TinsHeadline Touches You

Livestonth I am only giving this movie a 1 for the great cast, though I can't imagine what any of them were thinking. This movie was horrible

Ariella Broughton It is neither dumb nor smart enough to be fun, and spends way too much time with its boring human characters.

Cheryl A clunky actioner with a handful of cool moments.

soilanisereka Basically the movie talks about South Africa which was one of the very last countries to get its independence in Africa .We get to understand how much South Africans suffered during the apartheid regime and what the leaders and other citizens went through before they finally became self ruled, the discrimination of Africans in their own country and not to mention the bloodshed during this times. This is a very touching movie full of sorrows and tears but not forgetting the comic part of it as seen in the early stages. It's very hilarious in its kind, full of romance and a lot of suspense especially in the middle .It is also very emotional, breathtaking and very educative. The movie talks about the life of Winnie Madikizela-Mandela (Jennifer Hudson), from her strict rural upbringing by a father disappointed she was not born a boy, to her giving up the chance to study in America in order to remain in South Africa where she felt more needed, through her husband Nelson Mandela's (Terrence Howard) imprisonment. She then faces continuous harassment by the security police, banishment to a small Free State town, betrayal by friends and allies, and more than a year in solitary confinement. Upon her release, she continues her husband's activism against apartheid and, after his release from prison, suffers divorce due to her infidelity and political pressure.The main character is Jennifer Hudson who is referred as Winnie Madikizela Mandela. I find her to be a very strong woman who will always fight for what she thinks is right. She is that woman who will go to that extend without fear of what people will think about her or what people say about her. She fought anyone she considered was a threat to her and what she has been fighting for. She did a very good job as she teaches women to be strong no matter the problems of day to day life and that no one should give up without a fight. She was very courageous and she took up the role very good. The second character is Terence Howard who plays the role of Nelson Mandela .His character was very well portrayed as that fighter who will sacrifice everything he had just for the freedom of his people .Even though he was very strong at the beginning I found him to be so down at the end of the movie since he did not become what everyone expected him to be, he brings out his soft part and that not how we expect those people fighting for us to be…even though his role came out quite well I think I would love to see the strong part of him. Hlomla Dandala also known as Oliver Tambo is the other character in the movie and he plays a role of a good friend to Mandela. He did a very good job since he tried so hard to stand by his friend and he also got himself in a boiling soup fighting against the white regime as he was also got imprisoned .He played his role very well. The most things I liked about the movie was the fact that it made me as a reader understand South Africa much better during the start and at the end of apartheid regime. It all made sure that it targeted both the age groups without discriminating any. I liked when Winnie decided she would continue with the struggle even after the arrest of her husband. I didn't like it when Mandela decided to divorce Winnie as seen in the last scene of the movies as I thought that woman really struggled during his absence and no matter what she did she was supposed to be forgiven since it was not easy for her for Mandela was arrested when she was still very young. I also didn't like it when Winnie decided to take laws in her hands and decided to kill anyone who was against ANC by that time and who could not follow what she wanted as seen in the last third scene of the movie. The movie teaches us that; 1. No matter how hard some things look if you continue to put more effort then you will surely succeed in one way or another. 2. It also shows the strength of a woman by explaining that what a man can do a woman can still do the same thing 3. It also states that you should fight for what you believe in no matter how hard it is to get what you want. 4. we should also not use violence for violence since dialogue is and will always be the way out Anyone can watch this movie since it has targeted all age groups from the young to the old and even the romance part of it does not hinder the children from watching and so I consider it as a family movie.In other hand I think this movie is much of a TV movie and no part of Winnie Mandela biography. According to my views someone biography should be written or said in a way that it becomes history even after that person is long gone as it should make that person be remembered in one way or the other. This movie has represented Winnie's bad side since it criticizes her too much which should not be part of biography.Even though I felt the movie was quite interesting to watch I also feel it could have done much better for its rating is not that good considering its main actors are two very well known people not to mention its producer TD JAKES who is a well known Christian evangelist and the Christian denomination would have loved to see better than what he produced .I will rate the movie at 2/5 since I expected better than this as the title really moved me to want to know what it was all about.

