Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Poster for Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom

Idris Elba (The Wire) is Nelson Mandela in this biopic, based on the anti-apartheid revolutionary's autobiography, charting the struggles that took him from South Africa's rural Cape region to armed struggle and arrest, and then to the president's mansion as his nation's first democratically elected leader. Naomie Harris (Skyfall) plays Mandela's wife and fellow freedom fighter Winnie. Directed by Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl). More

"Born to be a Xhosa leader, he was trained in law, then drawn into resistance, then politics, then elevated to a reverence that approached sainthood. Mandela has lived one of the most remarkable lives of our time... Mandela is, above all, a love story. It's the story of Nelson and Winnie's passionate and troubled love affair that endured over decades. It's also the story of a leader who so loved his country that, through his beliefs, his actions, and his example, he transformed himself into the very embodiment of its greatest hopes." (Toronto International Film Festival)

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62 ^%Rotten
tomatoes®
8 reviews
Award
winner
Directed by Justin Chadwick

2013Rating: M, Mature themes, violence and coarse language147 minsUK, South Africa

DramaTrue Story & Biography

Director:: Justin Chadwick ('The Other Boleyn Girl', 'The First Grader')
Writer:: William Nicholson
Cast:: Idris ElbaNaomie HarrisMark ElderkinRobert HobbsTheo LandeyGrant Swanby

Streaming (3 Providers)

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Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom | Awards

Award Winner

Best Original Song ('Ordinary Love' by U2), Golden Globes 2014.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom | Reviews

62%144 reviews

Rotten Tomatoes® Score

All reviews on Rotten Tomatoes

Flicks, Adam Fresco

Justin Chadwick's Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom aims high in trying to convey this amazing man’s life in just 140 minutes, when perhaps just a part of his story would have made for a more satisfying, less fragmented movie. Nonetheless, the strength of Mandela lies in the warts ‘n’ all humanity on display. This Nelson starts as no saint, taking up arms against a brutally oppressive regime before imprisonment transforms his violent struggle into one of peaceful resistance.

Variety

For all its failings, there is one thing that can't be denied: Idris Elba gives a towering performance, a Mandela for the ages.

Total Film

Ambitious in its span and powerful in its recreation of tumultuous times, this is a skilful dramatisation and a worthy celebration.

Time Out

As a primer, it's respectable; as cinema, it feels like a biblical gospel, always gearing up for the next big speech or moment.

The New York Times

Mr. Elba is completely convincing as a natural leader with a ferocious drive.

The Guardian

If it is a bit stately, that is understandable: his life story really is extraordinary. The movie pays homage - in good faith.

The Dissolve

Great Figure filmmaking that acts more as monument than living history.

Hollywood Reporter

The restrained intensity of Idris Elba's performance as Nelson Mandela ennobles this ambitiously sprawling biopic.

Empire Magazine

It's vivid, substantial and works hard to be worthy, but as it ticks off the milestones of a monumental life it flickers more often than it really catches fire.

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom | Trailers

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Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom | Release Details

Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is available to stream in Australia now on Stan and Google Play and Apple TV.