A Classic of its kind (Gandhi (DVD))

Member Name: paulie1975

Product:	Gandhi (DVD)
Date:	11/01/09 (2 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Inspiring film with great visuals and a fine central performance

Disadvantages: Some of the surrounding stories aren't covered fully

A wonderful wonderful film, Ben Kingsley is fantastic as Gandhi the leader of an Indian movement to bring about the end of British Colonialism through peaceful protest. Directed by Richard Attenborough this is an incredibly thoughtful and well paced film, with wonderful backgrounds, the visuals are a sight to behold and show the real India.

The film follows Gandhi from his early days as a solicitor in South Africa experiencing Apartheid for the first time through to his eventual demise in his assasination. The film is epic and Attenborough uses every trick in the book, many taken from David Lean films in allowing the film to move at its own pace, in using enormous numbers of extra rather than CGI. The film is a strong one and won huge acclaim at the time including a number of Oscars.

The film is sumptuous and deserves a second viewing to enjoy the beautiful visuals, the small details you may have missed the first time and the scenery. I don't think the script is quite as good as the rest of the film, for me it is a number of set pieces rather than a film in its own right, moving Gandhi from place to place, situation to situation, at times he is inspiring, at times the script needs to explain more about what he is doing to make sense of it.

Ben Kingsley is immense as Gandhi a man who realises and accepts he must endure great hardship to help the Indian people out of colonialsim, this is not dealt with in detail, nor is the subsequent issue of partitioning Pakistan and Sri Lanka, they are touched upon but never in enough detail. I appreciate that this is a very long film and making it longer would not be possible, these are my only criticisms as I think the film is exceptional, a true classic of its kind, one of the greatest biopics ever.

The cast fulful their roles to perfection, the direction is extravagant and makes Mahatma Gandhi a man rather than the deity he is sometimes painted as, a man who made mistakes but rose above them to become an inspiration for his nation and people around the world.

Cast:


Ben Kingsley ... Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi

Candice Bergen ... Margaret Bourke-White
Edward Fox ... Gen. Reginald Dyer

John Gielgud ... Lord Irwin
Trevor Howard ... Judge Broomfield

John Mills ... Lord Chelmsford

Martin Sheen ... Vince Walker
Ian Charleson ... Rev. Charlie Andrews
Athol Fugard ... Gen. Jan Christiaan Smuts
Günther Maria Halmer ... Dr. Herman Kallenbach (as Gunter Maria Halmer)

Saeed Jaffrey ... Sardar Valabhhai Patel
Geraldine James ... Meerabahen
Alyque Padamsee ... Mohammed Ali Jinnah

Amrish Puri ... Khan
Roshan Seth ... Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru

Summary: A Classic of its kind