Day 64: An Eye For An Eye Only Makes The Whole World Blind

GANDHI (1982)
Directed by Richard Attenborough
Starring: Ben Kingsley, Roshan Seth, Saeed Jaffery, Alyque Padamsee, Candace Bergen, John Gielgud, Martin Sheen, Trevor Howard
There are two ways I could talk about this film.  I could either A) talk about the technical aspects of the production, which would bore all but a select few of my readers; or, I could B) just talk about how this film made me feel, which makes more sense.  After all, this film wasn't made so a bunch of film techies could sit around on a Friday night talking about how great the camera work is.  Gandhi  was made to elicit an emotional reaction, which is exactly what it does.

In fact, my own reaction to the film is really one of awe.  Kingsley's portrayal of Gandhi was done with great reverence, and it's astounding how much he actually looked like Gandhi.  He really got lost in the role, which helped me get lost in the story.  Keeping the audience's interest is key in any film, but even more so when you've got something important to say.

Of course, there is a difference between Gandhi the man and Gandhi the character, and I think what we get here is more of a character.  But we don't get a characature, which would have defeated the whole purpose.  However, Attenborough doesn't shy away from the fact that he's making a narrative film and not a documentary.  And it is an epic film, at that.  But he borrows more from David Lean than Cecil B. DeMille, which is a good thing.  It's actually a bit of an oddity to have a movie that this big (30,000 extras were used for the funeral scene alone), but doesn't become cartoony.  That danger must have been on Attenborough's mind quite a bit.  I imagine it would be on the mind of anyone who would make a movie about such an important subject.

I realize I wrote more about the impact the movie had on me than the movie itself, but then again, it's that kind of a movie.  Yes, it's beautifully shot, wonderfully acted and lovingly made, but it really is more than the sum of its parts.  It's the story of a man who changed the direction of his country, but in the end, couldn't change human nature.  But the fact that he tried is what made him so noble and such a fascinating figure.