Occasionally an epic biopic thanks to the outstanding lead performance, overall a pretty good movie

Rating: 6/10 (18 July 2019)

"Gandhi" is a British/Indian co-production that may be considered today one of the last epics from the old days of cinema. This has partially to do with the gigantic effort when it comes to casting because there are so many actors in here who are just seen very briefly and don't have a word to say, but also with the subject (the title character) and the films length (slightly over three hours). The director is richard Attenborough, of course also known to be a very prolific and successful actor who especially had a glorious history ith the Golden Globes, but this is his trademark movie being the man in charge behind the camera. Same goes for writer John Briley, who was not as prolific as I would have thought. Their collaboration won no less that 8 Oscars that year and even if you consider the writer and director deserving, there is no denying how the film stands and falls (well no, only stands) with Ben Kingsley's mesmerizing lead performance. He is in almost every scene from beginning to end and it is pretty funny how he won the Oscar that year probably very easily while being up against 4 true Hollywood greats in his category and he was basically a nobody that people have not really heard before Gandhi, but afterwards he was a big star of course and is easily recognizable to this day having added several other memorable performances to his body of work. Now as for Gandhi, there is a frame here. The film starts with his murder and ends with his murder too and the heartbreaking word "Oh God" he utters when being shot 3 times int eh chest by somebody who initially posed as a supporter of Gandhi. Lets take a deeper look at this film from 1982 that is soon gonna have its 40th anniversary. Maybe depending on when you read this review, it even happened already. You will not find too many familiar faces of actors in here. Martin Sheen appears twice playing a reporter who crosses paths with Gandhi and it was interesting to see him in his younger years. Halmer is maybe more known here in Germany than in the English-speaking countries. Geraldine James had great screen presence, but she is far from a star either. Well, then there is John Gielgud and Harry Potter fans will also recognize a familiar face. Oh and Candice Bergen in her younger years playing a photographer. I immediately recognized her because I have seen Boston Legal in its entirety, but I have no clue what the BAFTAs were thinking when they nominated her for an awards. It is really not a big or showy role or one that deserves the attention. Still she is not bad obviously, but come on she is not even British which could explain that. i think the only one sort of who deserves awards recognition from the cast here is Kingsley and he deserves all he got, probably even more. It is a massive transformation for him too physically where it needs to be said the costume and make-up people also did a marvellous job. Technically there is absolutely nothing wrong with this film.
As muchn as it is all about Gandhi, it is also on really many occasions about the concept of peaceful (not passive) resistance. the best example with Gandhi himself is how he keeps burning the ID cards early on despite being violated in the most cruel manner at the same time. But his will is strong enough to keep going after experiencing injustice right at the very start of the film when we see him board a train in the first class (yep Gandhi liked first class in his younger years) certainly not to the amusement of the folks controlling the tickets. This path of resistance mixed with resilience and suffering is also one he takes on two occasions in this movie when it almost costs him his life as he enters into a hunger strike and really hits close to starvation because he stands up this way showing his concern about violence that is nowhere to be found in his agenda. The second example is when Hindus and Muslims constantly clash because they think a certain territory belongs to them. But we do know he will not die from it because either you know the way Gandhi actually died or you just remember from the beginning, so the two religions manage to sort out their troubles at least for a little while that Gandhi asks for bread again. The scene when that guy arrives at Gandhi's potential deathbed and tells him to eat is also among the most memorable because we find out about a devastating thing he did and Gandhi shows him the path to salvation that is all about loving your (seemingly) enemy. And while Gandhi is struggling with opposing the British Empire being in charge of India really during the whole film (there is a pretty nice quote about a bad government by one's own people still being better than a foreign - debatable), he also has to stand up to forces from his own camp. Many times, his closest advisers and the people he believes in the most have ideas that include violence, revolts and fighting and he needs to lead them back to the path of righteousness that these are never the right solution in order to restore or achieve harmony. Still, even if Gandhi is very right about it most of the time, you can certainly debate his approach. The best example is the time when the film takes place, namely the days when Nazi Germany tried to subdue the entire world. Or lets say Europe and passive resistance there would not have changed anything most likely. Or would the German people have woken up? Debatable. I kinda doubt it. But lets not focus now on what is wrong with this film or Gandhi's ideas and instead enjoy it for what it was. It definitely felt shorter than way over three hours to me and that also shows how fine a job everybody did who was working on this project. I can kinda see why it was so successful, even if I would say that at best it is among the most memorable films from 1982, but not really from the 80s altogether, so it is slightly overrated. Nonetheless, you shoudl absolutely see it, especially if you have an Indian or British background yourself or are just curious about who this man was. There is a reason nobody is really portraying the character in films anymore. Because nobody would probably reach Kingsley's level. So if you have no connection with Britain and/or India, his turn is still reason enough to check this one out. Also because of the many memorable quotes included here. No hesitation for me here in giving the overall outcome here a thumbs-up. Certainly recommended.