Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom (2013) Movie Script

I dream the same dream
night after night.
I am coming home
to the house in Orlando.
Everything is the way it was.
They are all there.
All the ones that I have loved
most in the world.
They seem fine,
getting on with their lives.
But they do not see me.
They never see me.
Your youth,
your beauty,
your strength
is not yours to hold.
You alone are small,
your people are mighty.
Now go!
You are a man.
Leave as a man!
Now I was a man
with duties to my people.
My father had given me
the name Rolihlahla...
troublemaker.
I didn't want to make trouble.
I wanted to make
my family proud of me.
Out of the way, boy.
Stop, Kaffir.
- Come on, Kaffir.
- Yes, sir.
Sorry, sorry.
Court in 15 minutes.
- 15?
- 15 minutes.
- Mr. Mandela, sir, you promised us.
- Yes, yes.
But the people are losing hope
in their land.
How can I help you?
I am not a thief.
Mrs. De Kock, my client,
your former maid, has been accused
of stealing these items
of clothing from your bedroom.
Am I to be spoken to like this
by a native?
He is counsel
for the defense, ma'am,
but if you feel uncomfortable,
you may address your answers to me.
Thank you, Your Worship.
Mrs. De Kock, how do we know
that these items are not
my client's herself?
I don't understand.
What is he saying?
Well, what I am saying is
can you identify these items
as yours, Mrs. De Kock?
Well, you seem... unsure.
I will not be spoken to like this,
it's disgusting.
If I'd known I was going to be
so insulted in a court of law,
I would never have come.
Your Honor, I move that...
Yes, yes. Case dismissed.
Siyabonga,
you must carry my bag here.
- You are lazy.
- Madiba?
I hear you're a man to watch.
Maybe I should sell tickets.
You don't come to
Congress meetings.
Why would I want to do that?
Well, do you know
anything about us?
You know anything about
the African National Congress?
If you went out today
and said, "Follow me,"
nobody would follow you,
so why should I?
Do you like it when the Boers
are calling you "boy"?
When I am better qualified
and better dressed and
richer than they are,
they won't call me boy anymore.
Baleka!
You're right. We need him.
What does a hotshot
lawyer know that I don't know?
I know that the law says
you can only have relations
with members of your own race.
Am I a member of your own race?
- Mr. Jackson.
- Pencil test.
See, this is the official method
of establishing racial type.
The pencil stays in my hair.
I am a black man.
- Now me?
- Hm...
The pencil stays in your hair.
You are black and can officially
have relations with me.
Always works.
My darling, my darling.
You must wear my jacket.
Then I can steal a kiss.
Yeah, yeah,
it's you that I want to see!
- You?
- Yeah, see you, my friend.
This one, you take her home, my man.
She's lovely.
Are you going to be fine, yeah?
- Never better.
- How many fingers?
Ah!
Bye!
Hey, you!
I said you!
- Hey?
- Where's your pass, eh?
Ah... Oh.
- I left it at home, boss.
- No, no, no, no, no.
You come with me, come on.
Hey, don't put up a fight.
Come with me.
- Come, boy.
- That's right. Out you come.
The kaffir's got no pass,
so we're gonna put him in a cell.
- Let's go.
- Come on, Kaffir.
- Get up, get up,
- Get up!
Get up.
- That's my shoe!
- Kick him, man.
That's it, get up.
Get him up.
Jackson Glada.
Questioned at Jeppe Station.
- Yes.
- No pass.
'Cause of death,
congenital syphilis.
Everything is in order here.
No, he was beaten to death
in Jeppe Station.
I have the medical affidavits
for his injuries.
Are you accusing the
police of lying?
I have medical affidavits.
I suggest that you start showing
some respect of the law, boy.
And I have work to do.
Good day to you.
That's not law.
There's no law for us.
Who did Jackson ever hurt?
I mean, what did he do
to deserve what they did to him?
Thank you.
And nobody cares.
Nobody gives a damn.
Why are you telling me?
Something has to change.
- And how should that happen?
- Education, hard work, pride.
No, no, Nelson,
you can't do it on your own.
None of us can.
That's me, and that's you,
and that's Oliver...
and that's Kathy.
And each one of us are
too little to do anything.
But together...
we have the power.
Smoke?
I don't smoke.
Do you think I should join the ANC?
I think they like to talk.
And what about you?
What do you like to do?
Walter.
- Not until we're married.
- Mm-hm.
Jab, jab.
One, two, ja.
One, two.
Yeah, that's it, very nice.
Come on, chief.
One, two, one, two.
Where's the jab? Where's the jab?
OK, OK, OK, OK.
All right, OK.
Walter.
Nelson.
I see you're working very hard.
Yes. Must fight.
- Tomorrow morning.
- What's that?
Boycott the buses?
Yeah, you see, you talk
to people about freedom
and justice, they don't listen,
but put their bus fare up by
a penny, that they care about.
Help me.
Coach?
- Let me see.
- There we go.
Bring your new wife.
Nelson, you can't work all night.
I'm going to bed now.
- I'll come later.
- You need to give yourself a rest.
You can't do everything.
Leave some things to God.
Does your god want your
children to go hungry?
Nelson...
I don't see your god
caring for our people.
