How An Unassuming Little Man Without Title or Privilege Beat an Empire

Rating: 10/10 (27 September 2015)

If there is a figure who closely resembles the spiritual and peaceful role models of the past, such as Jesus of Nazareth, St. Francis of Assisi, and Frederick Douglass, in terms of both lifetime accomplishments and influence on later leaders protesting injustice, Mahatma Gandhi of India may be the most influential of such leaders in the 20th century. A famous photo of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., shows him standing next to a large portrait of Gandhi, who was King's primary inspiration in engaging in peaceful protest against racial injustice. The two never met, but without the peaceful protests largely instigated by Gandhi to compel the British to end their rule and leave India, the Civil Rights Movements in the United States would have been without a successful model.
In the role of his career, Ben Kingsley offers a tour-de-force Academy-Award winning performance of a man who simply refused to acknowledge the British as the rightful rulers of India. He knew the only means to that ends would be non-violent protests, which he had done in South Africa a few years earlier. Gandhi, whose peaceful demonstrations violence were ahead of their time, showed the world that large change can happen but only if non-violence is at the core. Gandhi understood that only when the instigator of injustice inflicted blows upon defenseless people would they see the ultimate injustice of their laws and system. If they fought back, and sometimes they did, the cause would have been lost. Gandhi's use of non-violent protest to enact social change was later emulated by Martin Luther King, Jr., and Nelson Mandela. Gandhi remains the towering figure of a 20th century non-violent revolutionary.
The film begins with the assassination of Gandhi in 1948 by a Hindu radical nationalist, who believed Gandhi had "sold out" the interests of Hindus in India during the breakup of India into India and Pakistan. The film then rewinds to the late 19th century. Little about Gandhi's early days prior to his arrival in South Africa could predict his later becoming part of two protest movements, one of which would lead to the ending of colonial rule of a European power in an Asian country. Gandhi was born in India, and educated in European-like schools, although his grades and test scores were passable but not outstanding. He was eventually educated in England as an attorney.
The story of Gandhi's life begins with a trip to South Africa in the 1890's. Gandhi was called to South Africa for a case, and bought a first class ticket on a train in South Africa. Even Britain in those days did not have the kind of apartheid rules of South Africa, and when he's discovered in a first class compartment, he's asked to leave on grounds he's a "darkie", even though he's not technically African but Indian. Gandhi refuses, citing he had legitimately bought a first class ticket. As a result, he's thrown off the train, literally. He then learns of the strict apartheid rules of South Africa at the time, where those with dark skin were not allowed to walk on the streets alongside whites. In an interesting confrontation which doesn't escalate, Gandhi walking along with an Anglican priest, Charles Freer Andrews (Ian Charleson), are stopped by a group of uneducated white South Africans who begin name-calling and order the Indian to get off the street. (The most vocal of the hoods is played with startling realism by a very young Daniel Day-Lewis.) However, it's not just being able to walk the streets which infuriates Gandhi. Indians, even if they were brought up and educated in Britain, must hold passes, while whites from other places didn't have to. The government is even allowed to enter houses without cause. Gandhi then holds protests against the requirements on the grounds they are also citizens of the British Empire and should be treated as such. In one of the gatherings, he professes the use of non-violence and even ends the discussion by having the group sing "God Save the King".
On a small level, his successful achievements in South Africa are acknowledged around the world, and he then returns to India. Even though he is an Indian by birth, he doesn't know the country well having left during his teens. Some of the leaders who wish to end British rule there convince him to use the same tactics which were successful in South Africa in India. He explores the country and learns about the economic injustices being enacted by the British, such as Indians being compelled to make certain goods which can't be sold, and then their white landlords demanding rent. He then organizes certain kinds of non-violent protests, such as days of prayer and fasting in which the working infrastructure of India begins to break down right before the eyes of the British leadership. But scattered incidents occur outside Gandhi's parameters of peaceful protest, and some British become victims of mob violence, contrary to Gandhi's intentions. The first half ends with the Jallianwala Bagh Massacre which occurred in 1919 when Reginald Dyer ordered troops to fire upon a group of peaceful gatherers who were listening to speeches because they had, according to Dyer, failed to observe the new martial law forbidding public gatherings. The incident devastates Gandhi who begins to doubt the movement.
This is one of the greatest biographical films of all time. Richard Attenborough, director and producer, spent 20 years funding and finally producing the film. While Kingsley provides an astonishing and spiritual take on Gandhi, the supporting cast is no less than outstanding. Many name talent actors were involved, such as Ian Charleson (of Chariots of Fire fame), Martin Sheen, Trevor Howard, John Gielgud, and Candice Bergen. Honorable mention to Rohini Hattangadi as Gandhi's wife Kasturba and Roshan Seth as Nehru. During filming, some people sensed strange spiritual sensations as if benevolent forces from "on high" were aiding in the film's completion.