Gandhi (1982)
Decided to start watching all of the Oscar best picture winners, in order. I hadn’t heard of some of these movies, some I love and have seen multiple times already and I actively hate others, planning to never watch them again. Fair warning, there will be spoilers in these and other reviews to help explain my point of view.
Gandhi is one of those movies that I actively avoided for no other reason than it seemed as if it would be exceedingly boring. It reeks of a “prestige” film that only exists to win awards. The three-hour+ runtime was also a deterring factor, but I have to say I thoroughly enjoyed this film. Going into it, all I knew was that he was some sort of leader, I thought more of a spiritual leader than a political one, and that he was assassinated. Learning that Gandhi helped India gain its independence from Britain was fascinating and taught me a lot.
The movie starts at the end showing us Gandhi’s tragic and senseless death, followed by the huge funeral procession celebrating his life and spirit. We then meet Gandhi when he is a young lawyer attempting to travel by train in South Africa, only to literally be thrown from the train for having the audacity to be an Indian man traveling in first class. This incident rudely informs Gandhi that he isn’t considered to be the same, nor does he have the same rights as white men in the British Empire, even though he is a highly educated professional. This experience pushes Gandhi to fight for the rights of Indians in South Africa, arguing that they should have the same rights as all other British citizens, regardless of their ethnic, religious or racial identity. Gandhi’s efforts prove somewhat successful, so he returns to India as a bit of a hero and from that point forward works for India’s complete freedom from British rule.
While not surprising, it is disgusting to see just how little the British thought of the Indians who were not only also citizens of their country, but who were also human beings. Gandhi and those involved in the movement, non-violently protested, yet the British continually responded with violence, resulting in the death of thousands, including children. Finally, aft WW II, Britain relented, and India was free. Sadly, while Indians were no longer subject to British rule and oppression, they traded one set of problems for another. Rather than uniting in their freedom, the country becomes divided over religious differences, becoming the separate regions that exist to this day, of Pakistan (Muslims) and India (Hindus). This division and Gandhi’s willingness to work with both sides made him the enemy of both Hindu and Muslim radicals, which is what led to his death and the hands of a Hindu nationalist.
Even though the community tended to respond to Gandhi’s many hunger strikes and end their fighting, it was always temporary and his death didn’t seem to have any long-term positive effects either, which is unfortunate. I realize that Gandhi has a somewhat troubled legacy as people have gone back and looked more deeply at some of his beliefs and actions, but overall, he seemed to have the best of intentions and only wanted his people to be treated fairly and as equals. Something so basic and obvious shouldn’t be controversial, but racism is an ugly thing that still permeates much of human interaction throughout the world to this day.
As a film, Gandhi is excellent, although it isn’t perfect. As with many biopics, it gives short shrift to some of the people around the main character, including Gandhi’s wife and others who fought alongside him. Yes, it is his story, but it would have been nice to know a bit more about those in his life. We know he loves his wife and that they had children, but not much more. Did it deserve to win? Absolutely! None of the other nominated films rise to this level, so the numerous nominations and wins are well-deserved. 4 out of 5 stars.
