Review of the film "Gandhi" from 1982

Rating: 8/10 (12 November 2017)

The biographical drama "Gandhi" was written by John Briley and directed by Richard Attenborough. It was released in 1982 and received 8 Academy Awards and Golden Globes for Best Director and Best Foreign Film in the following year. Richard Attenborough had attempted to get the project made for 18 years which demonstrates how much determination and passion were spent during the making of the film. Ben Kingsley, a British actor who, portrays Mohandas Gandhi in the film also received an Academy Award for Best Actor. The 74 year old is also well known for his performances in the films Schindler's List (1993), Shutter Island (2010), Iron Man 3 (2013) and many more. The film is about Mohandas Karamchad Gandhi's life as the leader of the Indian non-violent independence movement against the British rule in the 20th century. It begins with Gandhi's assassination on 30th January 1948, when he was shot three times by a Hindu fanatic named Nathuram Godse (Harsh Nayyar). The film goes on with a defining moment in Gandhi's life, when he is thrown off a train to Pretoria, South Africa in 1893 because of racial injustice. This particular moment convinces Gandhi to fight for equal rights for Indians first in South Africa, later in India.The film also shows Gandhi's salt march and other projects. The actors in the film were appropriately cast, because the film's production was a British-Indian cooperation and there are British and Indian actors. Ben Kingsley was a good choice as the protagonist because of his Indian heritage and great acting skills. Most of the acting is well done, especially Ben Kingsley let everyone truly imagine what the real Mohandas Gandhi was like. The viewer can see what life was like in India in the 20th century and what Gandhi, his family and his huge community was like. Ben Kingsley plays Gandhi very convincingly throughout the whole movie. The use of camera is very good because it was filmed from different angles. These angles are switching a lot to illustrate the different point of views, for example almost at the end of the movie, when Gandhi is really weak from his fast and everyone is standing around his bed, we can see all the visitors from Gandhi's perspective. This technical element creates a very diversified perspective which in my opinion is well done. The lighting contributes, like the sound to the setting and atmosphere of the film and increases the intended effect of the film. This can be seen during the different phases of Gandhi's life. At the beginning of the film, when there are only a few followers of his independence movement, these followers shout approvingly but hesitantly at him during his speeches. Later, the crowds get bigger and bigger and the people begin to shout "Long life Gandhi-j!". In contrast to these scenes, Gandhi's growing unpopularity can be seen rather at the end of the film when the crowd screams "Death to Gandhi!". I think this use of sound and also of special effects is rather interesting because it demonstrates how the masses saw Gandhi throughout his life. At the end of the film, which shows Gandhi's death from a different perspective, it can be seen how Hindu fanatics are willing to kill Gandhi because they think he is too friendly with Muslims and Christians. All in all, I think "Gandhi" is a good film because it lets the viewer get a look inside Gandhi's life and it shows his whole personality including his fears and dreams for himself, but more importantly for India. In my opinion, his family especially his children could have appeared more frequently because they are a part of his life, even though they don't seem to play a big role. Their relationship could have been touched a bit more, since it would have been interesting to see him as a father. Of course, he is or appears to be the father of India and especially India's independence but in this film it seems like he is almost a stranger to his own children. Even if that is true, this relationship would have been a significant and very interesting addition to the film which I would have really liked to see. Despite these critical remarks, I consider the film a successful one and recommend watching the film because the viewer gets an idea of Gandhi's lifestyle and personality, including his fight for equality, his philosophy of non-violent protest and his wish to see the world at peace.