This Oscar-nominated documentary tells the inspiring story of Nelson Mandela from birth to his ascendency to the presidency of South Africa. The story is told through interviews with Mandela himself, his sister, Mabel, his first wife, Evelyn, Winnie Mandela, and several ANC activists and lawyers. The film also features archival and contemporary footage of confrontations between South Africans fighting for justice and the police; political speeches by supporters of apartheid as well as the ANC, the Inkatha Freedom Labor Party, and neofascist extreme right leaders; and trials, rallies, celebrations, and funerals. All of this provides a comprehensive picture of the man who has come to be known as the Father of the Nation of South Africa.
The film opens with a pan over the desolate landscape of Robben Island before focusing on the prison where Mandela spent twenty-seven years of his life. It then shows Mandela looking out the window of his former cell, his back to the camera. The scene gives way to festive music and a scene of people making their way into a stadium for a rally to support Mandela’s candidacy for president.
Using narrative voiceover, the film provides a brief history of the Xhosa people in eastern South Africa, including the arrival of Europeans and their subsequent campaign to drive the Africans from the land. Finally, the narrator tells the viewer that Rolihlahla Madiba Mandela was born in 1918 in the Eastern Cape of royal heritage. It was not until he attended school that he was given his Christian name, Nelson.
The film moves from the quiet and tranquility of Mandela’s childhood and adolescence in the Cape, with Mandela telling the story of his traditional circumcision and the message that he and his age-mates received from the brother of the king: that they must fight “for the liberation of [their] people from the bondage that had been cast upon [them] by the white man.” We then move to the hustle and bustle of Johannesburg in April 1941, where Mandela fled with his brother to escape an arranged marriage. By the time Mandela was twenty-three years old he was living in Alexandra, a black slum outside of Johannesburg, and had become a well-respected and formidable lawyer. It was also during this time that he became involved in the African National Congress (ANC). It was an involvement that he sustained through most of his life, becoming president in 1991.
The film depicts the rise of the Nationalist Party in 1948, the implementation of apartheid and pass laws, the demolition of black homes, and the response by the ANC as well as the larger black population through a strategy of nonviolence. It also touches on the Sharpeville Massacre of 1960 and the subsequent imposition of martial law, Mandela’s decision to go underground, his military training in preparation for armed struggle against apartheid, his arrest and trial for high treason, and his sentencing to life in prison on Robben Island. The filmmakers include his final speech from the trial just before his incarceration. The speech marks a halfway point in the film, signaling a turning point in the narrative marked by his twenty-seven-year prison ordeal.
There is a section devoted to Winnie Mandela, beginning from the time that she and her children were exiled in 1977 to a miserable four-room house in Brandfort Township in Orange Free State. It was then that her political career truly began and the “Free Mandela” campaign as part of the larger “Free South Africa” campaign took off. The film documents her leadership of the young men who undertook violent means to secure their liberty. It also documents the conditions under which Mandela’s release was secured following political unrest and international pressure.
The final quarter of the film, which portrays Mandela’s release on February 11, 1990, and subsequent rise to political power, is for the most part hopeful, featuring uplifting and celebratory music. It does include, however, accounts of the murder accusations that were lodged against Winnie Mandela in the death of a young man and of Nelson and Winnie’s separation in 1992. The film also depicts the political violence that took hold of the country as different factions vied for control.
In the last twenty minutes of the film the viewer is allowed an intimate picture of Mandela as he shaves, has breakfast, and chooses the suit that he will wear on the day that he is to accept the Nobel Peace Prize jointly with F. W. de Klerk. This is followed by several campaign rallies as well as other public appearances that culminated in Mandela’s election to the presidency and inauguration in 1994.
Mandela has the last word in the film in a voiceover. As we see a young boy making his way across the countryside, he says, “Death is something inevitable. When a man has done what he considers to be his duty to his people in his country he can rest in peace. I believe I have made that effort and that is therefore why I will sleep for the eternity.” His words seem prophetic, for he has indeed fulfilled his duty to spread a message of justice for not only his people, but also for the world.
This documentary provides a comprehensive picture of the man, Nelson Mandela, but also the larger struggle for racial justice of which he was a key actor. The film depicts Mandela’s journey from the Cape to become a political leader and then the first black president of South Africa. The directors’ ability to compress seventy years of such a dynamic individual’s life into a film of just under two hours is an impressive accomplishment.
