“Gandhi” Directed by Richard Attenborough – An Analysis
“No man's life can be encompassed in one telling. There is no way to give each year its allotted weight, to include each event, each person who helped to shape a lifetime. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record and try to find one's way to the heart of the man.” These are the opening words of the movie “Gandhi” and show the utmost respect that Sir Richard Attenborough had for Mahatma Gandhi (Brussat). Very few movies in the history of film making have lived up to the actual historical events as the movie Gandhi did. Brilliantly directed by Attenborough, this movie was a masterpiece and presented a story of courage, non-violence, patriotism, and successfully freeing a country from the British Empire through the autobiography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who was popularly known to most Indian people as “Bapu” or father of the nation. Richard Attenborough accomplished in 188 minutes of this movie a feat that is unparalleled and almost impossible to synthesize over 50 years of Gandhi’s life. The stunning portrayal of Gandhi did not go unnoticed by the movie critics as Gandhi bagged eight Oscars during the 55th Academy Award Ceremony (“Gandhi”) including the best actor, best director, and the best movie of the year. Internationally acclaimed movie critic Jack Kroll said, “There are very few movies that absolutely must be seen. Sir Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi is one of them.” Richard Attenborough was brilliant as the maestro of the most beautiful artistic masterpiece that year and his creation included carefully selected cast to accurately depict the historical characters, particularly Ben Kingsley to play Gandhi’s role.
Sir Richard Attenborough did not make the movie Gandhi by accident. He was inspired by his father, and his own fascination with the charismatic leader, to make the film about Mahatma Gandhi. Attenborough did not have funds to make the film and was rejected by several financiers. The efforts to raise the funds almost bankrupted him. He spent nearly twenty years in his quest to make this movie (Attenborough). He had thoroughly researched the life of Mahatma Gandhi before making the film. Attenborough spent several years in India before making the movie visited Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace, studied the social structure, and examined Gandhi’s personal artifacts, including his glasses and clothes. He observed old historical documentaries to learn the personal traits of Gandhi, his style of walking, talking, and the fine details of his personality. Richard Attenborough had a budget of $20 Million (French) and he made a very good use of the amount in creating a brilliant film. The movie was praised for accuracy and cinematography throughout the world by Indians and people all over the world. When it was released, Gandhi became the most talked about movie, spurred debate about non-violence, and inspired millions of people to have hope, courage and fight for their rights.
Besides Attenborough’s brilliant direction, he was immensely successful in assembling the characters for the movie, who played important roles in this movie. Most notable of all actors was Ben Kingsley, who played the role of Mahatma Gandhi. To Attenborough, finding the right person to play the lead role was as critical as making the moving itself. Attenborough told New York Times in an interview, that Ben Kingsley was mesmeric the moment he came to the scene, and he knew that Kingsley was the right choice for the role (Bennetts). Ben Kingsley is a British actor, and playing a role of legendary historical figure like Mahatma Gandhi, was not an easy task for him. To do justice with the role, Kingsley spent several years in India, learning the culture, and ways about Mahatma Gandhi. He had a group of Gandhi historians teaching him about Gandhi. Ben Kingsley had to also learn to talk in Hindi, and not only that, but also talk like Gandhi. It is said, that he spent countless hours dressing like Gandhi, and learning to be like Gandhi for this movie role. In the movie, Kingsley aged fifty years, and portrayed the role of Gandhi, from a young man dressed in suit and tie as a barrister, to an older and wiser leader of India dressed in loin cloth. Alex Von Tunzelmann, in her critic of the film in The Guardian wrote, “Ben Kingsley’s performance as Gandhi is sublime: he has the intensity, the wit and even the distinctive determined walk. He also has the Gujarati heritage, though (ironically, considering Gandhi is the role which made him famous) he was obliged to drop his birth name – Krishna Bhanji – to facilitate his acting career.” Ben Kingsley’s performance as Gandhi was one of the most compelling reason for the enormous success the movie witnessed.
