The movie follows the life of Gandhi from small time lawyer to leader of a major movement. The movie starts off with Gandhi in South Africa fighting for the rights of Indians there. He challenges the authority of the British and ultimately wins. He uses what would become his trademark non-violent resistance. After his victory in South Africa he returns to India a reluctant hero. The leaders of India see him as a person who can help them gain their Independence from England. Meanwhile Gandhi decided to travel around India to see what real India is like. There he sees poverty and devastation all around and fights for the causes of the people in the individual areas. As his notoriety grows we see him begin to change as a person. No longer looking like a lawyer he dresses like the people he meets in the streets and prisons. This only add to his popularity among the people. When the leaders finally realize his immense popularity they want him to support their revolution. He agrees with their cause but doesn't want to use guns but the non-violent civil resistance methods he used in South Africa. He organizes a day where they refuse to work and effectively shut down the country. This really gets the English to notice and the English struggle to know what to do with him. If they throw him in jail it only encourages the masses but if they don't do anything he continues to speak to great crowds. After numerous ups and down he eventually gets the whole world to notice and gets lots of press coverage of the atrocities that the English commits on them. Eventually leading to the forming of a free India. The formation of the new government does not come without consequences. While everyone was united against Britain as soon as they try to take control of their own country the old untrust between Hindu's and Muslim's comes to the surface and leads to the creation of India and Pakistan much to Gandhi's displeasure. It is the conflict between the two religions that ultimately leads to Gandhi's assassination in 1948.
The movie starts with a disclaimer of sorts that says "No man's life can be encompassed in one telling...least of all Gandhi's whose passage through life was so entwined with his nations struggle for freedom. There is no way to give each event its allocated weight, to recount the deeds and sacrifices of all the great men and women to whom he and India owe such immense debts. What can be done is be faithful in spirit to the record of his journey, and to try to find one's way to the heart of the man..." I think something like this should start all biographical films. All movies take some creative license in their telling but the goal is always getting at the spirit of the subject. I think this movie definitely does that. Even if you know there is a lot missing from the story you feel like you really get to know the man and his philosophy. The story is really engrossing and keeps you captivated the whole three hours. Ben Kingsley does a brilliant job as Gandhi and deservedly won Best Actor. His transformation on screen was amazing. He truly embodied the essence of Gandhi. Everything thing in this movie is amazing.
1982 was a crowded year for great movies. There were a number of other movies that could have easily won Best Picture. In fact Richard Attenborugh who won Best Director for Gandhi was not expecting to win either Best Picture or Best Director. Instead he thought that Steven Spielberg would and should have won for E.T.-The Extra Terrestrial. E.T was nominated for 9 awards and won 4 including Best Score for John William his fourth Oscar. Also released that year were other favorites Tootsie, Victor/Victoria, Das Boot and The Verdict. It is hard to say the Academy made a mistake by selecting Gandhi as Best Picture but I have heard it a few times that it should not have won. As much as I like E.T. and Tootsie I still think that Gandhi should have won.
Oscar Facts:
Tron was disqualified from Best Visual Effects because it used computers. It was considered at the time that computers were cheating over hand drawn effects. (ET won Best Visual Effects beating Blade Runner and Poltergeist).
Jessica Lange was nominated for Best Actress for Frances and Best Supporting Actress for Tootsie. The first time that the same person had been nominated in both a main and supporting acting category since Barry Fitzgerald did it in Going My Way in 1944. (she only won Best Supporting Actress).
By The Numbers
Gandhi is currently ranked #183 on IMDB Top 250 but did not make AFI's Top 100 List
E.T. The Extraterrestrial was ranked #25 on AFI's Top 100 Movies in 1997 and #24 in 2007.
Tootsie was ranked #62 AFI's Top 100 Movies in 1997 and #69 in 2007.
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