Review of Gandhi (1982) by Cameron J — 15 Jul 2012

I can't believe Ben Kingsley as Indian; no wait, I'm sorry, I meant to say that I can't believe Ben Kingsley [u]is[/u] Indian, or at least of Indian descent. Jeez, forget New York Italians, it's the English-Indians who really look Jewish. Well, in all fairness, Kingsley is Anglo-Indian and English-born, with Indian, South African and either German or Russia blood, so I'd imagine that somewhere along the way, his gene pool went sensory overload and made him look Jewish, on top of English, Anglo-Indian, South African and either German or Russian. Hey, Gandhi believed in cultural unison, so I guess Kingsley is a better casting than we thought. No, if they were making casting determinations based on how diverse someone's culture is, then Daniel Day-Lewis would be much bigger than tertiary in this film, because he's a British-Irish Jew who plays a South African somewhere in this film (It's an over three-hour epic about someone who united whole cultures of people; I've neither time nor commitment to try and figure out who's who). Eh, as good of an actor as Day-Lewis is, I'm glad they stuck with sticking him in a bit part, because as he went on to show us through "Gangs of New York", it doesn't matter how great the central character's performer is (Poor DiCaprio), the critics are gonna focus on Day-Lewis (This was before he broke out, but speaking of bloodlines, it seems to be in critics' genes to identify and praise Day-Lewis over everyone else), and let me tell you, Kingsley earned undivided attention with this performance, especially when you consider that, in the '80s, we should have been enjoying Kingsley in an actually good film while we could. Still, as good as this film is, its quality, like Gandhi himself, goes starved, and by more than a few problematic factors.

The film is indeed slow and dry, creeping along with limited flare in the air, thus leaving engagement value to run the risk of lapsing on several occasions, if you're lucky, of course, because more than disengaging, the film simply gets kind of dull in its being dryness. To make matters worse, the film is hardly immediate, running at well over three hours and having very little trimmed from the story of Gandhi, which isn't to say that I'd rather have the film tell us too little instead of too much, as a story this worthy can't afford to go rushed in its retelling, yet the fact of the matter is that the film still tells you a little bit too much, to the point of feeling rather bloated and even a touch repetitious, thus leaving the film to lose steam in some spots, after a while. The film's limited tightness in story structure certainly intensifies the rather matter-of-fact feel that somewhat taints the resonance of the film, as it leaves the film to seem more interested in telling Gandhi's story rather than dramatising it. Still, the moments in which this film gets too matter-of-fact only occur on the rarest of occasions, because director Richard Attenborough isn't about to let you forget that this film is a dramatisation of Gandhi's life, as he is obviously pretty excited about his work, though perhaps too excited. I wouldn't say that Attenborough is overwhelmingly sure-handed, yet he remains sure-handed in his nevertheless, and in a fairly David Lean fashion, giving this film a sense of self-pride that is not at all arrogant, yet dilutes a bit of the film's subtle depths, and with certain dramatic points being presented with a degree of sentimentality, the overall intrigue of the film is left not as intense as it should. Yes, there are more than a few factors within this film that are worthy a complaint, and yet, quite honestly, most of my complaints are, in fact, slight. Sure, such bigger issues as the slowness really do hold the film back, yet through thick and thin, the film ultimately emerges very rewarding, and certainly engagingly sweeping.

As I said, the film feels very David Lean, though not just in its being rather slow and sure-handed, but also - nay - primarily in its scope, being intimate enough for you to get a feel for the story, as well as sweeping enough for you to get a full grasp of the impact, dynamicity and overall grandness of the story. For this feel, much credit goes out to cinematographers Billy Williams and Ronnie Taylor for providing such grand and graceful scope, as well as the production designers and art directors for constructing such a dynamic and intricate world that both gives us something nifty to behold and absorbs a lot of believable life from the story, thus making the story structure even stronger, and the story structure is pretty strong to begin with. True, John Briley's story structure is perhaps too loose, boasting too much material and even some repetition, to the point of excessively bloating the film, yet the fact of the matter is that Briley provides much extensive depth, and while much of it is a tad bloated, there is still much of it that is tight, dwelling just long enough on certain points for you to lock in on the situation, and thanks to Richard Attenborough's storytelling, you can often expect to get a very profound feel for these situations. Yes, Attenborough's direction is flawed, largely because he's too proud of his accomplishments to focus on creating genuine resonance, yet when the film does transcend sentimentality and sure-handedness to produce genuineness, it's borderline, if not decidedly piercing, and the build to points like those, alone, enthrall you. Attenborough provides much intrigue throughout the film in order to keep you generally engaged, yet as the plot thickens, Attenborough graces the storytelling with sweepingly dynamic layers that grow more and more profound, thus leaving the film to, by extension, grow more and more compelling, until by the end, you'd be hard pressed to not be left generally satisfied on a visceral level by the thoroughly fascinating, when not engrossing epic. Attenborough's production and direction are sweeping and generally engaging, yet the man who is spotless and relentless in his being so engrossing is, of course, leading man Ben Kingsley as - and I really mean "as" - the great titular figure. Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi was a brilliant and great man, yet still a human, with imperfections, room to learn and limitations in his effectiveness, and the way Kingsley charismatically and believably portrays Gandhi's essence and layers, from the growing of his wisdom to the intensifying of his fears for the fate of his people and even his so-called "enemies", is hauntingly transcendent, and after a while, you forget Kingsley's presence and only see Gandhi, and such an engrossing transformation by Kingsely is just one of the many rewarding aspects behind this worthwhile biopic.

In conclusion, the film is consistently slow and dry, sometimes to the point of just plain limping along, partially thanks to the excessive material and even some repetition, thus leaving the film to drag on, lose some steam and hurt the resonance of this film, which goes further damaged as an effective drama by director Richard Attenorough's rather sure-handed and, on occasions, somewhat sentimental direction, and yet, at the end of the day, the film works through many of its shortcomings to stand as rewarding, particularly as an epic, as it is anything but short on dazzlingly dynamic and intricate production designs and grand cinematography to give the film an epic sweep, yet not at the expense of deep intimacy with the story, which goes generally well structured by writer John Briley and generally well executed by director Richard Attenborough, whose ever-intensifying intrigue, moments of genuinely effective resonance and overall inspiration creates a fascinating and viscerally engrossing epic, made all the more engaging by a hauntingly charismatic and utterly transformative lead performance by Ben Kingsley, thus leaving "Gandhi" to ultimately stand as a perhaps too flawed, yet still rewardingly sweeping, provocative and altogether compelling portrait on the man who profoundly affected the world without raising a hand of combative resistance.

3/5 - Good.