I’d give the movie a solid B. Was more of a sports movie than I expected and didn’t have the big climax/overcoming opposition that I expected. I loved how the theme of reconciliation was interwoven throughout the movie though. That was beautiful to watch.

I am genuinely shocked that Hollywood has decided to take on the 19th centuries most pervasive and popular atheist poems and use it to create the background leitmotif for a film about Nelson Mandela, who surely would never cry “I am the master of my fate, I am the captain of my soul” as Henley did, intending it as a refrain of defiance against God himself. Henley’s poem was in the 19th century and attempt to popularise an atheist stance – he did then in the realm of poetry what Dawkins has tried to do recently in the realm of science. I for one am much more taken with the rewitten version by Dorothy Day, herself seeking to subvert Henley’s awesomely arrogant poem, and I think this is a version that would represent Mandela’s faith more accurately:
Invictus rewritten by Dorothy Day
Out of the night that dazzles me,
Bright as the sun from pole to pole,
I thank the God I know to be
For Christ the conqueror of my soul.
Since His the sway of circumstance,
I would not wince nor cry aloud.
Under that rule which men call chance
My head with joy is humbly bowed.
Beyond this place of sin and tears
That life with Him! And His the aid,
Despite the menace of the years,
Keeps, and shall keep me, unafraid.
I have no fear, though strait the gate,
He cleared from punishment the scroll.
Christ is the Master of my fate,
Christ is the Captain of my soul.

One commentator said that “all” of Clint Eastwood’s films revolve around one central theme: revenge. With Invictus, it is revenge upside down…reconciliation. Hmm.

This was my first encounter with Dorothy Day’s subversion of the 19th century poem “Invictus.” Countless times I have heard this poem quoted, particularly at high school commencements where well-meaning valedictorians have declared their personhood and determination. But as a Christian, I have thought — stirring rhetoric, lousy theology. I will cut and paste this one into my own blog, and share it often to help give clarity to those who need an anchor in Christlikeness.