Almost more about India than it is about Mahatma Gandhi

Rating: Null/10 (15 December 2018)

Mahatma Mohandas Gandhi is one of those giants of history everyone with even a basic education knows about. To quote this very movie, it is impossible to know anyone through a single story, but at least we now have this film to help us get started or to round out the picture we already have from our history classes.
The film follows Gandhi throughout the years. From his early days as an attorney in South Africa, fighting against the unfair treatment of Indian workers, to his assassination in India during the first years of its newly won independence. The film focuses heavily on his personality and his philosophy against violence, but also against blind obedience.
As to the genre of the film, it is very much an epic, placing it in the same group alongside such films as Lawrence of Arabia or Ben-Hur. Both of those are much older, but the scope is the same. Decades of time pass while we focus on a single person, around whom whole empires shake. Plus, it's running time is epic as well.
Not that the film feels like it's over three hours long. When the intermission rolled around, I was honestly surprised that bit over hour and a half had already passed. The movie has this gift of pulling you in and making you care about each individual moment. The film is always moving forward, even when nothing much seems to be happening.
It is a great film about a fascinating person, quite unlike anyone else that has ever lived. Recommended seeing for just about anyone.