 Tagline: His Triumph Changed The World Forever. Gandhi was not a ruler of nations, nor did he have scientific gifts. Yet this small, modest man did what others before him could not. He led an entire country to freedom - he gave his people hope. Gandhi, the man of the century, is explored in this breathtaking, unforgettable motion picture. After 20 years in the making, this masterful epic garnered nine 1982 Academy Awards®, including Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Original Screenplay. In stirring detail, Gandhi's life, principles and power explode on the screen with vivid scenes such as the horrific massacre at Amristar, where the British opened fire on 15,000 unarmed men, women and children, and the dramatic march to the sea where Gandhi led thousands of his fellow Indians to prove that sea salt belonged to all and was not just a British commodity. A distinguished cast of characters surrounds Academy Award®-winning Ben Kingsley as Gandhi, including Candice Bergen, John Gielgud and Trevor Howard. A vision of the heart and soul of a man, Gandhi is a classic epic as timeless as Gandhi himself. Sir Ben Kingsley stars as Mohandas Gandhi in Richard Attenborough's riveting biography of the man who rose from simple lawyer to worldwide symbol of peace and understanding. A critical masterpiece, Gandhi is an intriguing story about activism, politics, religious tolerance and freedom. But at the center of it all is an extraordinary man who fought for a nonviolent, peaceful existence, and set an entire nation free. Winner of 8 Academy Awards including Best Picture, Best Director (Richard Attenborough) and Best Actor (Sir Ben Kingsley), Gandhi's highly acclaimed cast also includes Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, Sir John Gielgud, Roshan Seth and Martin Sheen. Storyline: In 1893, Gandhi is thrown off a South African train for being an Indian and traveling in a first class compartment. Gandhi realizes that the laws are biased against Indians and decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After numerous arrests and the unwanted attention of the world, the government finally relents by recognizing rights for Indians, though not for the native blacks of South Africa. After this victory, Gandhi is invited back to India, where he is now considered something of a national hero. He is urged to take up the fight for India's independence from the British Empire. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a non-violent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented scale, coordinating millions of Indians nationwide. There are some setbacks, such as violence against the protesters and Gandhi's occasional imprisonment. Nevertheless, the campaign generates great attention, and Britain faces intense public pressure. Too weak from World ... Written by gavin (gunmasterM@hotmail.com) Reviewer's Note: Reviewed by Greg Maltz on February 9, 2009 -- I recall walking out of the theater after watching Gandhi in 1982 and overhearing a boy in the parking lot promise his parents he would never fight with his sister again. It is one small testament to the power of film and the profound influence of Mohandas Gandhi's philosophy of nonviolence. The larger examples include India's independence and leadership, the shrinking legacy of colonialism and racism and the many disciples of Gandhi, such as Martin Luther King, Jr. Gandhi's beliefs resonated with the people of India and beyond. He focused on teachings of peace and selflessness common to all religions in an attempt to knock down the walls between the powerless and powerful. He spent most of his life trying to unite Hindu, Sikh and Muslim elements of India to bring about a peaceful end to British rule and a united country. In the film, Richard Attenborough attempted to cover Gandhi's adult life in broad strokes. The epic nature of the story lends itself to Attenborough's big production, which won nine academy awards including Best Picture. While not reference quality, the 25th Anniversary Blu-ray edition of Gandhi provides significantly better picture and sound quality than the 2001 DVD release. After opening with a disturbing dramatization of Gandhi's assassination, the film begins with his early attempt to fight discrimination and apartheid law in South Africa. Trained as a lawyer, Gandhi had a unique view of laws and society that informed his decisions and actions. After South Africa, Attenborough traces Gandhi's rediscovery of India and his rise as a spokesman and leader. The narrative focuses on the nonviolence and inclusive social outreach that became Gandhi's strongest tools, as well as his imprisonment and hunger strikes that indeed led to more progress than violence against British rule. Throughout the film, Sir Ben Kingsley delivers a gripping character study, conveying the seriousness of the narrative while showing Gandhi's rare combination of frailty and fierce determination, humanity and humility, spirituality and politics. Kingsley won Best Actor at the 1982 Academy Awards for his performance. At the beginning of the film, Attenborough, who won Best Director, cites Albert Einstein's apropos quote about the Mahatma (great soul): "Generations to come will scarce believe that such a one as this ever in flesh and blood walked upon this earth." Indeed, Gandhi's selflessness and unflinching principles made him larger than life. The film helps to show why. Although Gandhi arrived in theaters in 1982, the idea for the movie first took shape in 1962 during Attenborough's phone conversation with Motilal kothari of the Indian High Commission in London. Kothari was obsessed with finding a producer to bring Gandhi's life to the silver screen. Resolving not just to produce the film but also direct it, Attenborough formed a circle of British film personalities, with resolve to do justice to the project. The scope of the movie required 18 years of negotiations with studio heads, film distributors and leaders in India before Attenborough secured the $22 million required for the project, and began filming in 1980. Production designer Stuart Craig, who earned Gandhi more Oscars for Best Art Direction and Best Set Decoration, used 87 settings for the 189 scenes in the script by John Briley (who also struck Oscar gold). The most ambitious set was the Sabarmati ashram commune, built on several acres alongside the Jumna river. After more marathon sessions throughout India and in England, the film was completed on May 10, 1981. In revisiting Attenborough's Gandhi, the film's value, power, epic scope and visually stunning presentation were reaffirmed. The production values were exquisite. Kingsley was an especially strong choice for the lead role, as a mainstay in British theater prior to his breakthrough performance that made him an international celebrity. Born Krishna Bhanji, Kingsley was the son of a mixed marriage. His father, Rahimtulla Harji Bhanji, was a Muslim of Indian descent who immigrated to England as a boy. It seems evident that Kingsley identified with Gandhi on a personal level in a addition to the philosophical and spiritual level so many of us admire in the Mahatma, and this connection helped his award-winning character study. In rewatching Gandhi, I was struck by the immense idealism that Gandhi not only conjured as potential energy but was able to transfer into kinetic energy to make the world a better place. I was also reminded of some of the pitfalls of idealism in the real world. During the second World War, when the Life reporter played by Candice Bergen asked Gandhi whether nonviolence should be applied always--even in dealing with Nazi Germany--Gandhi replied in the affirmative. While the philosophy of nonviolence seems noble, its implementation may not always be right. Indeed, had India emerged united from a violent revolution to overthrow British rule rather than winning independence on the shoulders of a spiritual man's ideals, the country may not have been divided into Pakistan. An India united in that manner may have been stronger, may not have had to fight three wars with Pakistan and constantly be on the receiving end of Islamic terrorism to the present day. But there is little point to questioning Gandhi's ideals. He was not an official statesman and his goal of nonviolence is beyond reproach. Despite the minor problems with the video and audio, Gandhi is an essential film and the 1080p presentation makes it a must-have for your Blu-ray library. Cast Notes: Ben Kingsley (Mohandas K. 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 (Mirabehn), Alyque Padamsee (Mohammed Ali Jinnah), Amrish Puri (Khan), Roshan Seth (Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru). IMDb Rating (07/24/14): 8.1/10 from 128,006 users Top 250: #198 IMDb Rating (05/27/09): 8.2/10 from 42,257 users Top 250: #164 IMDb Rating (11/23/08): 8.2/10 from 37,901 users Top 250: #162 IMDb Rating (10/15/07): 8.1/10 from 28,775 users Top 250: #153 IMDb Rating (03/24/05): 7.9/10 from 16,253 users Top 250: #212
 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
