The triumph of a little man ... an inspiration for humanity ...

Rating: 10/10 (28 August 2011)

Albert Einstein said about Gandhi : "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this walked the earth in flesh and blood".
Well, I believe a soul so generous in goodness and capable of intelligent humility ever graced the face of the Earth and enriched our universal History's heritage, I sincerely do. But I can't admit that the last thing this great soul saw, was the face of hatred and violence, as the cruelly tragic destiny of a soul that was definitely too simply noble for our "sophisticated" comprehension of what is right or wrong. Maybe that's what Einstein meant : Gandhi, was good on a superhuman level.
But that raises a puzzling issue regarding the Mahatma's posthumous aura. A man with his magnitude sure deserves to be venerated and honored by people from all over the world. However, this contradicts the conception that Gandhi had on his own person for he never felt like being special or above anybody, not even the untouchables. Cleaning the latrines was no less honorable than being an accountant and Gandhi rejected whatever would betray his background or social category in order to banish himself from premises of comfort and luxury and make one with his people. Gandhi's ascension to power ironically coincided with an extraordinary descent into the lowest depths of Indian population, at a time where 350 millions of Indians needed the light to guide them to the Independence.
Richard Attenbough's Best Picture Winner could have been one of these epics that are more excuses to display cinematic grandeur with scenes of battles, inflamed speeches and cheerful cries, but the movie elevated itself from such clichés by centering the story on the man, more than the cause, making the cause no less inspiring. The psychological dimension of the Oscar winning script invites us to follow the birth of Gandhi's political conscience in South Africa and its evolution when he would rediscover his country, struck by poverty, and the shocking injustices of the British domination. Realizing that the education of Indian elites lead to an unfortunate ignorance of the real people's basic needs, Gandhi never left the ashram (community) and progressively became the iconic figure we're all familiar with, reassembling more and more disciples and followers, among them the Pandit Nehru and Mirabehn, a British woman who devoted her life for Gandhi, intriguing the skeptical Muslim leader Mohamed Jinnah and even the British enemy, but never without some unconscious fascination.
"Gandhi", as any epic, doesn't lack action and thrills, but they only serve as elements that will drive Gandhi's political beliefs or influence his decisions. Gandhi's determination and defiance toward the British will clearly be reinforced after the infamous Amritsar massacre, one of the most poignant and heart-breaking parts of the film. Most of the times, we're invited to meditate on Gandhi's thoughts, and on that level, the movie has a very interesting intellectual value, changing the image of pacifist that marked the card of Gandhi. In a simple but insightful scene, Gandhi, still a young lawyer, explains to a priest his view on 'turning the left cheek' as a self-defense move. For Gandhi, it's a sign of courage and resistance more powerful than the basic use of violence, and the active non-resistance revealed itself to be crucial in the extreme circumstances when violence was expected by the British as an alibi to justify their repression.
In fact, the attitude preached by Gandhi is more provocative than any act of violence or terror. And when you extrapolate this idea to our current world, you realize how visionary was Gandhi. Not to say that violence was never necessary, but have the leaders who conquered the power through violence got rid of that deadly instinct? Gandhi knew it and foresaw great tragedies. "An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind" A sad prediction illustrated by the civil war that torn India apart. The late scenes provided some early hints of why a man like Gandhi would be killed by his own people. It's easier to set the fire of hatred and violence but it takes a greater deal of courage to extinguish it. Gandhi firmly believed in the coexistence between the Hindus and Muslim, and the worst that could've happened was the dislocation of the territory. I was particularly moved by the Civil War sequence, not just for the historical tragedy it represented, but because it illustrated that the cause Gandhi dedicated his whole life for, was being annihilated. I was sorry for Gandhi more than anyone, how ironic that the massacred also ceased for the sake of Gandhi.
As usual, the movie absorbs you in its most serene moments. When the war stops, all of Gandhi's friends, surround his frail body begging him to stop his hunger strike. Gandhi often punished himself as if he felt responsible for his people, 'Bapu' was his nickname as he was the Nation's father more than symbolically. In a significant scene, Gandhi advises an Indian, devoured by the guilt of having killed a Muslim boy as an act of revenge, to find a boy and raise him as a Muslim. This is basically, how Gandhi would have raised his people.
Still, Gandhi was a man of simplicity, and perfectly embodying the spirit of the Mahatma, the simplest and quietest scenes were the best, especially those involving his tender and respectful relationship with his devoted wife Ba who, inspired by Gandhi's dedication, followed him heart and soul. Speaking of soul, Ben Kingsley's perfect performance was the soul of this film, which is not one of the most inspirational biopics but also a remarkable achievement on the field of cultural knowledge.
The philosophical heritage of Gandhi speaks to the whole world, for any country, at any time, and his tragedy was that his voice still fails to be heard, as it did in his own country ... but his combat is still our inspiration.