Delayed Reaction: Gandhi

Premise: The story of Mahatma Gandhi.

 

This is long overdue. For a couple years now, it's been the only Best Picture winner in the last 40+ years that I hadn't seen. It's among the most dominant winners I hadn't seen. It's odd that it took this long too, because I've always been curious about it. I believe this is the last Best Picture winner with an intermission in it. It's not the longest winner since then (Titanic and The Return of the King have it beat). The intermission is the sign of an era change though. Gandhi feels like the last real classical epic to win Best Picture. The movie belongs more with the 60s than the 80s. This is Lawrence of Arabia only with a protagonist with less hubris. The most impressive scenes are the ones with hundreds of extras and it's pushed forward by a towering performance. While other biopics and epics have won since then, they've had a different feel to them.

 

Ben Kingsley has had an odd career, right? He was a TV actor until he was picked for Gandhi, which earned him all the awards. He's never gone away, even from Oscar movies, but it wasn't the leading man career you'd expect a Best Actor award would come with. And at this point, he's battling Samuel L. Jackson for the easiest "Yes" in Hollywood. I assume much of this is tied to Hollywood just not finding a lot of room for people who look like him. Also though, there is a pretty long history of actors peaking with a Best Actor win then filmmakers not knowing what to do with them. You'll sometimes hear of people lamenting Oscar wins because it priced them out of their best roles in the eyes of filmmakers (i.e., "I can't ask him to take this 5th-billed supporting role. He has an Oscar!"). I also sort of think Beg Kingsley just likes working more than protecting his reputation. Maybe he could've taken the Daniel Day-Lewis route. Instead, he preferred using his free time on a Lucky Number Slevin over training himself as a cobbler.

 

Like many biopics, it's more interesting tracking Gandhi's rise that his, well, not quite fall, but sustaining his influence. Once the movie moves into the diplomatic discussions of how independence will be given and the feuding between the Hindus and Muslims, the movie gets a little stale. I really didn't need this movie to be 3 hours. It doesn't move that smoothly. I was expecting a movie that aged much worse. Perhaps it beatifies Gandhi a little too much. That's about it though. I'd be more interested in some reflection on his flaws. I didn't find much in this that was embarrassing in terms of dated depictions. I like that it felt like an undeniable Best Picture winner (which shouldn't be confused with it being my favorite movie of 1982).

 

Verdict: Weakly Recommend