Attenborough presented the life of Mahatma Gandhi in a painstakingly detail in this movie. The movie showed an accurate depiction of the struggles in India and South Africa under the British colonial rule (“Best Films”). The movie was able to show the humble side of Mahatma Gandhi, but at the same time, it also showed his conviction about justice and accentuated his power to bring about change in his own country and around the world, through mobilizing masses, to follow his principles of non-violence. Attenborough’s attention to details in costume and set designs were impeccable and it recreated most realistic imagery of the historical events. The film was not thematically driven but rather presented a visual biography of the historical accounts. British authorities and military leaders were portrayed throughout this movie as barbaric and unhuman like. Attenborough chose to include a sequence of five minutes of massacre of Jallianwala Bagh by the British army of peaceful Indian protestors. The brutality of this scene was bone chilling for the audience and the effects were further enhanced when the General Dyer, British Lieutenant in-charge, defends his decision to kill over thousand innocent unarmed people (“Summary”). Some critics have pointed out that Attenborough depiction of Jallianwala Bagh massacre was only incidentally connected to Gandhi. Although it was a historical event in India’s freedom fight against British Empire, it did not have a direct relationship with Gandhi. In other words, it did not have significance in a movie to the life story of Gandhi. It is true that when Gandhi learnt about the massacre, he organized the non-violent protest against the British and used this unfortunate event as the fuel in the fire of freedom fight (Gupta).
Sir Richard Attenborough’s creation of Gandhi was a great gift to the world and the mankind at large. Although it took twenty years in planning and getting finances together, the movie was worth the wait. Attenborough was able to show the world the story of an Indian man who fought for justice and devoted his life to his people and fighting for freedom of his beloved homeland from the mighty British Empire. Attenborough was not in haste in making of this movie and spent time in bringing all aspects of the movie to perfection, its cast, setting, costume, and the filmography. He almost felt that it was his obligation to tell the story to the world, nearly forty years after the Impendence of India – as a story that will inspire and encourage all people of the world to fight against injustice and fight for freedom no matter how big and powerful the opposition is.
Work Cited
Attenborough, Richard. "Richard Attenborough: The Film Bosses Wanted Gandhi to Be Sexy - and Be Played by Richard Burton." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1052245/Richard-Attenborough-The-film-bosses-wanted-Gandhi-sexy--played-Richard-Burton.html>.
Bennetts, Leslie. "Ben Kingsley’s Journey From Hamlet to Gandhi." Best Pictures: Gandhi. New York Times, 13 Dec. 1982. Web. 4 May 2014. <https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fpackages%2Fhtml%2Fmovies%2Fbestpictures%2Fgandhi-ar4.html>.
"Best Films That Document the Life of Mahatma Gandhi." Best Films That Document the Life of Mahatma Gandhi. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2014. <http://goodtimes.ndtv.com/blog_more_comment.aspx?blog_id=289>.
Brussat, Frederick, and Mary Ann Brussat. "Spirituality & Practice: Film Review: Gandhi, Directed by Richard Attenborough." Spirituality & Practice: Film Review: Gandhi, Directed by Richard Attenborough. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2014. <http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/films.php?id=5012>.
French, Philip. "Gandhi." The Observer. Guardian News and Media, 04 Dec. 1982. Web. 03 May 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/1982/dec/05/features.philipfrench>.
"Gandhi." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083987/>.
Gupta, Akhil. "Attenborough's Truth: The Politics of Gandhi." : The Threepenny Review 15.Autumn (1983): 22-23. Web. 04 May 2014.
"Summary, Analysis, and Review of the Film “Gandhi” (1982)." Article Myriad. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2014. <http://www.articlemyriad.com/summary-analysis-review-film-gandhi/>.
Tunzelmann, Alex Von. "Gandhi: An Uncomplicated Man in Complicated times."Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 14 Oct. 2009. Web. 04 May 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/oct/14/gandhi-reel-history>.
