Untitled Document

As anyone who knows me is well aware, my all time hero is Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi, a man who's life is a testament to the greatness of humanity when humanity allows itself to be great. I thought I'd absolutely love this and have been meaning to see it for ages. And I liked it. I just didn't love it.

As a document of Gandhi's life it covers most of the important parts and at a brave 3 hours and eight minutes you can't accuse Richard Attenborough of skimping on Gandhi and his legacy.

There are some annoying aspects, particularly the portrayal of Mohammed Ali Jinnah (the first president of Pakistan) as the cartoon bad guy. He's excellently portrayed by Alyque Padamsee, but is too easily the fall guy for the partition of India and Pakistan when (as was so often the case) the British were the ones who were the most to blame. Surprising when the British are generally portrayed (rightly in this case) as stupid, largely, amoralistic fools (more on which in a minute). However there are some very good aspects too. The cinematography is STUNNING and the most beautiful country I've ever been too is photographed as such. The performances are also generally excellent, although I strangely found Ben Kingsley (who I love) a little unconvincing. Edward Fox's Dyer, an accurate portrayal of imperialism's egoism, prejudice, blind arrogance and brutality, is possibly the best of an excellent bunch. Roshan Seth also excels as Nehru.

The problem with this film is truly Gandhi himself. Nothing could ever do him justice but the man himself, his life and his writings. If you know nothing about his life and his principles, I can't recommend it highly enough. This is a man everyone on the planet should know about. But the true beauty and depth of his ideals, of nonviolence and of how India could become truly free of the British, is to be found elsewhere, in his Autobiography and his Hind Swaraj ("Indian Self Rule"), one of the most important political testaments ever written. This review is really a testament to Gandhi rather than the film. A true case if ever there was one of "the subject matter makes the film". But anything that brings Mahatma Gandhi to a new audience is okay by me, so I can't but not recommend it. And be patient with it, Gandhi, at least, deserves that.