Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

“...this film produced by Anant Singh and based on the South African leader's autobiography by the same name, treats its subject with that delicate reverence, bathing him in drippling sunlight and framing him more than once as a heroic figure against scenic backdrops of his loved land. It sacrifices small details for a rushed narrative, and a deeper understanding for a biopic that touches upon the many chapters of Mandela's eventful life without touching anything closely.”

“...offers a one-dimensional, vanilla portrait of one of history's most relevant figures. It's a perfectly adequate summing up of Mandela's life. Unfortunately, this real-life hero deserved so much more.”

“It just doesn't click together in any rousing or notable way. Mandela deserved a better film than this.”

“This fast-moving film extends beyond one icon. Alongside Mandela, it follows the anti-apartheid movement itself, from peaceful boycotts to blowing offices up, terrible civil war and a return to peace. It captures the tremendous romance of Africa, its gold-pink vistas as beautiful as blush, its rhythms, vibes and colourful tribes. And it presents fabulous performances.”

“Contrary to Mandela's life that had enough drama, the film fails to capture any of it...making it boring at times. It works because of the real life story of Mandela. An iconic world figure deserves a much better biopic! Here they don't call it a 'long walk' for no reason, the film is 140 minutes long and that is very long for this genre.”

“Laden with dramatically cliched and generic rousing scenes, director Justin Chadwick's "Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom", set against the backdrop of long-established institutional racism, is a far cry from an awe-inspiring and stimulating biopic.”

“As a beginner's guide to Mandela, it's respectable; as cinema, it feels shackled by the greatness of its subject. Most curiously, it's terrified of the very thing that defined him: politics.”

“Moderately interesting, Mandela is long and tiring, but the performances make it worth the while.”

“The film pays due respect to Nelson Mandela, but only half-way through.”

“All said and seen, Mandela is watchable because of the powerful story rather than the depiction of the story.”

“Every nation wants a biopic that reminds it of a time when it produced great souls. Accordingly, Mandela is drenched in nobility. Given the difficulties that Mandela and his fellow South Africans have endured, it's possible to ignore the two-hanky sentimentality, soaring finale and the experience of a half-done portrait that's waiting for a more clear-eyed artist.”

“...a straightforward, chronological look at Mandela's life from boyhood to old age. It's a carefully balanced film that may not do full justice to Mandela, but it's more invigorating than the filmi Mandela we saw in Clint Eastwood's Invictus.”