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	<title>Screen Machine &#187; Invictus</title>
	<link>http://www.screenmachine.tv</link>
	<description>Film criticism and cultural commentary based out of Melbourne, Australia.</description>
	<lastBuildDate>Tue, 25 Oct 2011 04:17:26 +0000</lastBuildDate>
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		<title>Invictus</title>
		<description><![CDATA[
If there is one scene in Clint Eastwood&#8217;s Invictus that is sure to provoke derisive laughter from cynical viewers, it is that which occurs just before the film&#8217;s long climactic sequence detailing the events of the 1995 Rugby World Cup final between South Africa and New Zealand. In this scene, President Mandela (Morgan Freeman) touches down in a helicopter on the Springboks&#8217; training field, while they are going through their final drills the evening before the big match. As the President makes his descent, a simpering American pop ballad (by some band with the imbecilic name of Overtone) spells out the film&#8217;s themes of racial reconciliation and the unifying power of sport in thuddingly unsubtle terms: &#8220;It&#8217;s not just a game, you can&#8217;t throw me away / I&#8217;ve put all I had on the line&#8230; I&#8217;m colourblind.&#8221; Eastwood here once again shows his total unconcern for any possible accusations of hokiness, much as he did on last year&#8217;s Gran Torino when he chose to play his own half-sung, half-croaked rendition of the title song over the closing credits.
But the cynic&#8217;s scoffs at this moment may prevent him from hearing the crucial sound that persists throughout the rest of the scene, after Overtone&#8217;s dreadful song has melted away: this sound is the whirring of the propeller of Mandela&#8217;s helicopter, as it gradually slows down after landing. This loud, irritating whirring forces Mandela and his main interlocutor, the Springboks captain Francois Pienaar (Matt Damon), to speak loudly, and we ourselves find we&#8230;]]></description>
		<link>http://www.screenmachine.tv/2010/02/08/review-invictus/</link>
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