My Vote For The Best Fim Biography Ever Made!
This movie was the realization of a lifetime dream for Sir Richard Attenborough, who finally succeeded in bringing this incredible spectacular to theatrical release in 1982. I was living outside London working for the American Forces in the greater London area at the time, so was thrilled to have the privilege to see this movie in its limited initial release in Britain, and was amazed by its scope, accuracy and integrity in bringing the quite controversial facts surrounding Gandhi's life and politically-motivated assassination to the screen. Ben Kingsley is simply magnificent as the diminutive, principled, and indefatiguable lawyer, humanitarian, and citizen of the world with an uncannily prescient feel for what was possible for a determined and energetic person as well as how to achieve his lofty otherworldly goals right here on earth.
Based on his appraoch here, Attenborough seems to have learned much from such masterful British film-makers as David Lean, for the use...
A Great Soul's Life.
It all began simple enough - with the purchase of a first class train ticket by Mr. Mohandas Gandhi, Esq., recently arrived in South Africa, and unaware that as an Indian, he was required to travel third class and not entitled to such a ticket. Literally thrown off the train for his transgression, the young attorney, embodied to perfection by Ben Kingsley, spent a full night sitting on the platform, musing how best to respond to such discrimination. Shortly thereafter, and after consultations with established members of his community, he wrote his first treatises and organized his first demonstrations. And when participants of a protest assembly stood up and proclaimed their willingness to die in the fight against suppression, Gandhi once and for all formulated his doctrine of nonviolent protest: "They may torture my body, break my bones; even kill me. Then they will have my dead body - not my obedience."
Shot largely on four Indian locations, Richard Attenborough's...
What a Great Soul he was
I watched this movie years ago having not seen it since I was a kid. After watching it I decided to write my senior research paper about him, as I wanted an excuse to not just read and absorb him, but gush about him to someone.
Gandhi was a great man. What a tale it is, from being a reletively simple, unknown attorney to becoming one of the greatest world leaders in history. His turning point moment came when he was thrown off a train for sitting in the first class car in South Africa. He would not allow for Indians to be treated like third class citizens anymore and moved towards equality. Not only did he achieve the smaller equalities, but he overthrew the British Empire's occupation and at long last freed India.
I will spare the blow by blow of this movie, as it tells his story so well (if just glossing over just a few of his major points and good works for people). But this movie, as well as his written work, taught me how to be a better person...
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