‘Mandela’ writer blames film’s failure on ‘guilt-sucking’ ’12 Years a Slave’

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Hey, remember “Mandela: Long Walk to Freedom?” Six months after its US theatrical release, no one would blame you if it’s already slipped to the back of your mind. Despite its prestigious trappings and its unplanned topicality in the wake of Nelson Mandela’s death last December, Justin Chadwick’s well-intentioned biopic of South Africa’s first democratically elected president was among the most prominent of 2013′s awards-season hopefuls never to take flight.

Critics were largely unenthusiastic, reserving their praise for the film’s lead performances, and audiences couldn’t be bothered: “Mandela” took just $8 million in the US, with its global gross of $27 million still falling some way short of the film’s production budget. And despite The Weinstein Company’s campaign efforts, awards voters were similarly indifferent: Idris Elba managed a Golden Globe nomination, while the BAFTAs rustled up a generous Best British Film nod, but the Academy acknowledged U2′s would-be anthemic closing-credits tune and nothing else.

In a strong, competitive year, few people got particularly worked up about “Mandela’s” minimal presence in the awards race. The film was respectable enough, but its conservatively burnished, Richard Attenborough-style approach to history seemed out of time — particularly in a year that saw Steve McQueen’s more visceral, more formally arresting “12 Years a Slave” dominating the conversation.

One person who doesn’t agree, unsurprisingly enough, is William Nicholson, the British screenwriter of “Mandela” — a two-time Oscar nominee whose credits include “Shadowlands,” “Gladiator” and “Les Misérables,” and who was evidently banking on a third nod for his work on the biopic. Speaking at Britain’s Hay Festival for literature and the arts, Nicholson admitted his disappointment over the film’s performance, saying, “It didn’t get the kind of acclaim I wanted. It didn’t get Oscars.”

That’s already a problematic statement: if Oscars are the kind of acclaim you want first and foremost, then chances are you aren’t making your serious prestige film for all the right reasons. But it’s his explanation for the film’s failure that is truly cringe-worthy, as he tartly blames the reigning Best Picture winner for stealing their thunder:

“’12 Years a Slave’ came out in America and that sucked up all the guilt about black people that was available. They were so exhausted feeling guilty about slavery that I don’t think there was much left over to be nice about our film. So our film didn’t do as well as we’d hoped, which was a bit heartbreaking…

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  • Nyani Dzedze says:June 4, 2014 04:45 pm

    I really Loved this Movie, it’s a shame that it didn’t do well. I wasn’t sure about Idris but he did a good job even though he didn’t look like him at all.

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