Review #842 - Gandhi (1982)
THE SCOOP
Director: Richard Attenborough
Cast: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen
Plot: Biography of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of non-violent protest.
Genre: Biography / Drama / History
Awards: Won 8 Oscars - Best Picture, Best Director, Best Leading Actor, Best Original Screenplay, Best Cinematography, Best Film Editing, Best Art Direction, Best Costume Design. Nom. for 3 Oscars - Best Makeup, Best Sound, Best Original Score.
Runtime: 191min
Rating: PG for some violent images.
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: NO)
IN RETROSPECT (Spoilers: NO)
“An
eye for an eye only ends up making the whole world blind.”
Apparently twenty years in the
making, Gandhi was a passion project
of director Richard Attenborough. The long and arduous process of bringing the
inspiring story of one of twentieth-century's greatest men to the big screen
perhaps reflects the courage and sheer tenacity of India's most famous freedom
fighter, only that he was fighting with and for nonviolence to put an end to
British rule.
Attenborough's attention to
historical detail is extraordinary, but it is his restrained and empathetic
direction that brings an earnest and sweeping quality to the film. This
British-Indian production of quite epic proportions is a solid three hours well
spent. It is both engaging and insightful at the same time, at least much more
so than a history class with a boring teacher.
It chronicles a young Gandhi
inspiring change in South Africa, before he returns to India to begin an
incredible journey that embodies the spirit of humanity. His embrace of
different religions and social classes as equal, and his philosophy of
nonviolent aggression have become legendary. It is thus interesting to see how
it works (or not work out) in this biographical dramatization.
Attenborough depicts Gandhi in
a sympathetic light. In the film, he is a man of great wisdom, but is often
misunderstood by the public. He goes on hunger strikes to make his fellow men
understand the value of harmony and unity. He succeeds, and by some measure,
fails. His legacy will withstand the test of time, but in truth his people (and
humanity in general) have failed him. Ethnic divisions and violence all around
the world still continue till this day.
Ben Kingsley, who won an Oscar
for his stunning performance, masterfully reconstructs himself as Gandhi. He
lives and breathes not just the character, but the icon. Richard Schickel of
TIME Magazine commented that “in playing Gandhi, an actor must be less
concerned with physical verisimilitude than with spiritual presence, and here
Kingsley is nothing short of astonishing.” It is indeed a towering display of
restrained yet purposeful acting that renews our belief in Gandhi's teachings.
The film rouses one's emotions,
be it horrible scenes of massacre, or the sacrifices that Gandhi makes. It is
an accessible film, geared towards the mainstream audience, but it never loses
sight of Gandhi as a person. Winning the Oscar for Best Picture and Best
Director, Gandhi also serves up a
rich cultural concoction of exotic landscapes and beautiful music by Ravi
Shankar. It is quite simply one of the most inspiring pictures to come out of
the 1980s.
Verdict: A sprawling epic on
the great man filmed with beauty, restraint, and empathy.
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