Seems to me that
he is looking after the Boers.
Nelson...
Evelyn, go to bed.
Go to bed.
Let the buses run empty!
Don't pay!
We won't pay a penny more!
We cannot pay a penny more!
Shut them down.
Get you on these buses!
This is the last chance you have
to get on board the buses!
The buses will be leaving
in 5 minutes!
Don't pay!
Let their buses run empty!
Don't listen to this man!
If we stand together,
we can beat them.
This man is a troublemaker!
We cannot pay a penny more!
Let's not pay!
Let us walk to Johannesburg!
- Afrika!
- Mayibuye!
There's going to be trouble.
I want to go home.
I'm going with them.
They're not breaking any laws.
- But I must go with them.
- Nelson...
You'll be fine.
Ah...
The Nationalist Party
of Prime Minister Daniel F. Malan
has been returned to power
in the recent election...
the government intends
to geographically separate
the blacks from the whites.
Total enforced segregation.
the new Cabinet
has pledged to a policy
of uncompromising white supremacy.
Ah, Thembi, this is your new home.
- We're calling for freedom of movement.
- No, no, no.
Each campaign volunteer
chooses which forbidden place to enter.
Whites-only post office
and whites-only toilets.
And in the townships,
we cannot tolerate this constant
oppressive military presence.
Come here, Thembi.
Why should we
obey their laws?
We don't have a vote.
This is not our government.
They are having a party,
and we are not invited.
So let's defy their unjust laws.
What can they do,
throw us all in prison?
- No.
- Let them.
When we are all in prison,
let them mine their own gold,
clean their own houses...
wash their own clothes.
Thank you for listening.
Thank you. Thank you.
Thank you.
Don't go to prison yet, Nelson.
My sweet.
- You think I don't know?
- Know what?
Evelyn, it's the defiance campaign.
I'm doing it for all of us.
Yes, you care about all the children
of South Africa except your own.
Hey, hey...
Are you seeing
other women for them?
Are you seeing your
whores for them?!
- 'Cause I know, Nelson!
- Evelyn...
- And I won't take it anymore!
- Evelyn, stop this now!
- You will burn in Hell!
- Shut your mouth!
Shut your mouth.
Shut your stupid mouth.
Thembi, go to bed.
We can't do this.
I'm sorry.
Thulani. Thulani.
The Boers say Sophiatown is a slum.
All the people that have homes there
are to be evicted by force.
Sophiatown is to be bulldozed
so they can build houses for the rich.
Let them try.
We say, "Over our dead bodies."
Let them bring their bulldozers.
Let them bring their army.
We will fight for our homes!
We will fight for our freedom!
If they want a war...
we will give them a war.
- Mayibuye!
- Afrika!
- Afrika!
- Mayibuye!
- Mayibuye!
- Afrika!
- Afrika!
- Mayibuye!
This way! Together!
- Follow Madiba!
- Whites only!
All together, come!
- In there.
- They're coming!
Get them! Come on!
They are coming, they are coming.
Where are they?
Where are they?
What do you think you're doing?
- See, lady, no manners at all.
- Come! Get up!
Let go!
Get your hands off me.
Sorry, ladies.
Together we will beat them!
Together we have power!
- Mayibuye!
- Afrika!
- Afrika!
- Mayibuye!
- Mayibuye!
- Afrika!
- Afrika!
- Mayibuye!
- Are you here alone?
- Yes.
Mum doesn't know I'm here.
Mum says we're not
to live with you anymore.
Thembi, I know
that I've been away a lot.
Too much.
But... I'm doing it for all of us.
I want you to believe that.
Hambani. Hambani.
- Madiba.
- Mama.
Do you want a lift?
- OK.
- Sure.
Do you always accept lifts
from strangers?
You are not a stranger.
You are Nelson Mandela.
And you are Winnie Madikizela.
- How do you know?
- I made inquiries.
And what else did you find out?
That you work at
Baragwanath Hospital,
you are the first black
social worker they've ever had,
and you're the most beautiful
girl I've ever seen.
It's just here.
Thank you.
What time do you finish?
- 6:00.
- I'll be here.
You know, I've been finding
out about you, too.
- Yeah?
- Mm-hm.
And what have you found out?
Your wife left you.
I was away too much.
Never enough time.
There is no time.
- Only now.
- Only now?
- Yes.
- What do you mean?
When I was 7 years old,
my little sister
started coughing blood.
And my mother, she...
she begged God to save her.
But she died.
And ever since then, I've known
we have to save ourselves,
and we have to live while we can.
Winnie, Winnie.
I heard you have a
lot of girlfriends.
I'm different.
I was thinking,
I know a good dressmaker.
Very good value.
Maybe you should go and see her.
Maybe I should.
Maybe you should go to Bizana
and talk to your father.
Maybe I should.
Was that a proposal?
If that's what you'd like.
Is it what you'd like?
More than anything in the world.
- Is that "yes"?
- Yes.
Your husband.
At Sharpeville, an industrial
township, thousands gather outside
a police station in protest
against new laws requiring
every African to carry
a pass at all times.
The bastards
ignored the planes, man.
No, no, they weren't scared at all.
They bloody well waved at me...
