Sir Richard Attenborough's 1982 multiple-Oscar winner (including Best Picture, Best Director, and Best Actor for Ben Kingsley) is an engrossing, reverential look at the life of Mohandas K. Gandhi, who introduced the doctrine of nonviolent resistance to the colonized people of India and who ultimately gained the nation its independence. Kingsley is magnificent as Gandhi as he changes over the course of the three-hour film from an insignificant lawyer to an international leader and symbol. Strong on history (the historic division between India and Pakistan, still a huge problem today, can be seen in its formative stages here) as well as character and ideas, this is a fine film.

Review:

Perhaps no historical document on film has such a profound modern political impact as "Gandhi". When you consider the current situation in the Middle-East, nothing in artistic form so broadly displays the roots of its foundation as this film. Directed by Sir Richard Attenborough, and permitted by the government of India, "Gandhi" is singularized by the brilliant performance of Sir Ben Kingsley. Indeed, one of the great film acting performances of all time.

We begin the film journey, for indeed this is quite the epic running over three hours long, in a train car as young Gandhi is headed to South Africa. Unbeknownst to him, dark skinned men are not allowed in first class seats, and since he is a lawyer, and quite accustomed to first-class, he refuses to move. Little do the men who throw him from the train know that they are lighting a fire that would eventually take down an Empire.

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There are many poignant scenes in Gandhi's struggle on film, one of which is the massacre at Jallianwalla Bagh...The second of which is a demonstration at a Salt Factory...

Gandhi is a triumphant picture, which preaches the power of the human spirit and the ability of non-violence to defy the tyrannical and bloodthirsty. Anchored by the brilliant performance of Kingsley, and with the assistance of two American icons in great supporting performances, Martin Sheen and Candice Bergman, as well as the two British legends Sir John Gielgud and Sir Johnny Mills, Gandhi is a feast of the human soul and a wonderful film for dreamers idealists, and lovers of good cinema.

(188 Minutes on one DVD)

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