Gandhi (1982)

Biography of Mohandas K. Gandhi, the lawyer who became the famed leader of the Indian revolts against the British rule through his philosophy of non-violent protest.

Director:

Richard Attenborough

Writer:

John Briley

Stars:

Ben Kingsley, John Gielgud, Candice Bergen

Top 250 #187 | Won 8 Oscars. Another 30 wins & 16 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Ben Kingsley	...	Mahatma Gandhi
Candice Bergen	...	Margaret Bourke-White
Edward Fox	...	General Dyer
John Gielgud	...	Lord Irwin
Trevor Howard	...	Judge Broomfield
John Mills	...	The Viceroy
Martin Sheen	...	Walker
Ian Charleson	...	Charlie Andrews
Athol Fugard	...	General Smuts
Günther Maria Halmer	...	Herman Kallenbach (as Gunter Maria Halmer)
Saeed Jaffrey	...	Sardar Patel
Geraldine James	...	Mirabehn
Alyque Padamsee	...	Mohammed Ali Jinnah
Amrish Puri	...	Khan
Roshan Seth	...	Pandit Nehru

Storyline

In 1893, Gandhi is thrown off a South African train for being an Indian and traveling in a first class compartment. Gandhi realizes that the laws are biased against Indians and decides to start a non-violent protest campaign for the rights of all Indians in South Africa. After numerous arrests and the unwanted attention of the world, the government finally relents by recognizing rights for Indians, though not for the native blacks of South Africa. After this victory, Gandhi is invited back to India, where he is now considered something of a national hero. He is urged to take up the fight for India's independence from the British Empire. Gandhi agrees, and mounts a non-violent non-cooperation campaign of unprecedented scale, coordinating millions of Indians nationwide. There are some setbacks, such as violence against the protesters and Gandhi's occasional imprisonment. Nevertheless, the campaign generates great attention, and Britain faces intense public pressure. Too weak from World ...

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Plot Keywords:

India | Indian | British | Muslim | Hindu | 

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Taglines:

His Triumph Changed The World Forever.

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Genres:

Biography | Drama | History

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Certificate:

PG

Details

Country:

UK India

Language:

English

Release Date:

25 February 1983 (USA)

Also Known As:

Richard Attenborough's Film: Gandhi

Filming Locations:

Aga Khan Palace, Nagar Rd, Pune, Maharashtra, India

Box Office

Budget:

$22,000,000 (estimated)

Gross:

SEK 12,044,631 (Sweden)

Company Credits

Production Co:

International Film Investors, National Film Development Corporation of India (NFDC), Goldcrest Films International

Technical Specs

Runtime:

191 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby (35 mm prints) (as Dolby Stereo) 70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints)

Color:

Black and White Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Richard Attenborough first offered Candice Bergen her cameo role in 1966 while they were filming The Sand Pebbles.

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Goofs

Lord Irwin, in real life, was born with a withered left arm with no hand. However, he is shown several times in the movie with both a left and right hand.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Hindu: He will be saying prayers in the garden. Just follow the others.

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Connections

Featured in 20 to 1: Movie Saints and Sinners (2007)
Clips shown in a segment on Mahatma Gandhi.

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Soundtracks

"God Save the King!"
(1744) (uncredited)
Music attributed to Henry Carey
Sung by Ben Kingsley
Reprised when India achieves independence

User Reviews

Old-Time Hollywood Epic Redux.

The life of the legendary man from India (dominant Oscar-winner Ben Kingsley, who was a total unknown theatrical newcomer at the time) who gave up work as an attorney to defy British rule throughout the first half of the 20th Century before falling to an assassin's bullet in 1948. Long, opulent, breath-taking and completely memorable take on one of the most important historical figures the world has ever known. Oscar-winning director Richard Attenborough obviously studied David Lean's epic film-making masterpieces from the 1950s and 1960s as we have similarities galore with "The Bridge on the River Kwai" and much more importantly "Lawrence of Arabia". An all-star cast of very old-time Hollywood legends (John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, John Mills) and relative newcomers who were on the rise (Candice Bergen, Martin Sheen, Edward Fox, Nigel Hawthorne and a super quick glance of a very young Daniel Day-Lewis) blend in a desert landscape of cinematic brilliance. Make no mistake of it though, "Gandhi" works because of Kingsley as he weaves a colorful tapestry of cinematic performing ungodliness with a totally convincing take on his role and the complex subject matter. Running nearly 190 minutes, "Gandhi" still just uses flash-points to under-score the importance and significance of the major topics within. Those familiar with advanced world history will likely get more out of the film, but still a movie whose glitter continues to shine as bright as ever. 5 stars out of 5.