Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

[Beate]

There weren't any seats left in the balcony by 6pm and they ought to have known that anyway!

[funthing29]

It seems I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as everyone else. It felt epic and I could sense the scale of the story but I never got swept up in the emotional journey. Idris Elba gave a decent performance but I often saw Idris Elba in prosthetics rather than Mandela (whereas in Lincoln, I only saw Abe and not Daniel Day Lewis). The time did not fly by for me, it felt rather long, and occasionally it felt a little bit too schmaltzy with its use of the score and cinematography. Not bad but not a masterpiece either. 7/10.

[caitlinmorton]

It seems I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as everyone else. It felt epic and I could sense the scale of the story but I never got swept up in the emotional journey. Idris Elba gave a decent performance but I often saw Idris Elba in prosthetics rather than Mandela (whereas in Lincoln, I only saw Abe and not Daniel Day Lewis). The time did not fly by for me, it felt rather long, and occasionally it felt a little bit too schmaltzy with its use of the score and cinematography. Not bad but not a masterpiece either. 7/10.

I agree with funthing. This didn't do it for me. When Mandela was younger, I just saw Idris Elba. He played the character well but I didn't believe him as Mandela. It got better when he was older but I never quite believed it. I was also just not very moved by the story. I felt that it was going on for ages, and sure enough, when I checked the time when it ended it was 9:30. I think there were other films this year that tackled tough subject matter better. I don't see this winning any awards.

[ejwrank]

I am also in the minority (along with funthing) and thought this was overly long and dull. Having lived through some of this (with a couple of years in the 1980s spent in Zambia with the ANC visiting our house quite often and my sole claim to fame is that I have cooked supper for some men who were on South Africa's most wanted hit list at the time--including a future president of South Africa), perhaps I expected too much. Most of the audience at Islington were in raptures and some applauded at the end. The woman next to us gasped as the story progressed and didn't seem to know any of the history. Naturally she was so engrossed that she had to check her phone a number of times and was very cross with us when we asked her to turn it off. She informed us that her kid could be dead or dying so she had to check her messages often. She then told us at the end she wished us peace as that was what Mandela had taught her! Wish that he had taught her not to turn her blooming phone on in the cinema too.

[caitlinmorton]

I am also in the minority (along with funthing) and thought this was overly long and dull. Having lived through some of this (with a couple of years in the 1980s spent in Zambia with the ANC visiting our house quite often and my sole claim to fame is that I have cooked supper for some men who were on South Africa's most wanted hit list at the time--including a future president of South Africa), perhaps I expected too much. Most of the audience at Islington were in raptures and some applauded at the end. The woman next to us gasped as the story progressed and didn't seem to know any of the history. Naturally she was so engrossed that she had to check her phone a number of times and was very cross with us when we asked her to turn it off. She informed us that her kid could be dead or dying so she had to check her messages often. She then told us at the end she wished us peace as that was what Mandela had taught her! Wish that he had taught her not to turn her blooming phone on in the cinema too.

I'm really not sure her priorities were in the right place if her child was dying and she was at the cinema...

[Beate]

Well quite.

[M R M R]

Idris Elba gave a decent performance but I often saw Idris Elba in prosthetics rather than Mandela

I agree but I didn't let it distract me too much...I still got quite emotional

[prettyxcool]

It seems I didn’t enjoy this quite as much as everyone else. It felt epic and I could sense the scale of the story but I never got swept up in the emotional journey. Idris Elba gave a decent performance but I often saw Idris Elba in prosthetics rather than Mandela (whereas in Lincoln, I only saw Abe and not Daniel Day Lewis). The time did not fly by for me, it felt rather long, and occasionally it felt a little bit too schmaltzy with its use of the score and cinematography. Not bad but not a masterpiece either. 7/10.

I agree with funthing. This didn't do it for me. When Mandela was younger, I just saw Idris Elba. He played the character well but I didn't believe him as Mandela. It got better when he was older but I never quite believed it. I was also just not very moved by the story. I felt that it was going on for ages, and sure enough, when I checked the time when it ended it was 9:30. I think there were other films this year that tackled tough subject matter better. I don't see this winning any awards.

Totally agree with both funthing and caitlinmorton. Thought this would be amazing, but it dragged for me, and I did not feel anything, it actually felt rather dull. Only Naomie Harris, as Winnie, gave the film some lift and energy, and we can see how the situation affected her more than anyone and shaped her the way she is today, and I felt more sympathetic towards her. Overall, it did feel like a "long walk" and a particularly weary one, perhaps that is what the film was trying to achieve! OH liked it though. 7/10.

[prettyxcool]

Having lived through some of this (with a couple of years in the 1980s spent in Zambia with the ANC visiting our house quite often and my sole claim to fame is that I have cooked supper for some men who were on South Africa's most wanted hit list at the time--including a future president of South Africa).

Wow, that is amazing ejwrank, you get everywhere and led a very colourful life!

[Sunny Saver]

Husband went. He gave it 8 out of 10 and said he didn't think it was too long.