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Clint Eastwood’s Invictus, which translates as “undefeated,” stars Morgan Freeman as Nelson Mandela and Matt Damon as Francois Pienaar, captain of the South African Springboks.  We’re pleased to report it’s a friendly family affair, with original music by son Kyle Eastwood, and son Scott Eastwood cast as one of the Springboks, the rugby team of Afrikaner players who won the 1995 World Cup Final. This became the turning point in healing the wounds of South Africa’s apartheid crisis.   Chosen from 500 rugby players who auditioned, Scott, 23, plays Joel Stransky, who was responsible for all of the points scored by the team.   “He got knocked around a lot,” muses Clint.

“You only create winners,” PR veteran Dale Olson complimented Clint, referring to Clint’s Oscar winning and nominated films (Million Dollar Baby, The Unforgiven, among others) during the supper party at the Beverly Wilshire after the premiere at the Samuel Goldwyn Theatre.  “I guess I’m lucky,” Clint answered, with Dale adding, “Well, there’s that gift called talent.”  On hand were John Carlin, whose novel, Playing the Enemy, inspired screenwriter Anthony Peckham, and both were introduced to guests by producer Mace Neufeld and executive producers Gary Barber and Roger Birnbaum.  The evening benefited the American Film Institute, with loyal members of the AFI Associates hosting a strong industry turnout, and Warner Bros.’ Barry Meyer introducing Clint, as is the Italian custom for directors, as Commandatore.

Clint’s films have explored social justice over the decades, having grossed $1 billion, $600 million.  The former bipartisan mayor of Carmel, Clint was born in San Francisco and grew up in nearby Piedmont and Oakland, where Clint recalls many locals were black, and that he attended multiracial schools, later worked in pulp mills, as a lifeguard and in aircraft maintenance.  “I loved music, played ragtime piano in an Oakland bar,” he tells Parade magazine, “and couldn’t figure out why black players couldn’t play in a white band.  And why white players couldn’t play in a black band.

“My wife, Dina Ruiz, is part black, grew up in Fremont, California, with people saying, ‘You can’t drink from that tap,’ and calling her bad names.  I think we’re way beyond that, but so much prejudice, even now, comes from parents.  The old mentality that someone is superior to someone else is shoved down at the kids, and they carry it all their lives.”  Clint and Dina have a daughter Morgan.  He has a daughter with Frances Fisher, with Francesca presented at the prestigious Crillon cotillion last month in Paris.   Daughter Alison and sons Scott and Kyle are with his first wife, Maggie Johnson.

About Invictus, Clint told a screening audience that, “For me, Nelson Mandela is Christ-like.  It takes a lofty spirit, like Christ’s, to believe we must forgive people for they often do not know what they do.  Mandela spent 27 years in jail fighting apartheid, and after being released, he could have started a civil war.  In his wisdom, he realized that rugby, the country’s favorite sport, a symbol of white oppression, could unite the whites and blacks.  That was a stroke of genius.  The blacks were stunned, with Mandela, as South Africa’s first black president, admonishing his countrymen that, ‘Forgiveness liberates the soul.  That’s why it’s such a powerful weapon.’

“Invictus takes place at a critical point in Mandela’s presidency, when he demonstrated that great wisdom in incorporating sport to reconcile the country.  He needed to pull the country together.  To appeal to its national pride with the one thing, perhaps the only thing, they had in common at that time.  He knew the white and black populations ultimately had to work together, or the country couldn’t succeed.  And he showed great creativity using the sports team as a means to an end.  And that end became Mandela’s dream of a ‘rainbow nation.’”

Yet Mandela knew that since a rugby match can’t be decided in the hallowed halls of government, he reached out to the man who could help accomplish this dream.  The captain of the Springboks, Francois Pienaar, portrayed by Matt Damon.   “Sport has the power to change the world.  It has the power to inspire, and unite people in a way that little else does,” was Mandela’s mantra, who was known to often quote William Ernest Henley’s poem, Invictus --“I am the master of my fate: I am the captain of my soul.”

“I wanted Morgan to avoid acting like Mandela, I needed him to be him, which was the biggest challenge,” says Clint.  “When you meet Mandela, you know you’re in the presence of greatness, something emanates from him that moves people for the better.  That’s his calling in life.  Some call it magic, but that magic can’t be explained.”