“No man's life can be encompassed in one telling. There is no way to give each year its allotted weight, to include each event, each person who helped to shape a lifetime. What can be done is to be faithful in spirit to the record and try to find one's way to the heart of the man.” These are the opening words of the movie “Gandhi” and show the utmost respect that Sir Richard Attenborough had for Mahatma Gandhi (Brussat). Very few movies in the history of film making have lived up to the actual historical events as the movie Gandhi did. Brilliantly directed by Attenborough, this movie was a masterpiece and presented a story of courage, non-violence, patriotism, and successfully freeing a country from the British Empire through the autobiography of Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi who was popularly known to most Indian people as “Bapu” or father of the nation. Richard Attenborough accomplished in 188 minutes of this movie a feat that is unparalleled and almost impossible to synthesize over 50 years of Gandhi’s life. The stunning portrayal of Gandhi did not go unnoticed by the movie critics as Gandhi bagged eight Oscars during the 55th Academy Award Ceremony (“Gandhi”) including the best actor, best director, and the best movie of the year. Internationally acclaimed movie critic Jack Kroll said, “There are very few movies that absolutely must be seen. Sir Richard Attenborough’s Gandhi is one of them.” Richard Attenborough was brilliant as the maestro of the most beautiful artistic masterpiece that year and his creation included carefully selected cast to accurately depict the historical characters, particularly Ben Kingsley to play Gandhi’s role.
Sir Richard Attenborough did not make the movie Gandhi by accident. He was inspired by his father, and his own fascination with the charismatic leader, to make the film about Mahatma Gandhi. Attenborough did not have funds to make the film and was rejected by several financiers. The efforts to raise the funds almost bankrupted him. He spent nearly twenty years in his quest to make this movie (Attenborough). He had thoroughly researched the life of Mahatma Gandhi before making the film. Attenborough spent several years in India before making the movie visited Mahatma Gandhi’s birthplace, studied the social structure, and examined Gandhi’s personal artifacts, including his glasses and clothes. He observed old historical documentaries to learn the personal traits of Gandhi, his style of walking, talking, and the fine details of his personality. Richard Attenborough had a budget of $20 Million (French) and he made a very good use of the amount in creating a brilliant film. The movie was praised for accuracy and cinematography throughout the world by Indians and people all over the world. When it was released, Gandhi became the most talked about movie, spurred debate about non-violence, and inspired millions of people to have hope, courage and fight for their rights.
Besides Attenborough’s brilliant direction, he was immensely successful in assembling the characters for the movie, who played important roles in this movie. Most notable of all actors was Ben Kingsley, who played the role of Mahatma Gandhi. To Attenborough, finding the right person to play the lead role was as critical as making the moving itself. Attenborough told New York Times in an interview, that Ben Kingsley was mesmeric the moment he came to the scene, and he knew that Kingsley was the right choice for the role (Bennetts). Ben Kingsley is a British actor, and playing a role of legendary historical figure like Mahatma Gandhi, was not an easy task for him. To do justice with the role, Kingsley spent several years in India, learning the culture, and ways about Mahatma Gandhi. He had a group of Gandhi historians teaching him about Gandhi. Ben Kingsley had to also learn to talk in Hindi, and not only that, but also talk like Gandhi. It is said, that he spent countless hours dressing like Gandhi, and learning to be like Gandhi for this movie role. In the movie, Kingsley aged fifty years, and portrayed the role of Gandhi, from a young man dressed in suit and tie as a barrister, to an older and wiser leader of India dressed in loin cloth. Alex Von Tunzelmann, in her critic of the film in The Guardian wrote, “Ben Kingsley’s performance as Gandhi is sublime: he has the intensity, the wit and even the distinctive determined walk. He also has the Gujarati heritage, though (ironically, considering Gandhi is the role which made him famous) he was obliged to drop his birth name – Krishna Bhanji – to facilitate his acting career.” Ben Kingsley’s performance as Gandhi was one of the most compelling reason for the enormous success the movie witnessed.