They're tearing the fences apart.
Listen, I'm trying...
The cells are full.
How long is it gonna take?
- Back.
- Get away.
Pienaar!
Disperse and go back
to the stadium!
This is your final warning!
Cease fire!
Did you find a gun?
You'd better find that gun, Pienaar.
Did you see a weapon?
You find that weapon, Pienaar.
Between 50 and 100
were killed and hundreds injured.
police killed 69
Africans in the township of...
most of the victims
were shot in the back.
men, women, and children
were killed or wounded.
tragic consequence
of the desperate endeavor
to preserve white supremacy.
reacted hysterically
to an event that stunned the world.
We no longer accept
the authority of a state
that makes war on it's own people.
Oliver has gone abroad
to run the movement in exile.
I'm going underground.
The movement has
always been nonviolent.
Nonviolent.
Not anymore.
- How's Miriam?
- She's fine.
Well, that's fine, fine.
She is good-looking, but you must
give me Sophia Loren any day.
Amandla!
- Spear of the Nation.
- Yes!
- We are the people of this nation.
- Yes.
- But we don't have power.
- Yes.
We don't have rights, then.
- Yes.
- We don't have justice.
Yes.
South Africa now is
a land ruled by the gun.
Yes.
There comes a time
in the life of every nation
when there remains two choices.
Submit...
Never! Never!
...or fight!
We must fight.
Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!
Fight! Fight! Fight!
Don't worry, we'll find him
and then we'll hang him.
Then you'll need a new man
to keep you warm at night, won't you?
Amos, this is David.
Can you take him
to the domestic quarters?
Yeah, boss.
Good morning, tata.
Inner tube of a ballpoint pen.
The thicker the plug,
the more time you've got.
Aluminum powder mixed
with permanganate of potash.
You can get this for
washing lettuce.
When the acid reaches
the mixture, it catalyzes...
and you've got...
Kathy, it's Nelson.
They're calling me a terrorist.
I need to set the record straight.
Now, find a foreign journalist.
Let's go.
I want the world to know.
OK, I've been accused of running away
and not standing up for my beliefs.
Now, tell them
that I will not give myself up
to a government I do not recognize.
We have been forced
into an armed struggle.
The decision was not taken lightly
by myself or the people or the ANC.
Brian Widlake, ITN News.
I have a few questions for you.
Mr. Mandela,
if the government doesn't
give in to the concessions
- that you want, will there be violence?
- There is violence now.
For 50 years, we have been
talking peace and nonviolence.
The government's reply is violence,
armed attacks
on unarmed and defenseless people.
If you were us, what would you do?
Mr. Mandela, what is it
that you personally want?
I want freedom.
I have beautiful children,
a beautiful wife.
I want them to walk free
in their own land.
Madiba, we must go.
Hey, it's Daddy.
Hey!
Hey, hey, hey, hey, hey,
hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.
Look at you, look at you.
- It's OK.
- Oh, it's Daddy.
Look, it's Daddy.
- Are you smiling for Daddy?
- Do you want to come run with Dad?
Come, come, let's go.
Come. Come, Zeni.
- How are you?
- I'm fine.
I've lost the new job, though.
- I will see that you get some help.
- No. I'll be all right.
I knew how it would be.
Fight them.
I hate them so much.
Petrus didn't make it.
What happened?
The detonator went off too soon.
I'm so sorry, Madiba.
It's not safe here anymore.
Time for you to move on.
You are at the wrong place.
Police!
Go, go, go!
- Run, run!
- You two take the outbuildings
and we'll take the farm.
Get down on the floor!
Get in there!
Get in there!
- Search them!
- Come here!
- Get down on the floor!
- Come on!
Watch out, there's one
going out the back.
Take him down!
Take him down!
Keep still!
Don't move!
Does somebody want me?
Mama Winnie! Mama Winnie!
They caught him.
Mandela!
Mandela!
Sisulu!
Kathrada!
No children.
You can't take them in.
Don't touch me.
Don't touch me.
Mama will come back, OK?
All right?
Now, wait with Sisi, OK?
Mandela!
Mandela! Mandela!
Silence!
Silence!
Quiet! Quiet!
My Lord, I call the case of the state
against the national high command
of Umkhonto we Sizwe, the military wing
of the African National Congress.
The state contends that the accused
are responsible for acts of sabotage
aimed at facilitating violent revolution
and an armed invasion of this country
with the intention
of overthrowing the government.
Accused number 1, Nelson Mandela.
Do you plead guilty or not guilty?
My Lord, it is not I
but the government
that should be put in the dock.
I plead not guilty.
The state has formally advised me
that they will be asking
for the supreme penalty
permissible by law.
Which is death.
Our best chance is to attack
the credibility of the charges.
We dispute every falsehood,
we challenge every charge.
We think they'll bring
in a guilty verdict,
but we might be able to
avoid the death sentence.
- Agreed?
- Agreed.
Agreed.
Then be happy.
Smile.
This may be the greatest service
we will ever do for our people.
Mandela! Mandela!
My name is Nelson Mandela.
I'm the first accused.
I do not deny that
I planned sabotage.
I did not plan it
in a spirit of recklessness
nor because I have any love
for violence.
