Sunday evening, the boys and I piled into the truck and rolled through dusk, through billowing ice-steamy winter to go see the movie Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom. The girls had gone to watch it with a friend the night before. They came home making polite noises about enjoying the movie. That is what you say when you plunk down a whole lot of money, you better enjoy it. The boys, I don't know, their taste in movies is more eclectic, guns and stuff, horror movies, and whatnot. When they were young they got me fairly addicted to animated movies, you know, Shrek, Cars, Over the Hedge, Ratatouille, stuff like that. I loved those, they were so hopeful, not in a Hallmark way, but in an impish someone will get in real trouble and survive it way. I loved Cars but I think Ratatouille is a work of genius. Have you watched Ratatouille? Watch it, you will love it. Thank me later. You are welcome.
So what did I think? It was not a bad movie, watching Mandela was not a waste of my time, the boys seemed engaged, they sat through it politely, like they were in church, with the reverence itchy squirmy kids have for the mean judgment of a nearby adult. To be honest, I expected more from the movie, it just seemed to lack a certain oomph, it seemed like a passive production, a sneeze coming, stifled, even at its climax, not even near-orgasmic. You stand up grateful for the experience and remember you have to go do the dishes. Life goes on.
Mandela (the movie) was not the most creative of productions, I imagined a cook eager to make a pot of ogbono, all the ingredients in there, but somehow it doesn't quite come together. They are all there sha, and at the end your stomach is full. Still, there is this hunger. For one thing, the movie raced through way too many seminal points in the tortured history of apartheid just to get to the end. Well, they had two and a half hours to tell apartheid's entire story. That wasn't going to work.
It was as if the main characters were intimidated by the notion of playing the lives of larger than life figures, Nelson Mandela, Winnie Mandela, Walter Sisulu, etc. Kudos to the main actors, Idris Elba (Mandela) and Naomi Harris (Winnie Mandela), I must say they are impressive and talented. They did the research and tried hard to play the part faithfully, even though they didn't look anywhere like the Mandelas, over time they began to grow on you, the mannerisms, etc. Naomi Harris and the actor who played Mandela's mother were my favorite. The few times I was angry and my eyes itched from allergies, they were the cause. Maybe if the movie had been longer… I wonder why the main actors were not South Africans, I know they have great actors and actresses there.
Even as inchoate as it felt, in its shallow treatment of themes, in the events and people that were missing, I am grateful to the movie for making me reflect on that era: The Sharpeville riots, the Soweto uprisings, Hector Pieterson, Steve Biko, Mangosuthu Buthelezi, the prose poetry of the beautiful people of the shebeens, the joy of the toyi-toyi dance and the heart-breaking haunting music of South Africa. Missing was the joy of the people, raised to fight back their oppressors with fists, song and dance. The end was a cheesy Hallmark let-down. There was little joy, energy and passion in the movie. Which is a shame. I remember that day in February 1990, waiting for Nelson Mandela to come out a free man, it was as if we were all restrained by a mental barricade, waiting for our father. And when Mandela came out with Winnie, goose bumps, the entire world broke out in cheers and song, the ululating and dancing was something to behold. For my generation at least, the real movie will always be in our hearts and souls. You should go watch the movie. Lion Cub says he liked the movie. I believe him. Fearless Fang liked the movie but he says he prefers Shawshank Redemption. That boy will not kill me. Will I watch the movie again? I will watch Ratatouille again.
Other than that I had a quiet weekend, boring even, nothing happened. So, did you have a nice weekend? Have a great week. I am headed to the salt mines to recoup the hundreds of dollars we spent on popcorn at the movies.
- Ikhide
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