Gandhi Movie Review

Title: Gandhi
Director: Richard Attenborough
With: Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Candice bergen
Genre: biographic picture
183 minutes
Winner of 8 oscars
                                                                                           
Gandhi. A man who gained legendary status. It was no wonder there was going to be a movie about his life.
The plot of the movie isn't surprising, of course. If you are going to watch the film, you probably already know the highlights of Gandhi's life, and that his life ended because he was shot. If you didn't know this, or forgot it, Attenborough will remind you of this in the first scene. The movie starts at the end, where Gandhi gets shot by Nathuram Godse.
Then, the screen turns black and the next scene we see is a young Gandhi, sitting in the train. He is on his way in South Africa, because he just finished his law school in England and wants to be a lawyer in South Africa. He is thrown out of the train, because he is a 'coloured person' who travels first class, which is illegal there.
From there on, we see how the man became the legend. He first starts a revolution in South Africa, goes to India and, trough non-violant protests, he manages to reform India. And thus, Mohandas Gandhi becomes Mahatma Gandhi, Bapu (Great soul Gandhi, Father).

The acting skills are incredible prodigious. Ben Kingsley IS Gandhi. Kingsley got a very much deserved Oscar for playing Gandhi.The other actors in the movie also play very convincing.

The story, written by John Briley, is also very strong. It is of course impossible, as the film itself mentions at the beginning, to put every important event in a man's lifetime into one movie. Even so, while watching the movie, it almost seems as if the impossible is achieved. Without being confusing, boring, or losing any feeling, the movie seems to touch every highlight of Gandhi's life, and gets it beautifully on screen.

 Attenborough's choices for the film came out perfect: He has chosen to do the movie in English, which makes it much more accessible for a world wide audience. A less 'safe' choice, was the 183 minutes of playtime. But the choice was the right one, for every scene is important. If the movie was shortened, either we would have missed some important events, or the scenes would have been rushed.

The movie came out in 1982. That means the movie is almost 30 years old. But the movie does not feel old-fashioned at all. The story of Gandhi is one of all times.

*****
5/5 starts

'Be the Change you want to be in the world- Gandhi'