The Human Factor is the Clint Eastwood-directed Nelson Mandela movie, starring Morgan Freeman and Matt Damon. That makes it a surefire bet for lots of awards hype — it’s hard to imagine how it wouldn’t be a top contender for Best Picture — and it just started filming, so now we have our first look.
No images of Freeman as Mandela yet, but we do get Eastwood directing Damon, who plays rugby player Francois Pienaar. How does rugby factor into a Nelson Mandela biopic? Apparently the movie — based on the book by John Carlin — will chronicle Mandela’s first term as South African president after the fall of apartheid, when he campaigned to host the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Check out the shots:
March 28th, 2009 at 5:44 pm
Ah, thanks for the catch. Total Freudian slip.
March 28th, 2009 at 6:27 am
You ask how soccer factors into a Nelson Mandela biopic? It doesn’t. It’s about the 1995 Rugby World Cup. Therefore the game they play is rugby union not soccer. If you aren’t sure of the difference perhaps you could look up the respective games in Wikipedia for a description.