The hard facts are
that 50 years of non-violence
had brought the African
people nothing
but more and more
repressive legislation
and fewer and fewer rights.
Africans want
a just share
in the whole of South Africa.
We want equal political rights,
one man, one vote.
I have dedicated myself to this struggle
of the African people.
I have fought against
white domination.
I have fought against
black domination.
I have cherished the
ideal of a free,
democratic society
where all persons
live together in harmony
with equal opportunities.
It is an ideal which
I hope to live for
and achieve,
but, if needs be,
it is an ideal for which
I am prepared to die.
- Amandla!
- Awethu!
- Amandla!
- Awethu!
Before the judge imposes
the supreme penalty,
there is one more step.
He will ask the first accused, Nelson,
"Have you any reason to advance
whether the sentence
should not be passed?"
- You could then say...
- I have nothing more to say.
That won't help your appeal.
There will be no appeal.
No appeal?
We have talked about this.
We are ready.
All rise.
I have reached my verdict.
The defendants will rise.
The accused are all found
guilty as charged.
The accused have made high moral claims
for their actions.
In essence,
they have courted martyrdom
at the hands of what they
call "their oppressors."
But I will not give them
that satisfaction.
Let us show the world
that we are a nation of laws
and where possible,
we temper justice with mercy.
I have therefore decided
not to impose the supreme penalty.
The sentence in the case
of all the accused...
will be life imprisonment.
All right, get out, kaffirs.
- In a line.
- All right.
- Move, move, get over there.
- Now stand in a line.
All right, listen to us.
- Get over there.
- Move.
Form a line, go on.
You're not in Johannesburg anymore.
You're not in Pretoria.
You are on the island.
You will never leave here again.
You will never touch
a woman or a child again.
You will die here.
If you have any complaints,
well, that's just too bad
because nobody on
the island gives a shit,
and nobody in the rest
of the universe will ever know.
It's a pity they didn't hang you.
I'm going to make sure
you wish they had.
Move!
Indians get trousers.
Indians get socks.
Boys get shorts.
Sit down, sit down, man!
Well, Kathy, it looks like
you will have to be the daddy.
Move! Move, move, move!
Come, put all your
civvies here in the box.
Move it!
I'm watching you, my friend.
Move it!
Go on, go on! Move!
Move!
Motsoaledi.
Motsoaledi.
- Kathrada.
- Kathrada!
Kathrada, move!
In!
Move, coolie!
- Sisulu?
- Sisulu!
Forward, come!
Move, move, move!
- Mandela.
- Mandela.
Go!
This is it, boy... home,
for the rest of your life.
Mlangeni, come, move.
- Mlangeni.
- Move.
Mlangeni...
Amandla!
- Routine check.
- Get out!
Stay where you are!
Get out of my bedroom!
Get out!
Hey, hey, hey.
Get out! Get out!
Get out!
- Get out!
- Jesus, what a witch.
Get up, you lazy kaffirs!
Time for work!
Up, Kaffir!
Come, come, come! Move!
Every morning
I've got to smell your crap.
Come. Move!
Get back into line, man!
Listen, we are going
to start making demands,
and our first demand
is going to be long trousers.
We have to make them
respect us, and they will,
but it will take time,
but we have time,
so we start small.
- Faster, faster!
- Move, move, you bloody Kaffir!
Move, move!
Lazy boy.
Work. Don't stop.
You work.
I heard about your wife, boy.
Crazy woman.
Bitch.
- Winnie...
- Hey, hey, hey!
- Hey, we are not fighting.
- Just do it, boy.
- Please do it.
- Madiba.
- What is the problem here?
- No problem.
No problem, Sergeant.
No problem.
Let's work, boys.
Let's go, go, go.
Move, move, move.
Every time they make us angry,
it's like they win.
Never let them see you
lose your temper, Madiba.
- Never.
- Hey, what are you looking at?
Turn 'round!
- Number.
- 31159.
- Number.
- 46664.
That is category D.
That's your allocation
for the next 6 months.
Number.
Get these bloody dogs out of here.
- Get out of here.
- Get in the yard, you...
You, you, move it!
Yes, that's it, boys.
That's good, good.
In the rain, right.
- Get your clothes off.
- Strip!
- Take your clothes off.
- Strip! Strip! Strip!
Fucking strip!
- Strip!
- You stink!
- Let's wash the stink off you!
- You are nothing!
When they think
of you in the morning,
they'll think they're
gonna shit themselves!
Night in the rain, huh?
Useless kaffirs.
You understand, boys?
You're going to stand
here all night!
You monkeys!
You don't wear clothes
up in your trees, do you?
You black baboon kaffirs!
Stand still in the line.
Useless kaffirs.
- Stand up.
- Get up, up, up!
Stand up! Stand up, you slacker!
You tell your commanding
officer I will be complaining
to the head of the prison
service in Pretoria.
You tell him that!
Get up.
You've got a complaint
to make to Pretoria?
Yes, Colonel.
This prison is out of control,
and those prison guards are nothing
but some drunk hooligans.
What right do they
have to assault us?
Now, are you part of a justice system
or gangsters in uniform?
You think you can scare me
with this shit about Pretoria?
If those idiots don't
like what I do,
they can sack me.
