Gandhi (1982)

Gandhi's character is fully explained as a man of nonviolence. Through his patience, he is able to drive the British out of the subcontinent. And the stubborn nature of Jinnah and his commitment towards Pakistan is portrayed.

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writer:

John Briley

Stars:

Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Rohini Hattangadi

Top Rated Movies #228 | Won 8 Oscars. Another 27 wins & 20 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Kingsley	...	Mahatma Gandhi
Rohini Hattangadi	...	Kasturba Gandhi (as Rohini Hattangady)
Roshan Seth	...	Pandit Nehru
Candice Bergen	...	Margaret Bourke-White
Edward Fox	...	General Dyer
John Gielgud	...	Lord Irwin
Trevor Howard	...	Judge Broomfield
John Mills	...	The Viceroy
Martin Sheen	...	Walker
Ian Charleson	...	Charlie Andrews
Günther Maria Halmer	...	Herman Kallenbach (as Gunter Maria Halmer)
Athol Fugard	...	General Smuts
Saeed Jaffrey	...	Sardar Patel
Geraldine James	...	Mirabehn
Alyque Padamsee	...	Mohamed Ali Jinnah

Storyline

In 1893, Mohandas K. Gandhi is thrown off a South African train for being an Indian and traveling in a first class compartment. Gandhi realizes that the laws are biased against Indians and decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After numerous arrests and the unwanted attention of the world, the government finally relents by recognizing rights for Indians, though not for the native blacks of South Africa. After this victory, Gandhi is invited back to India, where he is now considered something of a national hero. He is urged to take up the fight for India's independence from the British Empire. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a non-violent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented scale, coordinating millions of Indians nationwide. There are some setbacks, such as violence against the protesters and Gandhi's occasional imprisonment. Nevertheless, the campaign generates great attention, and Britain faces intense public pressure. Too weak...

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Plot Keywords:

india | independence | hindu | peace | british india | 

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Taglines:

The Man of the Century. The Motion Picture of a Lifetime.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK India USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Richard Attenborough's Film: Gandhi

Filming Locations:

Delhi, India

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$131,153, 12 December 1982, Limited Release

Gross USA:

$52,767,889

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$127,767,889

Company Credits

Production Co:

International Film Investors, National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), Goldcrest Films International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

191 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) (as Dolby Stereo: in selected threatres) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.39 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Steven Spielberg, who lost the Best Picture and Best Director awards to Sir Richard Attenborough, later used several cast members in his own movies. Roshan Seth and Om Puri appeared in Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984). Director Sir Richard Attenborough appeared in Jurassic Park (1993) and The Lost World: Jurassic Park (1997). Sir Ben Kingsley appeared in Schindler's List (1993), which finally did win Best Picture and Best Director for Spielberg. Sir Nigel Hawthorne appeared in Amistad (1997). Martin Sheen appeared in Catch Me If You Can (2002). Finally, Daniel Day-Lewis appeared in Lincoln (2012), which which he, like Kingsley, won an Oscar for Best Actor, and in which his character is also felled by an assassin.

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Goofs

The standing lamp on the right of the screen next to Judge Broomfield moves to the right when the Judge says "nevertheless, it is my duty...".

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Quotes

[first lines]
Hindu: He will be saying prayers in the garden. Just follow the others.

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Crazy Credits

The producers express their thanks in the closing credits to The National Spiritual Assembly of the Bahá'ís of India for the use of its grounds and exteriors for filming locations.

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Alternate Versions

The original theatrical release had an intermission at approximately 1 hour 31 minutes in. The second part of the film was preceded by a 3 minute musical interlude over a black screen. Most subsequent releases omitted the intermission. The DVD release includes the Intermission title card and musical interlude.

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Connections

Referenced in At the Movies: Episode #5.39 (2008)

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Soundtracks

God Save the King!
(1744) (uncredited)
Music attributed to Henry Carey
Sung by Ben Kingsley
Reprised when India achieves independence

User Reviews

Beautiful Film

"The object of this massive tribute died as he had always lived, without wealth, without property, without official title or office. Mahatma Gandhi was not the commander of armies, nor the ruler of vast lands. He could not boast any scientific achievement or artistic gift. Yet men, governments, dignitaries from all over the world, have joined hands today to pay homage to the little brown man in the loin cloth, who led his country to freedom."

This quote is from the funeral scene in the 1982 film "Gandhi". Richard Attenborough directed this massive epic about the man that freed India. The film opens with Gandhi's assassination. The next scene, his funeral, is one of the greatest scenes in cinematic history. Attenborough managed to recreate Gandhi's funeral on January 31st, 1981, the 33rd anniversary of the actual funeral. It is estimated that nearly 400,000 people were on hand to be a part of the filming the recreation. This film was made before CGI (computer generated images), so the funeral scene is probably the last live action crowd of that magnitude that will ever be filmed.

Mahatma Gandhi's message of non-violent resistance is delivered in an interesting and enthralling body of art. This film has made and will make millions of people aware of the little brown man that took on the British Empire and won. "Gandhi" serves both as entertainment and an important historical record of one of the most important figures in history.

Ben Kingsley played Gandhi. He was the perfect for the role. He resembled the real Gandhi. He was young enough to portray Gandhi as a young man. He is a British actor that nailed the British influenced Indian accent. He is a wonderful actor that was patient and humble with such an important part. And he was a relatively unknown actor at the time, so the "big-time actor" persona did not get in the way of viewing the film. He did win both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for best actor, for this role, which I agree he deserved. He became Gandhi.

The cinematography was outstanding. Attenborough filmed "Gandhi" on location in India. The scenes of India are spectacular, and India is very much another character in the film. This film is as much about India itself as it is about Gandhi. Attenborough shows the audience the people of India from its countryside to the vast city of Calcutta. It is suggested by Kingsley, on the DVD, that Attenborough had a difficult time with the elite class in India at the time of filming. They were against the making of such a film by an Englishman. Undeterred by their negative thinking, he persevered to enlist thousands of Indians to help make this film. Every crowd scene, he used real Indians from the area. Attenborough also won both the Academy Award and Golden Globe for best direction.

This movie is a must see for everyone. It should be required viewing in high schools, as part of History class. The fight against prejudice will forever be relevant. It is also a beautiful work of art. This movie is not tainted by the embellishment of Hollywood (see "Pearl Harbor" for that). Of course, it would have been hard to screw up a movie about such a great man. 10/10