Attenborough presented the life of Mahatma Gandhi in a painstakingly detail in this movie. The movie showed an accurate depiction of the struggles in India and South Africa under the British colonial rule (“Best Films”). The movie was able to show the humble side of Mahatma Gandhi, but at the same time, it also showed his conviction about justice and accentuated his power to bring about change in his own country and around the world, through mobilizing masses, to follow his principles of non-violence. Attenborough’s attention to details in costume and set designs were impeccable and it recreated most realistic imagery of the historical events. The film was not thematically driven but rather presented a visual biography of the historical accounts. British authorities and military leaders were portrayed throughout this movie as barbaric and unhuman like. Attenborough chose to include a sequence of five minutes of massacre of Jallianwala Bagh by the British army of peaceful Indian protestors. The brutality of this scene was bone chilling for the audience and the effects were further enhanced when the General Dyer, British Lieutenant in-charge, defends his decision to kill over thousand innocent unarmed people (“Summary”). Some critics have pointed out that Attenborough depiction of Jallianwala Bagh massacre was only incidentally connected to Gandhi. Although it was a historical event in India’s freedom fight against British Empire, it did not have a direct relationship with Gandhi. In other words, it did not have significance in a movie to the life story of Gandhi. It is true that when Gandhi learnt about the massacre, he organized the non-violent protest against the British and used this unfortunate event as the fuel in the fire of freedom fight (Gupta).
Sir Richard Attenborough’s creation of Gandhi was a great gift to the world and the mankind at large. Although it took twenty years in planning and getting finances together, the movie was worth the wait. Attenborough was able to show the world the story of an Indian man who fought for justice and devoted his life to his people and fighting for freedom of his beloved homeland from the mighty British Empire. Attenborough was not in haste in making of this movie and spent time in bringing all aspects of the movie to perfection, its cast, setting, costume, and the filmography. He almost felt that it was his obligation to tell the story to the world, nearly forty years after the Impendence of India – as a story that will inspire and encourage all people of the world to fight against injustice and fight for freedom no matter how big and powerful the opposition is.
Work Cited
Attenborough, Richard. "Richard Attenborough: The Film Bosses Wanted Gandhi to Be Sexy - and Be Played by Richard Burton." Mail Online. Associated Newspapers, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014. <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1052245/Richard-Attenborough-The-film-bosses-wanted-Gandhi-sexy--played-Richard-Burton.html>.
Bennetts, Leslie. "Ben Kingsley’s Journey From Hamlet to Gandhi." Best Pictures: Gandhi. New York Times, 13 Dec. 1982. Web. 4 May 2014. <https%3A%2F%2Fwww.nytimes.com%2Fpackages%2Fhtml%2Fmovies%2Fbestpictures%2Fgandhi-ar4.html>.
"Best Films That Document the Life of Mahatma Gandhi." Best Films That Document the Life of Mahatma Gandhi. N.p., n.d. Web. 03 May 2014. <http://goodtimes.ndtv.com/blog_more_comment.aspx?blog_id=289>.
Brussat, Frederick, and Mary Ann Brussat. "Spirituality & Practice: Film Review: Gandhi, Directed by Richard Attenborough." Spirituality & Practice: Film Review: Gandhi, Directed by Richard Attenborough. N.p., n.d. Web. 06 May 2014. <http://www.spiritualityandpractice.com/films/films.php?id=5012>.
French, Philip. "Gandhi." The Observer. Guardian News and Media, 04 Dec. 1982. Web. 03 May 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/1982/dec/05/features.philipfrench>.
"Gandhi." IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 03 May 2014. <http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0083987/>.
Gupta, Akhil. "Attenborough's Truth: The Politics of Gandhi." : The Threepenny Review 15.Autumn (1983): 22-23. Web. 04 May 2014.
"Summary, Analysis, and Review of the Film “Gandhi” (1982)." Article Myriad. N.p., n.d. Web. 04 May 2014. <http://www.articlemyriad.com/summary-analysis-review-film-gandhi/>.
Tunzelmann, Alex Von. "Gandhi: An Uncomplicated Man in Complicated times."Theguardian.com. Guardian News and Media, 14 Oct. 2009. Web. 04 May 2014. <http://www.theguardian.com/film/2009/oct/14/gandhi-reel-history>.