I don't need their job.
My family's got 5 farms.
I've got money. I do what I like.
Have you got anything
else to say to me?
Yes.
I've put in a request
for long trousers.
Long trousers.
He wants long trousers.
Mandela, follow me.
Speak English only.
Family matters only.
Any political talk,
and I'll terminate the visit. Sit.
Are you all right?
Yes, I'm all right.
Tell me about you.
I'm under a banning order.
But don't worry.
Our friends are helping me.
The girls send their love.
They want to see you.
I think of them everyday.
You must tell them I love them.
They're not allowed visits
until they're 16.
Zindzi's not yet 5.
Tell me about the arrests.
It's nothing I can't deal with.
They like to have
little chats with me.
Usually they wait till just before
the girls come back from school
to take me away.
So the girls will
find an empty home.
They think about these things,
you know.
They think about me a lot.
- How do you bear it?
- By hating them.
And don't tell me I'm wrong,
it keeps me strong.
Hey. Family matters only.
Your mother, Madiba,
she is sick.
They say she will die soon.
I have failed her.
No.
She understands.
And she's proud of you.
Is that true?
She told me so herself.
Mandela, let's go.
Don't touch my children!
- Do not touch my children!
- Get in there!
- Do not... touch my children!
- Mama!
Don't you ever touch my children!
- Mama!
- Mama!
Mommy will come back.
Stay in the house.
Mommy will come back.
Stay in...
- In, Kaffir.
- Mama! Mama!
Mama!
- Mama?
- Mama!
Where are my children?!
Where are my children?
Where are my children?!
What have you done to my children?!
Where are my children?!
Where are my children?
Where are my... children?!
My darling daughters.
I have been told that
our beloved mama
has been arrested again.
This is hard for me
because I am the source
of all your troubles.
Mandela, move!
All that I wish for you
to bear in mind
is that we have a brave
and determined mother
who loves her people
with all of her heart.
When you are grown up,
you will understand how she
has sacrificed her own happiness
in the battle for
truth and justice.
I am only allowed
to send you two letters a year.
I am told you have not
been getting them...
but I shall keep on writing.
There's so little I can do for you.
These letters are the only means
of passing my love to you.
Hands up!
- Could I...
- Louder.
Go toilet.
Go to...
All you have to do is help us.
Then you can go back
to your children.
I piss on you.
Bloody black bitch!
No, no!
I dreamt about Winnie last night.
Thembi was there, too.
He's living right
there in Cape Town.
Ah, maybe he'll come
and visit you one day.
It's not been easy on the boy.
Man, you terrorists.
Most dangerous men in Africa.
You're a bunch of wild animals.
What are you looking at?
Turn around.
Wild animals, the lot of you.
Now I get it.
We're in a zoo.
I see myself more like a lion.
- A tiger.
- No tigers in Africa, Madiba.
Who told you that?
No, it's a fact,
there have never been tigers.
- There are African tigers, Kathy.
- What kind of a lawyer is a tiger?
Lawyers are cheetahs, Madiba.
Work, you lazy buggers!
Hurry up!
Stop shuffling, you lazy Kaffir.
Hey, boy.
You think you're smart, don't you?
Can't be that smart,
otherwise I wouldn't be here.
You're going to be on this shit island
for the rest of your life.
I'll be gone in a year.
Why wait so long?
I mean,
your family have 5 farms.
You've got money.
You don't need this job.
- Who told you that?
- You did.
- Long trousers!
- Long trousers!
Long trousers!
Look at this!
Long trousers.
Can you believe it?
Kathy, you are no longer the daddy.
Well done, Madiba.
Telegram.
Have you read it?
But he's my firstborn son.
It is my duty to bury him.
The orders are you're not
to leave the island, ever.
I'm sorry.
That's just the way it is.
Tata.
Madiba?
I'm losing them all.
My mother.
My son.
My wife.
Come now.
Thank you.
Winnie! Winnie!
Winnie! Winnie! Winnie!
Winnie! Winnie!
Winnie! Winnie! Winnie!
Winnie! Winnie!
Winnie! Winnie...
Winnie?
Winnie, how does it feel?
We love you, Winnie!
Sisi.
Winnie, talk to us.
Are you gonna make a statement?
I say to my jailers...
"Thank you."
And I say to the government,
"Thank you.
You've helped me grow up."
I was very young
when I married Nelson.
- Yes, yes.
- I'm not young anymore.
And I am not afraid anymore.
Amandla!
Awethu!
What are you going to do now?
Winnie! Winnie! Winnie!
Move!
Are you Nelson Mandela?
Yes.
This is what you do?
This is what I do.
I told you these
old men had given up.
- You must show respect, man.
- Respect?
They're killing us on the streets.
But even the children are fighting back,
and he grows tomatoes.
What is your name?
My name is Patrick Lekota.
Mr. Lekota, we have been
in prison for a very long time.
We would be very happy
to listen to you, to learn.
We closed down the schools,
all the schools.
There was no ANC.
We don't need your ANC.
I can see...
that you are very brave.
And you...
and you.
But alone, what can you do?
Together we have power.
Together.
You and I can be killed
or imprisoned,
but the organization goes on...
forever.
