From the opening shot of a small African boy running through the bush, we know the realm that this film occupies. Fortunately, the performances of both Idris Elba as Mandela and Naomie Harris as Winnie lift this above melodrama - just.
William Nicholson's screenplay takes a whistlestop tour through contemporary South African history. Indeed the first half of the film feels like a headlong rush, a historical drive-by through Mandela's early life. We seem him emerge from being a cocky, womanising lawyer to the pragmatic elder statesman he became. Would that the filmmakers had been more judicious and focused on a key period in Mandela's life instead of just checking off points on a timeline.
The film barely pauses for breath until Mandela is arrested along with other ANC members including Oliver Tambo. They are sentenced to death but the judge refuses to make martyrs out of them and instead they receive life imprisonment on Robben Island. It is only here that the film becomes slightly more considered and takes pause for breath.
There are so many things wrong with this film and the blame for this must lie squarely on Chadwick's shoulders. He heaps cliché upon cliché. The injustices of apartheid are skated over. We see the tanks lumbering through townships (seen through the eyes of a small child, no less). And choosing Public Enemy's Fight the Power as the soundtrack to fighting in the townships is more than ill considered; it's just plain wrong.
Chadwick is not a good enough director to rescue this and I have no idea why he was chosen to helm this project. Sadly, he has squandered a unique opportunity. Even with Mandela's death, I can't see any other studios going near this story again and that is more than a shame. There are so many stories to be told about this era.
You get the sense that both Harris and Elba know only too well that they are playing two of the most iconic black figures in contemporary history and give their all. At the time of writing, Elba has been given the Oscar nod. I only wish that he had been served by a better director. He deserves it.
Image courtesy of the American Film Institute Festival