Movie receives 11 Oscar nominations
Gandhi — not the typical hero
by Gary Barker
Battalion staff
In a word, Gandhi is a mov
ing film. But just as a word is
grossly inadequate to sum up Sir
Richard Attenborough's highly
acclaimed epic, a three-hour
movie is hardly sufficient to tell
the story of a man as influential
and inspirational as Mohandas
K. Gandhi.
As the curtain closed, and the
audience shuffled out, many
seemed to be asking themselves:
"Who is Gandhi and why ha
ven't I heard more about him?"
The movie seems to whet a his
torical appetite among an audi
ence whose view of history is
skewed toward so-called Amer
ican "heroes."
But for most persons, Gandhi
should provide a short course in
the history they missed. The
film covers the major events in
the life of India's controversial
Mahatma, or great spul, as his
followers called him.
But while Gandhi is educa
tional, it is not painful as learn
ing sometimes can be. It is enter
taining, always gripping — al
ways thought-provoking —
throughout its entire three
hours and seven minutes.
And although it is not as crea
tive or interpretative as some
historical films, Gandhi's life
didn't need much creativity —
his story largely speaks for itself.
The movie begins where Gan
dhi's career began — in South
Africa, where he became a suc
cessful lawyer, worked to end
discrimination against Indians
and instigated civil disobedi
ence.
Returning to India as a hero,
he began a long struggle to fight
British rule and the animosity
between India's Hindus and
Muslims. The movie covers an
impressive 56 years of Gandhi's
79-year life, until his assassina
tion in 1948.
The major theme throughout
the film is violence — small-
scale and large-scale — and
Gandhi's reaction to it. In the
midst of bitter anger, he con
tinued to preach non-violent
activism and went on hunger
strikes several times to protest
his violent countrymen.
Gandhi's story is told in the
movie on more of a societal level
rather than a personal level; the
two main characters in the
movie are Gandhi and India's
Movie
Review
masses. Perhaps that is the only
way to tell his story, since Gan
dhi often is called the "father" of
a country of nearly 700 million.
To portray the populace,
Attenborough gathered a giant
cast of extras — some paid, most
volunteers — estimated to num
ber 1 million; about 300,000 were
on hand just for the filming of
Gandhi's funeral procession.
Attenborough excellently used
these extras to portray mass
emotion.
Playing opposite this giant
mass is Ben Kingsley, the In
dian-born, veteran British stage
actor who plays Gandhi. From
his deep, caring eyes, to his soft
walk, to his slight half-naked
body, Kingsley carries the dra
ma where the script sometimes
left off.
Although many of the sup
porting cast were given higher
billing than Kingsley, most of
their roles are slight.
Candice Bergen, as Life maga
zine photojournalist Margaret
Bourke-White, is in no way be
lievable as an interviewer. She
acts as if she is taking pictures
for her family album; it is likely
that Bourke-White approached
her subject with much more se
riousness.
Sir John Gielgud, as Viceroy
to India Lord Irwin, is his usual
wonderful pompous self. Mar-
tin Sheen also is up to his stan
dards as Walker, a Western jour
nalist who reported Gandhi's
methods to the West.
Indian actress Rohini Hattan-
gady, as Gandhi's wife, is
perhaps the best of the support
ing cast. Several of the other
supporting players — including
Ian Charleson, Geraldine James
and Roshan Seth as former In
dian prime minister Pandit
Nehru — are equally superb,
but their roles are not well-
developed.
One problem with the movie
is that screenwriter John Briley
and Director Attenborough (A
Bridge Too Far and Magic) focus
on the well-known events in
Gandhi's life rather than prob
ing his past for some of the les
ser known, but equally impor
tant, events.
In some cases the movie sani
tizes Gandhi's life by ignoring
some of his quirks, including his
dictatorial nature and his diffi
cult struggle to remain celibate.
Perhaps by neglecting these,
Attenborough hoped to show
the audience what they should
remember Gandhi by — and in
deed we should. But by includ
ing Gandhi's imperfections, he
would have made Gandhi seem
more human and his triumph of
spirit even more impressive.
But even with its flaws and
lack of aeativity, Gandhi is a
lavishly filmed, forceful movie.
To many, the idea of a three-
hour movie about passive resist
Ben Kingsley plays Mohandas K. Gandhi
ance may seem unappealing. In
deed, at times Gandhi's means
are terribly uncomfortable to an
audience accustomed to the tra
ditional American movie hero
who fights back — the old 'eye
for an eye' attitude.
But Gandhi's logic is undeni
able. "An eye for an eye makes
the whole world blind," he said.
We can only hope that those
who see it will suspend their
usual American chauvinism and
pragmatism just long enough
for the timeless logic to set in.
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