Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, Cinemas Across London

As the world mourns the recent death of Nelson Mandela, a biopic of his life couldn’t be more timely. Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, which has already scooped three Golden Globe nominations, is written by William Nicholson ( Gladiator, Les Misérables) and based on the 1994 memoirs of Mandela himself. Director Justin Chadwick (The Other Boleyn Girl) takes you on a whistlestop tour through recent South African history, starting with the childhood of Mandela, all the way through to his extraordinary election as president. 

The film features English actor Idris Elba (best-known for his performance in The Wire) as Mandela, from his younger days as a lawyer in the segregated Johnnesburg of the 1940s, through his recruitment by the ANC, to his arrest, imprisonment and eventually his release. It is a much-lauded performance that has rightly seen him receive a Golden Globe nomination, though his co-star Naomi Harris (Skyfall, Pirates of the Caribbean) should certainly not be overlooked as his wife, Winnie. It is in fact the relationship between this couple that takes a central position in the film, and at one point Mandela declares “what they have done to my wife is their only victory over me.” 

Other Golden Globe nominations go to, Alex Heffes for Best Original Score and U2 for Best Original Song, so you can be sure that the music is going to be good. 

Nicholson admits that the film is not "a full historical record," how can it be, he points out, "in little more than two hours?" Nevertheless, he insists, "it tries to pass on to the next generation the extraordinary achievement of a man who dared to forgive his enemies… the core of the legend is true."