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Gandhi Movie Review

Gandhi is a 1982 historical biographical film about India’s leader Mohandas Gandhi, it is directed by Richard Attenborough and it won Best Picture in 1983.

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“The only devils in the world are those

running around in our own hearts,

and that is where all our battles ought to be fought“

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This is the film that, like ‘Chariots of Fire’ the year before, won Best Picture and did not deserve that at all. This is the story that is of course important and always relevant, but the major problem I have with it is of course the extended running time. There is no need for 3 hours here and it highlights how the movies that win Oscars are usually very long which is super frustrating and needless. It starts off great but it quickly gets boring, repetitive and simply tiresome.

The character development is weak here, except for the main character understandably, not one of them stands out. And the direction and of course the editing and pacing are incredibly troublesome. As is the plot development and characterization.

But, why I think that, unlike ‘Chariots of Fire’, Gandhi is nonetheless not a mediocre movie? Well, largely of course due to incredible Ben Kingsley who is masterful in the role, he literally embodied and became the man. And all of the performances are good. I especially liked the character development of Gandhi in that he is not portrayed as a God-like figure, but a human with his troubles and problems and that is crucial to his character’s success along with of course Kingsley’s powerhouse performance. Also, the first act with about 40 minutes or so is absolutely excellent and very engaging and well done. It is interesting to watch and an incredible history lesson and an origin to the movement. It is unfortunate that it all went downhill afterwards when it clearly started off incredibly strong with a lot to offer. The movie turned out definitely disappointing because it had a lot of potential.

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The first act is very good and the character development of the lead character is superb along with a powerhouse performance from Ben Kingsley, but Gandhi nevertheless ends up being an incredibly disappointing and troublesome film because the editing and pacing are problematic due to unnecessarily long running time, the film is incredibly boring and tedious afterwards and it all just went downhill after the first half which is a real shame because it could have been a great film. It is all a solid and watchable fare, but very flawed and problematic nevertheless.

My Rating – 3

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