Attenborough offers a tour de force performances

Rating: 10/10 (19 June 2005)

There is a sanctimonious air to the films of Sir Richard Samuel Attenborough: the earnest desire that fair play is seen to be done Attenborough attempts to humanize his personage by exposing the widening gaps between India's two main religious communities, but he seemed to be quite forced to ignore some of the Indian characters in favor of Western ones, as some of the very important episodes of the film were seen through the eyes of two American reporters...
Attenborough, a filmmaker who can rival David Lean for the big set piece without losing a sense of human scale, presents the political events with real dramatic impact...His big challenge was to give the film an epic quality Still, while Attenborough's endless seas of extras testify to his ability to order crowds, his fine motion picture was seen very believable and realistic, with enough insight either into its sublimely serene hero's mind or into the complex realities of Indian history and politics
British actor Ben Kingsley portrays the spiritual leader with deep simplicity... Kingsley's Mahatma is amazing, so beautiful in its honesty... Kingsley burns with a strong and purer flame, particularly in the way he ages across the five decades which the film depicts... His wetly blazing eyes as a young lawyer in South Africa, his black hair and immense energy, gives way to the bald small modest man, in shawl, loin cloth, steel-rimmed glasses, frequently thrown in jail by the British authorities...
Kingsley takes the qualities and details instructed by Attenborough: Gandhi's fiercely intelligent aura; Gandhi's rational and calm reaction to inflamed emotion; Gandhi's unshaken beliefs and principles; Gandhi's warm smile...
A distinguished cast of characters surround Academy Award-Winning Ben Kingsley as Gandhi: Candice Bergen, the Life magazine American photographer whom Gandhi conveys with a sense of humor; John Gielgud, the Viceroy who decides to ignore the man in loin cloth; Edward Fox, the brutal English general who orders his troops to fire at the thickest part of the crowds; Trevor Howard, the Judge who behaves with great consideration, standing and nodding respectfully to Gandhi in the dock before taking his seat; Geraldine James, the adopted daughter, blinded by love for Ghandi; and Martin Sheen, the American reporter of the New York Times who makes Gandhi laugh: 'It would be uncivil for us to let you make the long trip for nothing.'
"Gandhi" has a rare combination of deep character penetration and enormous epic sweep with "Lawrence of Arabia." But while 'Lawrence of Arabia' is about a solitary adventurer, 'Gandhi' is a moving portrait of a character with a disarming humility, who spins cotton, walks the country roads, meditates in front of the ocean, or scoops salt from the beach... Throughout the picture, which takes place over a half century, one has a sense of a man discovering his own unique dimensions... Perhaps this is the secret of Attenborough's 'Gandhi,' that at the bottom of all the tumultuous action is a remarkable protagonist, an incredible individual about whom one cares, and feels attract to...