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The title comes from a William Ernest Henley poem. Nelson Mandela found it inspirational as he languished for years in a small prison cell. To summarize the theme of the poem Henley rejects negativity in the face of whatever fate might throw at him. He closes – I am the master of my fate. I am the captain of my soul. At one point in Clint Eastwood’s new film, Mandela gives the poem to Francois Pienaar, the beleaguered captain of the South African rugby team, to inspire him to inspire a nation.

When Mandela (Morgan Freeman, MILLION DOLLAR BABY) was elected president, South Africa was still divided over apartheid. His chief goal was the help mend the wounds of the past. He kept many of the government workers from the previous administration. Against the wishes of his own security head Jason Tshabalala (Tony Kgoroge, HOTEL RWANDA), he even kept many of the secret service officers that once rounded up the freedom fighters who now serve as government officials.
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Check Out the Trailer

Director Peter Jackson has taken Alice Sebold’s novel about time healing wounds and focused on the supernatural elements of the story. Fans of the book will miss the complexity. But what he does accomplish is a visually inventive ode to the loss of life at a young age. He does this on the shoulders of his star Saoirse Ronan.

Susie Salmon (Ronan, ATONEMENT) is a teenager full of life. She has a crush on a handsome British Indian boy named Ray Singh (Reece Ritchie, 10,000 B.C.). She talks to her grandmother Lynn (Susan Sarandon, DEAD MAN WALKING) about her fears that she won’t be any good at kissing. But as she tells us from the start, she won’t even have a chance to try because she will be dead soon.
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