Invictus: A Hymn To Friendship And Surpassing Oneself

Invictus is a beautiful movie directed by Clint Eastwood  and based on John Carlin’s book  Playing the Enemy: Nelson Mandela and the Game That Changed a Nation .

This film tells the story of the budding friendship between the newly elected president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela, and Springboks captain François Pienaar, roles played by Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon respectively.

In this article, we want to focus on values ​​such as friendship and surpassing ourselves that the film inspires in us.

How is Invictus?

After being released from prison, Nelson Mandela becomes president of a divided country plagued by hatred and racism caused by segregation and apartheid.

However,  this activist with innumerable resources finds a way to unify his nation by finding a common point which is none other than the passion of South Africans for rugby. He then organized a meeting with the Springboks, the national team.

However, the Springboks are having a tough time in their careers. Despite being one of the best caps in the world, her game is no longer at the top and the team’s losses are piling up.

Finally, Mandela managed to strike up a discussion with François Pienaar, the captain of the South African national rugby team.

From there is born a friendship which will last until the death of the president and which will allow the Springboks to become the champions of the world, and to unite an entire nation.

Friendship is able to move mountains

Friendship is a feeling of trust and affection between people. This is what happened between Nelson Mandela and François Pienaar when they first met.

 Despite the captain’s initial reluctance, white, the president’s insistence on forgiving and unifying the nation leaving behind racism and hatred allowed the birth of a beautiful friendship between them which has served as an example for many. people.

The example of the friendship and complicity that arose between Mandela and Pienaar was able to drive out hatred and antipathy not only from South Africa, but also from around the world.

When two people want with all their might to create bonds of trust, solidarity, mutual support, nothing in the world can ever separate them.

Surpassing oneself

Whenever bonds are forged between us and other people, we come out bigger and stronger.

Knowing that we have a friend, comrade, or brother by our side fills us with energy and pushes us to put in more effort to move forward and not fail.

In this specific case, thanks to the support and friendship of Nelson Mandela, François Pienaar was able to restore strength and morale to depressed Springbok players who were losing matches to the despair of whites and to the joy of black South Africans. .

However, Mandela’s playfulness and his burning desire to make things better, to surpass himself, to unite his people and to forgive meant that a friendship between two people ended up melting an entire country into one long hug. , regardless of the skin color of the person next to it.

Ultimately, people are most important; their friendship, their solidarity. Mandela’s support gave Pienaar the strength to transfer those values ​​to the rest of the squad. 

The Springboks have imparted their energy to an entire rugby-loving nation that explodes with joy when the team achieves victory through the joint effort of millions of people who support and understand each other.

Unity is strength

The most important lesson we can learn from the movie Invictus is that the union and friendship between two people can exert tremendous force on thousands of people who are  able to change, support each other, forget about resentments and quarrels. , and to all look in the same direction, forming only one to march towards victory armed with immense force.

We must never forget that we are stronger and better together. 

This is one of the great lessons that Invictus offers us. Friendship and solidarity allow us to put aside hatred and loneliness, to achieve great victories.