- Go back now!
- Aye, aye, brave man.
You'll march with the line!
So, did Brent do well
in his examination?
Not too bad.
What about Zane?
It must be his 14th birthday soon.
Just like you.
Do you ever forget anything?
Last time I saw Zindzi,
she wasn't even three.
Zindzi.
You are so beautiful.
I think of you every day,
but it's the little girl that I see.
And now you have grown
to be a beautiful young woman.
- How is your mother?
- You know Mama.
She's a fighter.
And you?
I'm your daughter.
I want to fight, too.
There's no politics.
That is not politics,
that is my life.
You have your mother's spirit.
- Can I touch you?
- There's no physical contact.
You do touch me.
Tata, I want you to know
I've always loved you,
even without knowing you,
and I've always supported you,
and I've always believed that one day,
you... you'll be free.
We will be able to touch.
You must tell our friends...
that I am strong
and full of hope...
and eager to do
whatever is asked of me.
I'll tell them.
They're waiting for you.
We're all waiting for you.
And we're winning support.
All over the world, there's going
to be a new campaign.
Free Nelson Mandela.
And Walter Sisulu,
and Ahmed Kathrada, all of us.
There's no room on the badge, Tata.
South Africa needs Nelson Mandela.
The world needs Nelson Mandela.
Welcome to the penthouse.
- Uh, Mr. Gregory?
- Mm-hm?
Do we all sleep in the same room?
Yeah.
Then I'm putting in for a transfer.
For medical reasons.
Walter snores like a donkey.
Kathy.
That is what I call a big mirror.
Ah.
Look at us.
Dangerous terrorists,
each one of us.
- I used to have a good right hand.
- Mmm.
Winnie! Winnie! Winnie!
Winnie! Winnie! Winnie...!
- Amandla!
- Awethu!
The army is in our townships.
Killing us everyday.
But we will fight
to the last drop of our blood.
We have no AK-47s.
We have no Casspirs,
but we have our hands.
We have stones!
We have boxes of matches!
We have petrol!
We know the informers.
We know the traitors.
And we know what to do with them.
In a savage killing spree,
town officials were
torn apart by the mobs
before the bodies were set alight.
I am prepared to release Mr. Mandela
if he would say
that he rejects violence
as a means to reach
and to achieve political ends.
Does he think we are idiots?
Anyone can see
it's just another trick.
Yes, Kathy, it is a trick,
but this is how it begins.
They called it a contact visit.
You can touch.
I haven't touched
my wife for 21 years.
You haven't changed.
- I have.
- No.
To me, you haven't changed.
Be careful this offer of release.
They are using you.
- I know.
- You mustn't betray
our people fighting
on the streets.
Speak so I can hear you.
Our people have never lost hope.
The more they oppress us,
the harder we fight.
They fear us, Nelson.
They fear me.
They think you are old and tired.
Make them fear you, too.
No politics.
We must talk politics.
The president has given me an offer,
and he expects a reply.
For the president.
Oh, Winnie.
Oh, my comrades,
Zindzi Mandela!
On Friday, my mother saw my father
in Pollsmoor Prison
and obtained his answer
to President Botha's offer
of conditional release.
My father says,
"I am not a violent man."
It was only when
all other forms of resistance
"were no longer open to us
that we turned to armed struggle."
"Let President Botha
renounce violence.
"Let him dismantle apartheid."
"I cannot and will not"
give any undertaking at a time
when I and you,
"the people, are not free."
"Your freedom and mine
cannot be separated.
"I will return."
Freedom is in your hands
Freedom is in your hands...
Where are we going?
Well...
Welcome.
My name is Kobie Coetsee.
I'm the Minister of Justice.
This meeting is not taking place.
The rest of the world thinks
South Africa will be
ripped apart by race war.
Now, uh...
we have to do something
to restore confidence.
Let me introduce you.
General Willemse, who you know.
Fanie van der Merwe,
Prisons Department.
How do you do?
Dr. Niel Barnard,
National Intelligence Service.
- Pleased to meet you.
- Hello.
Mr. Mandela.
We 5 are charged
by the president
to find a way out
of our current difficulties.
Are you sure that
you can talk to me?
I am a member of
a banned organization.
Oh, we'll talk to you,
if you'll talk to us.
Well, gentlemen...
Shall we begin?
I don't trust them.
This is not the time to talk.
I don't think Madiba should be
talking to them on his own.
Let's just put it to the vote.
I propose no private talks.
And you, Walter?
None of us are bigger
than the movement.
4 against 1. Motion carried.
I take note, comrades...
but I will do
what I believe is right.
You have the most
powerful army in Africa.
There's no way
we can match you in battle,
but we have 30 million people.
I would call that a stalemate.
All right.
Here's the bottom line.
You end the violence, and we'll
give you a share in power.
A share?
Well, obviously, we can't accept
a crude one man, one vote system.
Yeah, if the blacks take over,
our country is finished.
We are finished.
- Why?
- "Why?"
"if the blacks take over..."
Can you imagine what the
blacks would do to us
if they got us in their power?
I am black.
You are different.
That is why we are talking to you.
These are the same people
that threw him in jail,
that persecuted his wife,
that murdered his friends,
and he's talking to them.
