Jan 4th
Mandela: Long Walk To Freedom** (12A)
(Cineworld Haymarket)

(GB/South Africa 2013)

The story of Nelson Mandela's years as a lawyer leading up to his long imprisonment under the Apartheid regime before his eventual release and subsequent reconciliation of the South African nation.
Honourable biopic trying to cram 95 years of a famous man's life into only 146 minutes, and therefore some scenes (particularly the early ones) seem to pass by too quickly. Excellent central performances, but the background characters are barely sketched (and totally one-dimensional for most of the whites), meaning that the human drama works better than the history.

Written by: William Nicholson, from the book by Nelson Mandela.
Producer: Anant Singh.
Director: Justin Chadwick.
Starring: Idris Elba, Naomie Harris, Lindiwe Matshikiza, Tony Kgoroge, Gys de Villiers (as de Klerk), Robert Hobbs.
Photography: Lol Crawley.
Music: Alex Heffes.

+ Nelson Mandela died the same day as the film's London premiere: 5th December 2013