Gandhi
★ ★★★
Prior to this movie, I'm embarrassed to say that I had little knowledge about Gandhi. I'm really glad that I took the time to sit with this film. Like many people, I was familiar with the name and the image of the man, with his bald head, prominent glasses and homespun garb. I left the film with a much greater understanding of what was behind that approachable exterior. I ended up being personally moved by Gandhi's personal outlook on life. Perhaps I am more of a pacifist than I realized, but a lot of Gandhi's words in this film had a calming effect on me as I navigate life through these turbulent times.
I can't speak to the historical accuracy of this film, because as I mentioned, a lot of this story was completely new to me, but the scope of Gandhi's journey in this film is enlightening and fascinating. Which is quite an accomplishment for a character who is notorious for walking and fasting. The three-hour-plus runtime of this movie will undoubtedly turn off a lot of people, but I was shocked at the pace and movement of this story. I was never left bored or uninterested, and the filmmakers do a great job of balancing education with characters. The movie never speaks down to the audience, but in the same turn is very intellectual in how it presents the large scaled narrative.
Ben Kingsley truly disappears into this role and it becomes hard not to separate the actor from the role. It seems like I have watched a lot of these epic films as of late and it never ceases to amaze me how Hollywood was willing to take on these projects that required mass amounts of extras and set pieces. I know it's cliched to say that the country of India becomes its own character, but while watching this film I realized that this landscape and its people are something that isn't covered much in our pop culture. The British occupation of this country is a severely important part of our world's history and it is beyond remarkable to see how Gandhi navigated this political separation through wit and wisdom.
I feel like Gandhi, like the man himself, is a movie that at least Americans don't talk about or have forgotten about. It raked in a total of eight Oscars, including Best Picture, which I think a lot of people would be surprised by. Yes, I can totally see why a lot of people would argue that E.T. deserved the top award over Gandhi, but both films will challenge you to look at life in a different light. As sad and tragic as this film can get at times, it's also amazingly entertaining and hopeful. You'll be a better person for giving it a chance.