I don't believe
you don't want revenge.
You are right.
I do.
So?
How can we ever allow you
to have any real power?
Well, I admit I want revenge,
but I want something
more than that,
and that is to live
without fear and hatred.
Sweet dreams, Mr. Mandela.
I have no choice.
I have seen what fear
has done to your people.
You've always been afraid of us,
and it has made you an
unjust and brutal people.
Now consider our position.
We know that one
day we will be free,
and we will be the rulers
of our country,
but do we want to live
in the same hell as you do now?
That would be to
lock ourselves back
into prison and our children
and generations after that.
Gentlemen, look,
I can tell you for nothing,
when we come to power,
there will be no revenge.
It's blacks that
continue to be the victims
of this unprecedented
wave of unrest.
Nearly 300 people have
died since September.
Only one white has been killed.
Police stuck to their armored
personnel carriers.
No rubber bullets here.
These were live rounds
they were firing.
Lay him there, lay him there.
He is gone, Sisi.
Make them suffer
as we suffer.
Well, you've impressed them.
I think we're going
to make progress.
I hope so.
I believe you will soon
be reaching your 70th birthday.
My congratulations.
Do you plan a celebration?
Nothing of consequence.
- Is this my new prison?
- Yeah.
- Who else is to be held here?
- Just you.
Ah, Mr. Mandela,
welcome to your new home.
Am I being fattened for the kill?
No, you have a vital job
to do for your country.
We need to look after you.
By the way,
any members of your
family can visit any time.
Look at you kids.
She is hungry.
You are hungry.
Don't make a mess, huh?
Oh!
Hello.
I know that it has been
tough for you, but...
I hear so much these days.
These boys that you
have around you.
- What about them?
- Well, the violence, for one.
Some of it is necessary, but...
Hey!
Is that for me?
No, Khulu.
It is for the white men.
So you are doing that because
of the color of their skin?
Yes, Khulu.
That is what they do to us,
and we must do better.
- Understand?
- Yes, Khulu.
Come.
Come on.
These are my grandsons,
and they would like to meet you.
Look at him.
- I'll do that.
- No, no, I want to do it.
Let Nelson do it, Swart.
Swart, you can stop.
You know that Winnie
can stay overnight
any time that you want.
Yes, but she won't.
This is still a prison.
She can't pretend
that I'm a free man.
Maybe.
But she's still your wife.
Well, I was married in 1958,
arrested in '62.
I didn't touch her again until '84.
Is she still my wife?
I've seen you with her and
the way you look at her photograph.
You love her.
This is very true, my friend.
I never stopped loving her.
But I love her as she was.
The first step
to regaining the confidence
of the markets is your release,
and then, of course,
the release of your colleagues.
We've briefed the president.
He's a pragmatist;
he heard us.
The government agrees to lift the ban
on the ANC and repeal the race laws.
You undertake to renounce violence.
No.
- But you said...
- I said nothing.
I listened.
But you will withdraw your
demand for majority rule?
No.
Then what are you giving us
in exchange for what we give you?
Nothing.
These meetings have been
a complete waste of all our time.
Well, I wouldn't say
that I've wasted my time.
The president has made up his mind.
It can't be stopped now.
The president is a member
of the Gereformeerde Kerk,
very Calvinist.
He believes God calls him to do
a special task in a special time.
After the inauguration service...
he wept... and said
that God was calling him
to save the people of South Africa.
President de Klerk.
- It's this way.
- Hang on, shoelace.
- Thank you.
- Yeah.
Well, this is it.
- Mr. Mandela.
- Mr. President.
May I congratulate you
on your election?
Thank you.
You have been called
to a very special task
in a very special time.
So I believe.
- Just here?
- Yeah.
Mr. Mandela, I have taken
the decision to release you.
Unconditionally.
A car will be ready at 9:00 tomorrow
morning to take you to the airport.
A plane will be waiting to fly
you directly to Johannesburg
where the official release
ceremony will take place.
Mr. De Klerk,
your people have taken
away half of my life
and returned me an old man
to a home that has
been long abandoned
and a family that have
grown up without me.
I don't want you at my side
at that moment.
I don't want to be told that you
have given me my freedom.
Just open the gate
and let me go.
Any minute now.
OK, Tata?
Hello, hello.
How are you, Auntie?
Yeah, I'm good.
I wouldn't do it without you.
You want me to hold your hand?
In case I stumble?
Somebody want me?
Don't be fooled by all
that cheering, Madiba.
- There's anger out there.
- I know that.
Winnie, Winnie.
It's just been so long.
It's better that way.
I am so tired.
I just want to sleep.
The government accepts
that change must come,
but I say to you again,
we must find a way to share power.
We must find a way to protect
the rights of the minorities.
Suddenly, the illusion of
white power is beginning to crumble.
For the first time since apartheid
began, the government here is beginning
to talk about the need for reform,
and among ordinary white people,
feelings now range
from bewilderment to anger to fear.
De Klerk will not...
You know this.
That is not going to happen.
We are not sharing power
with these whites.
As long as there are
white people in South Africa,
- that is not going to happen.
- I mean, just how?
How do we accept power
sharing with the whites?
What do we do? Do we fight?
