Review of Gandhi (1982) by Melody H — 13 Sep 2016

Melody Hill.

Mohandas Gandhi is a Hindu man on a mission. His mission is to fight against the British Government who rule over his country and suppress his people. His goal is Freedom for him and his people no matter the cost. It is tale of good vs evil. Who will triumph?

This is a movie of inspiration and one that will leave you looking in the mirror questioning your own morals and values. It is an autobiographical movie of Mohandas Gandhi. The movie Gandhi starts in reverse. It shows Gandhi as an elderly man in New Delhi India being executed in front of a large crowd of followers by what appears to be a young man of Indian accent. Then the movie goes back in time to 1893 in Southern Africa where we see a Gandhi as a young attorney. He sees what he calls injustice laws against Hindus, Muslims and other minorities and he begins to protest by burning the British passages or laws. The British police officers proceed to beat him with canes until he passes out and is later put in prison. The word spreads quickly of Gandhi and his non-violent protest. His believe is that, like Christ, you must be willing to take on violence without violence then the angry toward them decreases. This becomes the underlining theme of the movie.

Once the non-violence movement was started in South Africa Gandhi went back to his home country of India in 1915. This is where he tried to unite his people against the British rule and led many non-violent protest to gain their freedom. Over 1500 Indians were killed at the hands of the British armies. After going to prison and court many times Gandhi finally led his people to Freedom, but the ones who united with him started a civil war amongst the Muslims and Hindus, which leads us to the final scene of Gandhi being shot and killed. With his death he created one of the largest religious movements in history.

This is my second time watching this movie. It inspires me and has me look at my own religion in comparison. Gandhi was not just a Hindu but a God follower who accepted all religions. His teachings and the way he lived his life can be seen in other religions today. For example in Christianity we also teach that Jesus (God) was a believer of non-violence all the way to his death. It also speaks of fasting and pray to come closer to God and other Christians. Gandhi used pray and fasting in the same way. Gandhi lived as a minimalist. He made his own clothes, grew his own food, helped built villages and anything else he needed. This is similar to Buddhism, where they do not believe in worshipping material possession, but rather live as beggars. They believe this will bring them to an enlighten state. Overall, Gandhi has influenced a variety of people and religions through his movement.