Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom Parent Guide

My local screening of Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom opened with a moment of silence. It seemed fitting as Nelson Mandela died only hours earlier (on December 5, 2013).

The movie begins in the rural village where Mandela was born and depicts the traditional ceremony inducting him into manhood. Shortly afterwards he leaves home to face the broader world. Trained as a lawyer, he defends his clients in a judicial system whose outcomes are tilted towards the interests of the white South Africans who have created an apartheid state. But increasingly he senses a brewing unrest among his fellow black South Africans who demand the power to control their own lives.

However power can be dangerous, no matter who holds it. In the hands of the South African prison guards, power becomes a catalyst for yelling, bullying and demeaning acts including forcing the prisoners to strip down and stand in the rain. When wielded by the white South African electorate, it perpetuates a system of continual economic and political marginalization of most of the country’s citizens. And in the hands of the angry black majority, it unleashes acts of retaliation, riots, demonstrations and bombings.

When members of the anti-apartheid African National Congress approach Nelson Mandela (Idris Elba) he initially hesitates to join their ranks. He has a new wife, Evelyn, (Terry Pheto), and a young family. But the lure of the political movement eventually draws him in, pulling him farther and farther away from his family. After he is involved in an adulterous relationship, his wife Evelyn leaves with their children. Then, only a short time later, he meets and marries Winnie Madikisela (Naomie Harris).

Based on Mandela’s autobiography, the film is over two hours long. It covers seven decades from his childhood to his inauguration as South Africa’s first black President. For the most part the movie paces well with strong performances from Elba, Harris and others. It highlights events surrounding the forced segregation of apartheid and the escalating violence that lead to Mandela’s arrest and 27 years of imprisonment on Robben Island and in other prisons.

Patience and unrelenting resolve prove to be Mandela’s greatest traits as he evolves from protester to militant subversive and then to peace promoter. But his life is not without its dark moments. While the film portrays some of the terrorist acts committed by the ANC, including bombings, riots, and dousing people in gasoline before setting them on fire, it neglects to address several other aspects of the anti-apartheid struggle and the organization’s communist ties. In later years, it is Winnie who is portrayed as the aggressive and embittered attacker spurred on the violent acts, while time appears to have tempered Mandela’s approach. Instead of fighting, he is canny, if not elusive, in his negotiations with members of F.W. de Klerk’s government. In the film, it is his strong moral resolve that eventually changes a nation—but at a huge personal cost to the imprisoned man who is unable to raise his children, maintain his marriage or even attend the funerals of his mother and son.

News footage and re-enactments fill in the details for those unfamiliar with the historical events. Although the story is based on facts, the scenes of riots, bombings, shootings and bloody attacks are too intense for most younger teens and children.

However Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom is a powerful obituary. And at his death, it is likely many North Americans will remember Mandela as the man who professed, “No one is born hating another person. People must learn to hate, and if they can learn to hate, they can be taught to love, for love comes more naturally to the human heart than its opposite.”

About author

Kerry Bennett

Kerry Bennett is interested in media from both a journalist and parent perspective. Along with authoring articles for several family-oriented publications, she has written for Parent Previews for over 15 years. As a parent herself, she believes parents play a powerful role in teaching media literacy in their homes.