TxMike Winnie and Nelson Mandela were key figures in the struggle in South Africa to abolish apartheid and gain freedom for all races, during the approximate 30+ years in the 1960s, 1970s, and 1980s, which culminated in Nelson Mandela being elected President in the 1994 multiracial elections. In the more recent movie "Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom" we see much about Nelson's young life, upbringing, and his imprisonment after being convicted of terrorist activities. In that movie Winnie has an important role, but still secondary.In this movie, "Winnie Mandela", the emphasis is reversed. We see much of Nelson but the emphasis is on Winnie. Her early work as a nurse, her marriage to Nelson, and her gross mistreatment by the white officials, imprisoned for 16 months on suspicion alone and without a trial, and much of that in solitary confinement. They tried to break her spirit, to renounce the fight for freedom, but she never broke.When she got out she was hardened, and also influenced by the Sharpeville massacre in 1960 where white police shot and killed many black demonstrators, and many of those were shot in the back as they attempted to flee. So she and her supporters took a very hard line, gradually drifting away from the ideals of nonviolent freedom that Nelson espoused.There is no question, Winnie Mandela and her children were badly mistreated by the white South African government. And there is no doubt that her fervor played an important role in eventually getting Nelson freed and the government to abolish apartheid. But she was also branded as a criminal, and when Nelson became President it had to be without Winnie at his side.Very good movie about a complex and influential black woman. Jennifer Hudson is just superb in the title role as Winnie Mandela, and she sings the song played in the closing credits. Also superb is Terrence Howard as Nelson Mandela. Good as the white villain is Elias Koteas as De Vries, the man with dogged determination to break Winnie, but was never able to.

Nzinga19 After watching movie Winnie Madikizela Mandela, I wondered how much Winnie, the main character, narrated on this movie about herself. Winnie was referred to as the Mother of the Nation, she was statues and beautiful, very intelligent and warrior spirited. Yet so much was left out about her diplomacy, about how she traveled around the world from country to country to gain world support for the release of her husband Nelson Mandela. The greatness of the woman was laminated to half her greatness in this movie. I remember when Winnie came to United States to meet to appeal the world be aware of apartheid and unjust imprisonment of many South Africans under apartheid. People were naming their children after Winnie and Nelson because of her image, which I must mention was distained. The population of South Africa including Nelson are under the influence of apartheid also Stokholm AND Helsinki syndromes.

Amari-Sali Since I'll eventually see Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, I figured it was worth seeing this film which got talked about since the actual Winnie disapproved of it, but after it was released, not a word was said. Now, I can understand why the real life Winnie didn't approve of it, not just because at times they don't portray her favorably, but at the same time, between Jennifer Hudson and Terrence Howard, despite the accents, prosthetics, and things of that nature, you don't really get the type of experience most biopics give you.Characters & StoryThe main focus of the movie is what Winnie (played by Jennifer Hudson) did as Nelson Mandela (played by Terrence Howard) was locked away for decades. Outside of that, we also see her upbringing, a romantic subplot dealing with Winnie and Nelson's courtship, the struggles of living in apartheid in South Africa, then Winnie's turn into an almost head of a mob known as Mandela's United Football Club. Each aforementioned time in Winnie's life feels like a chapter which, once shut, leads us to a new Winnie who evolves from a girl trying to be the son her father wanted, to a woman who seems like a revolutionary who lost control of her soldiers.PraiseHonestly, the only thing I found worth praising was getting to see, what I assume, is South African culture. Being that I have never been to the country, nor watch many programs from the nation, it was nice to see different views of Africa, and hear of the story of their civil rights movement. But, if you strip away the culture, the cities and landscape, as well as the music, then you have a film which may rely on agreed upon facts, but lacks real emotion.CriticismBiopics, over the years, have become one of my favorite genres when it comes to movies. Though an embellished portrait, it allows people who weren't aware, or didn't live during the times of the biopic, to have a chance to relive moments and the lives of figures who are either in their golden years or have passed on. But, with Winnie Mandela, there was no heart or soul to make me believe Hudson or Howard represented their respective figures. Yes, they have the accents, wore the clothing and gave the speeches, but you never got lost in their performances. In a way, I almost felt like they were dialing it in. Or better yet, it was a role which had prestige and could generate interest, so Howard and Hudson took it, and never really did the research and spent the time to become the two iconic persona they were to portray. Because of that, their performances both ring empty and remind you that acting cannot just be playing pretend, knowing your lines, and crying on cue. It has to be an art form in which the viewer gets lost in your performance, and not simply lost because they don't believe you can perform.Overall: Skip ItThough informative, to a point, Winnie Mandela very much screams a westernized portrait of an African figure. It feels superficial in every way possible. From the courtship of Winnie and Nelson, to the rise of Winnie as a political figure, to the fall of her marriage and her political life, everything feels like there were contracts signed, the checks were already cashed, and a movie which had to be produced. Leading me to say this is a movie to skip. Though the overall idea of Winnie Mandela is interesting, the film lacks any proper execution outside of the culture, and since they filmed in South Africa, it would have been hard to screw that up. Everything else though makes me feel that, after Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom, the book this film is based on needs to be re- adapted and if there is non-South African involvement, it solely comes from financing.