The dramatic story revolves around a man named Gandhi, a lawyer who was unfairly discriminated against and decided to launch a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After many arrests and unwanted attention by the world, the government finally deviates from the recognition of Indian rights. After this victory, Gandhi agrees to a campaign of nonviolent non-violence of unprecedented scope and coordinates millions of Indians nationwide. There are some setbacks, such as violence against protesters and Gandhi's occasional imprisonment. However, the campaign is generating considerable attention, and Britain is under intense public pressure.
In playing Gandhi, an actor must be less concerned with physical verisimilitude than with spiritual presence, and here Kingsley is nothing short of astonishing.
The movie aims primarily to demonstrate how such a man could accomplish so much, but also how monumental his task was and how it ultimately claimed his life
Tthe film Gandhi is more stuffy than stately, more prestigious than prodigious. It never quite captures the essence of Gandhi, or the influence he exerted on other leaders, including Martin Luther King. It's a broad but shallow river of information.
Once in a long while a motion picture so eloquently expressive and technically exquisite comes along that one is tempted to hail it as being near perfect.
Attenborough's work lacks even the undercurrent of personality that David Lean brought to his films: the film has no flavor but that of the standard Hollywood hagiography.
While Kingsley (who took one of eight Oscars) is the glue that holds this epic piece together, you must relish a cast that includes John Gielgud, Edward Fox, John Mills, Martin Sheen and Roshan Seth.
The inability to capture moments of simple, uncomplicated emotion show up the hollowness and over-staged theatricality of Richard Attenborough's Gandhi with exasperating frequency.
