And this is why Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom is so fantastic and done successfully what every good film should do. It made me, the audience, experience a time, a place and a person that i had no knowledge of, and it made me feel the emotions as if i was there in person. It taught me how to think and dragged me through his struggle, yet allowed me to venture out of the other side. It gave me knowledge and an entire new approach to how i think, to how society thinks. This film opened up an entirely new realm of possibilities, methods of communication... and, as frightfully cheesy as this will sound, this film honestly took me on a long walk to freedom. It had an extraordinary and profound affect on me, and all of it was simply from learning the story, the struggles and the life of Nelson Mandela.
10/10 - Simply incredible in every single way and one of the best films i have ever seen.
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