“The luckiest part of my entire existence is finding this script, sending it to Clint, and having him agree to film it,” reveals Morgan Freeman, whose performance as Mandela is being lauded by critics and previewers having already won a best actor award from the National Board of Review.  More honors will be forthcoming for the film, director and the acting, etc.

New York Times executive editor Bill Keller describes Morgan’s performance as “uncanny,” having studied Mandela over the course of three years as a foreign correspondent.  “Less of an impersonation than an incarnation … he gets the rumble and halting rhythm of Mandela’s speech, the erect posture and stiff gait … more important, Freeman conveys the manipulative charm, the serene confidence, the force of purpose, the hint of mischief, and the lonely regret that made Mandela one of the most fascinating figures of his time.”   

Invictus is Morgan’s third film with Clint, the first being 1992’s The Unforgiven, which won the Oscar for Best Picture and Best Director.  Their next, Million Dollar Baby, followed a dozen years later, won Morgan the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor, an Oscar for Best Actress for Hilary Swank, and Clint’s Oscar for Best Director and Best Picture.

Like Morgan, Matt Damon needed to master a South African accent to play Francois Pienaar, who is huge.  “Matt worked out very hard, got into terrific shape, and by structuring set-ups and camera angles, you can make a person look the way you need them to look,” offers Clint .  “He did a lot of weightlifting, put on a lot of muscle, did sprints, which he’d never done before, and some boxing.”

Francois found Matt to be “a great bloke … I was struck by his humility, being the success that he is, and I loved his wicked sense of humor.  He understood that we were more than a rugby team, and that as times changed, we needed to change as well.  To create pride for our country.  As Mandela said, ‘What’s past is past, we look to the future now.’” 

Next for Clint and Matt is Hereafter, a supernatural thriller written by Peter Morgan (The Queen, The Damned United), with Steven Spielberg,  Kathleen Kennedy and Frank Marshall as producers.   Filming’s scheduled for San Francisco, with insiders buzzing that the film’s three leads try to figure out what exists, if anything, after death.  Belgian actress Cecile de France plays a French journalist who experiences a near-death moment, and word’s out that Matt Damon sees dead people.

We missed benefactors Chuck Fries and his wife Ava, who was indisposed, during the 27th annual awards dinner of the Caucus for Producers, Writers & Directors, which was launched by Chuck.  Every year, the dinner’s scheduled at the Beverly Hills Hotel Crystal Ballroom, one of the great (and among my personal favorites) venues for events with its elegant oval configuration, towering ceiling, and excellent food and service supervised by the always-helpful banquet manager Eric Drachman.

Caucus chair Dennis Doty hosted the gala, with David Hasselhoff emceeing, and among the honorees were Stephen Cannell, 3ality Digital partners Sandy Climan and Steve Schklair, Frank von Zerneck, Angela Bromstad, president of NBC/Universal Primetime Entertainment.  Would that we could mention them all, and all of  the presenters that included Lea Thompson, Catherine Hicks, Joel McHale, Lorenzo Lamas, Marshall Herskovitz, Vin Di Bona.  

A Caucus Gold Circle was inaugurated in 2001 by Caucus Foundation Board member John Berzner to mentor young filmmakers.  Since its inception, more than $805,000 in awards and grants were received by student filmmakers.  This year’s winners were USC’s Jarret Lee Conaway for his film, Turbo, with Chapman University’s John Baldino placing second for his film, Nalligaster.   Katharine Kramer handed out the award trophies, with Katharine informing that her dad Stanley Kramer’s  On the Beach, the 1959 film starring Gregory Peck, Ava Gardner, Fred Astaire and Tony Perkins about a global nuclear war in Australia, celebrates its 50th anniversary this week with a screening at the American Cinematheque.

Friends attending the Robert Downey Jr. hand and footprint ceremony on Hollywood’s Walk of Fame this week recalled Robert was surprised by Marvel Comics after his film, Iron Man, raked in megamillions.  Robert was greeted by a shiny new Bentley wrapped in a red ribbon, a gift from Marvel Comics for the film’s blockbuster success.   Not to overlook the Iron Man director, Jon Favreau, who was soon found himself, thank you Marvel Comics, as the owner of a new Mercedes Benz.