Gandhi

1982. Dir: Richard Attenborough. Starring: Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Giegud and Trevor Howard. ●●●●○

Gandhi was the first of my two biopics this weekend. By curious coincidence just this week Richard Attenborough has been admitting that he robbed ET for the 1982 Best picture Oscar. Whilst it's refreshing to hear this view from the victor it must be remembered that Gandhi is a superb picture, even if it was overpraised at the time.


The film is bookended by the assassination and funeral for Gandhi, so for those people watching the film with little knowledge of the Mahatma that sight of tens of thousands of extras lining the streets for the funeral gives some idea of the popularity of the man.

We then flashback to Gandhi in South Africa, a fresh faced Cambridge scholared lawyer seemingly seeing institutionalised racism for the first time in his life. Seemingly from this incident Gandhi launches a campign to bring equal rights to Indian migrants.

Then following sucesses in South Africa (and not without adversity) Gandhi returns to India where he gives moral authority and significant influence to the Congress Parties campaign for home rule. His policy of passive resistance (by not complying with unjust laws however by not resorting to violence) as well as his scholarly attitude makes him enemies with the authorities as well as within the Congress party itself.

It is clear that Attenborough has a profound respect for Gandhi. Every scene confirms the qualities the Mahatma had, his profound beliefs in equality, his humility and his unqenchable thrist for peace. The film comes across as a beautiful portrait of this great man.

We must seperate the film from the subject, though. I think we can all agree that the Mahatma changed the world and showed us a new, better way to struggle against oppression, what we cannot agree on is that this sort of hero worship makes good entertainment.

Ben Kingsley does a fine job of protraying Gandhi, but there is little conflict within the character - he has little to do other than become more and more saintly. Indeed it's only in the first third of the movie, in South Africa, that Ben's performance is worthwhile. As he progresses from a shy public speaker to a man capable of starting a revolution you can see changes in every scene.

Rohini Hattangadi gives a far more measured performance as Kasturba Gandhi, showing the pride, devotion and frustration that she feels for her husband.

Most of the rest of the cast simply drift in and out of the action with one note performances, including a veritable who's who of British talent, although Roshan Seth is superb as Nehru. The low point of this parade is Alyque Padamsee as Jinnah; I don't know whether to blame him of Attenborough but the founder of Pakistan comes across like a silent movie villain - stiff and unbending in both his manner and his dealing with other characters. I kept expecting him to twirl the corner of his moustache and let out a pantomime laugh.

The technical side of this production is faultless. There isn't a still in the 3 hour running time that is less than perfectly composed, thanks to wardrobe and et teams. The cinematography by Ronnie Taylor and Billy Williams is suitably epic in a manner that befits the subject.

Overall this is a brave attempt to portray one of the greatest men who ever lived, but it's obvious respect for it's subject neuters the final product.