Do we start a war?
We have a war!
What, you think this is not a war?
We have a war,
what we need now is victory.
Comrades, our people can never
accept sharing power with the whites.
People will not accept this.
What de Klerk wants is ministers
in the new government.
- Why should de Klerk get what he wants?
- De Klerk is right.
We must let them share the power.
A little power for a little while
until the fear has passed.
Madiba, I don't think our
people will accept that.
Then we must make them accept.
We are their leaders.
That is our job.
These old men
just want to talk.
The days of talking are over!
Go and get her.
I hear the voice of the people.
And that voice says,
"We will fight."
Mama,
Madiba wants to see you inside.
All right.
What?
Are you ashamed to greet me
in front of our people?
Winnie, when you speak in public,
you must represent
the policies of the ANC.
- And what does that mean?
- We are negotiating.
- We are not fighting a war.
- But the people have chosen to fight.
Do you want me to
betray our people?
- Do I betray our people?
- You have been away a long time.
What does that mean,
I've been away?
Does that mean now
you can terrorize people?
The burning, the necklacing,
that has to stop, Winnie.
You realize there's a war out there.
The people are angry.
We are all angry.
I am angry!
You are angry,
but you must show loyalty!
Loyalty, Winnie Mandela.
Loyalty.
I have decided that it would be better
if I live in my own home.
Better for the party.
Better for us.
- "Better for the party"?
- You have your own home in Diepkloof.
You have your own company there.
Am I to blame because
I don't want to be alone?
You know, so much
of my life,
I have been alone.
We have both been alone
too much, Winnie.
Why, Walter?
Tell me why, hmm?
Why, why do you show me this?
- Do you think I don't know?
- This has gone too far.
- If she was discrete about this...
- I have accepted the situation!
What business is
it of anyone else?
She humiliates you in public, Madiba.
And that hurts all of us.
Come now.
What they have done to my
wife is their only victory over me.
In view of the tensions
that have arisen
between my wife and myself
in the recent months,
we have mutually agreed
that a separation
would be best for each of us.
I shall personally never regret
the life that we tried
to share together.
I part from my wife
with no recriminations.
I embrace her with all the love
and affection.
I have nursed for her
inside and outside of prison
from the moment I first met her.
Ladies and gentlemen,
I hope that you can appreciate
the pain that I am going through.
- Thank you.
- Mr. Mandela...
Police opened fire
on gun-carrying demonstrators...
Mr. Mandela?
President de Klerk here.
The situation on the streets
is out of control.
Is this the peaceful
South Africa you say you want?
Black-on-black violence has
reached proportions of near civil war.
They began fighting as the
power struggle developed
in South Africa to replace
white rule with black.
200 Zulus
rampaged through Boipatong,
cutting down anyone they saw.
Madiba, do something.
Do something.
Do something, do something.
President de Klerk blames
the Boipatong massacre...
attacks by the Inkatha
Freedom Party supporters
on an ANC rally near Johannesburg
has left 13 people dead.
It could set back
the peace process in South Africa
by months, if not years.
violence has now put
South Africa's constitution...
de Klerk has attacked
what he calls "the ultimatum politics"
of the ANC.
Increasing financial
and diplomatic isolation...
Please sit down.
today's move on Capitol
Hill, the indications...
Mr. Mandela, you're going to be
talking into that camera.
- Yes, this one.
- A little bit more light please.
Yeah, lovely, you see?
wondering whether
it can survive the rage
that divides that nation,
black and white.
but it does not derail
talks toward ending white rule.
South African president,
FW de Klerk...
Panic, chaos, confusion...
...white minority's worst nightmare.
...crisis for this country...
5 seconds, 4,
3, 2...
Someone gave me this note...
when I was leaving Boipatong...
and I want to read it to you.
It says,
"No peace."
Do not talk about peace.
We have had enough.
Please, Mr. Mandela,
no peace.
Give us weapons,
"not peace."
Here is my answer.
There is only one way forward,
and that is peace.
I know that is not
what you want to hear,
but there is no other way.
I am your leader,
and as long as I am your leader,
I'm going to give you leadership.
As long as I am your leader,
I am going to tell you always
when you are wrong,
and I tell you now,
you are wrong.
I have given my
life to the struggle.
I've been willing to die.
I have lost 27 years of my life
in prison,
but I tell you now,
I have forgiven them.
If I can forgive them...
then you can forgive them.
We cannot win a war,
but we can win an election.
So, my people...
stay home...
be peaceful,
and when election day comes...
vote.
- Cut there.
- Ja, we've cut.
After so much suffering,
why would anyone believe
that putting a mark on
a piece of paper...
is going to change the world?
I still dream the old dream,
back in the house in Orlando.
I can hear all the ones
that I have loved most in the world.
I want to reach them...
to touch them...
... but they have gone.
Tata...
Madiba, are you ready for this?
These are my jailers now.
This is a proud day,
Mr. Mandela.
Feels good.
I have walked
a long walk to freedom.
It has been a lonely road...
... and it is not over yet.
I know that my country
was not made to be a land of hatred.
No one is born hating
another person
because of the color of his skin.
People learn to hate.
They can be taught to love,
for love comes more naturally
to the human heart.