"A weakness for these spiritually-inclined men"

Rating: Null/10 (2 November 2011)

Through Lawrence of Arabia and beyond, there has become an established method for doing an epic screen biography of a major historical figure. Starting with the subject's death, and a nod to their iconic status, these pictures would then bring the audience to the beginning of the story, revealing what shaped the person and who they really were, balancing the historical with the personal. As it happens, the producers of Lawrence of Arabia had at one point intended to do the story of Gandhi, but decided against it because they felt his lifetime was then too recent. It was two decades later before this almost deified man got the humanizing treatment of a modern biopic.
By this time, historical authenticity was more highly prized than ever before, and it seems the main goal of casting was getting people who could portray their real-world counterparts faithfully. The then-unknown Ben Kingsley was at least partly chosen because he looks remarkably like the real Gandhi. But much more than that, he is able to convincingly show us the different faces of the Mahatma down the years, from the naïve yet principled lawyer to the aged, mystical folk leader. Kingsley also does the uncanny balancing act of portraying Gandhi as calm and humble, yet with an incredible commanding presence, as best demonstrated in his speech to the pro-independence crowd in the marquee. But the greatest moments in Kingsley's performance are those small and very normal touches that are so revealing of character, tapping his thumbs against the prison bars or turning a slap on his grandniece's head into an affectionate pat.
This was a long-cherished project of director Richard Attenborough. Attenborough, never exceptional behind the camera, puts most of his efforts into creating the places in which the story takes place, arranging phenomenal numbers of extras to build a thriving, realistic world. What he then does with is to take the role of a photojournalist, selecting from this world the most apt views, often drawing our attention to some comparatively small element, such as the zoom in on a woman cradling her child during Gandhi's return to India. Other times, just like the Candice Bergen character's asking the soldier to come forward as Gandhi descends the prison steps, he will stage the ideal tableaux to give meaning to the moment. For example, the march scene in South Africa ends with a solitary cavalryman leading his horse away amid a cloud of dust. It's the perfect image to conclude the sequence.
The screenplay by John Briley presents all the major events in Gandhi's political life, as well as including enough scenes to build up a more intimate portrait, all with incredible succinctness. The whole thing is constructed with a quick, punchy pace, often jumping into the middle of the next piece action, giving both impact and moving the story forward with minimal fuss or repetition. And yet, one of the problems of this picture is its repetition. The impression we get is that the various episodes of Gandhi's life were all very much alike. And as much as the personal life of the man is revealed, and even with the intense reality of Kingsley's performance, there is something lacking in the fullness of the portrayal of Gandhi here. Perhaps Briley and Attenborough were reluctant to reveal some of the man's more negative attitudes and attributes (and there certainly were a fair few of those). This Gandhi biopic, majestic and finely-crafted as it is, is effectively a hagiography, too afraid of criticism or equivocation. As such, it is ultimately a slightly bland portrait of a fascinating human being.