Customer Reviews

Gandhi (Widescreen)

5 star:		(85)
4 star:		(10)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

While 'Gandhi' the DVD is certainly one of the most visually beautiful packages I have ever seen, it is also a sad commentary on the ultimate impact this movie has made on Western studios (read : nothing). The DVD comes in a see through white plastic case, with a clear band window running on either side. This lets us catch a glance of the real case cover, which has Gandhi in white, illuminated by the multitudes of men chanting beside him and around him. When you slip the case out of its' plastic holder, you are treated to the fuller version of the same picture, which, with the wonders of Adobe Photoshop, have rendered what was once just another studio shot of Ben Kingsley as Gandhi, into something far more magical and memorable.

All the details of the DVD are listed on the back of the white plastic case. The actual DVD case itself is in a wonderfully regal dark gold color, and the back picture is of the train sequence, with the words "Be the change you wish to see" beautifully etched across the skyline. Indeed, I have never come across a packaging for a disc that has so aptly captured the film's sentiment. On this front, I give the disc a full five stars.

However, the DVD itself smacks of hypocrisy. I find that everytime a reviewer gives this disc a low star rating due to the fact that the DVD blatantly insults the fact that Gandhi spoke Hindi and that all the main actors (save for Ben) were Indian, people are quick to claim that the review was 'not useful'. I am not sure why this is, but the truth is that this is very much an Indian film, with all the important roles played by Indian actors, and yet there is not ONE mention of ANY of their names on the DVD packaging. Candice Bergen, who appears for just eight minutes on screen, is given prime billing next to Ben Kingsley, while Rohini Hattangady, a beautiful Indian actress who plays the Mahatma's wife and was onscreen for most of the three hour film, is not mentioned even once on the DVD.

When you click on 'Cast and Crew', it is even more horrifying. Not even ONE of the actors mentioned are Indian. ALL of the actors listed are white. The great Alyque Padamsee who played Jinnah, the wonderful Roshan Seth who played Nehru, the incredibly talented Saeed Jaffrey who played Sardar Patel - all of them are not even mentioned ONCE. Considering that they appear throughout the film, this is a horrendous insult to the Indian film crew. However, consider it typical American studio idiocy, for Martin Sheen and Trevor Howard (both of whom pop up at the beginning and the next-to-end) get full page biographies and filmographies. This is intolerable.

This is especially disturbing, because this is exactly the sort of vapid Western-minded stupidity and xenophobia that Mahatma Gandhi fought against. Any self-respecting Indian would flush this occidental abomination down the drain. To add to the insult, the DVD does not even bother to mention that 'Gandhi' was shot simultaneously in English and Hindi. The Hindi version was the one released to millions of people in India, and the one that plays on Indian national television to this day. Considering that Gandhi spoke Hindi, and willfully strove to ignore English toward the most epic years of his life, the DVD literally slaps his message in the face by not including a Hindi language audio track. Yet, we get French and Spanish audio tracks, as if that were any consolation.

I was also dismayed and rather angered when I realized that there wasn't even a Hindi language subtitle option available. If the studio intended this as a DVD release for Caucasian audiences alone, I would understand. But yet they include obscure subtitles such as Thai and Korean, which makes the whole thing even more perplexing.

In the end, I think the 'Gandhi' DVD is a perfect example of how one should not judge a book by its' cover. This DVD is a glorious example of Western corporate ignorance and greed, and how the most beautiful cinematic achievements can die a gruesome death when handed over to the studios they were made under. I personally call for a boycott of this DVD until serious repairs are made. And if you're really interested in watching this film as it was intended, try to get your hands on the original Hindi version of the movie with English subtitles. That is the only version the poor Indian woman working in the fields, for whom Gandhi fought for, has watched.

I was totally disappointed with the DVD. "Gandhi" is one of my favorite movies. But I was so much disappointed with the DVD that I almost disowned it. It does not have audio or subtitles in Hindi or any other Indian language. Gandhi was a Gujarati (mother tongue: Gujarati) and an Indian (Language: Hindi). The DVD has all sorts of subtitles and languages but does not have any language for Indians. I think the producers of the DVD owed this much to the very Mahatma - and his fellow countrymen - whose life has been depicted in the movie. Such products should not be simply weighed on money and how much revenue the sales would generate. Corporations owe something grander than that.

This is a great film which gives us a good portrayal of Gandhi's life and achievements.

The film portrays Gandhi as an honest, hard working and kind individual who always tried to do the right thing, even when facing overwelming resistance.

If you like the film I would suggest reading his autobiography The Story of My Experiments with Truth, which will give you an insight into his mind.

"Gandhi", starring Ben Kingsley, is a wonderful journey through the life and times of civil rights leader Mahatma Gandhi. In 1982, it earned nine Oscars, including Best Picture and Best Director. The hardword spent on this project is rare for cinema. The twenty years spent on production paid off greatly. Director Richard Attenborough led the cast and crew wonderfully to complete one of the greatest films within the last thirty years. This has been rightfully hailed by many critics as one of the Top 100 Greatest Films of all time.

The plot is brilliant. It wonderfully desplicts the life and times of this unbelievable man. The previous heavy research is obvious as they wrote according to Gandhi's words. It accurately desplicts Gandhi's beliefs, morals, and struggles. The chain of events leading to India's independence stay intact. It also wonderfully educates audiences about the wars and the fight for equal rights. The emotional value stays at its top throughout the entire three-hour film. Such difficult task couldn't have been accomplished better. Every word forces audiences to feel every characters' turmoil and struggle.

The environment accurately desplicts early 1900's India. The elaborate surroundings could lead audiences to mistake it for real-life living. The beauty and the ugliness are created wonderfully by make-up. They amazingly make Ben Kingsey almost resemble the real-life Mahatma Gandhi, regardless of desplicted age. The characters' aging processes and the fighting aftermaths are brilliantly crafted. The wardrobes accurately desplict the styles of the times and of what Ghandi wore. They amazingly maintained this through every character...an estimated 300,000 people.

Ben Kinsley won an Oscar for Best Actor for his portrayal of Mahatma Gandhi. His own emotional value shows greatly throughout the film, namely loss, hunger, struggle, and victimization. His actions and speech patterns accurately desplict that of the actual ones. He amazingly maintained his character throught the ages. Therefore, it's not just the resemblence that makes Kingley so amazing as an actor. All other actors also perform their roles wonderfully: Martin Sheen, Candice Bergen, and others.

"Gandhi" is great for those looking for a great quality film. This is sure to continue pleasing audiences as it has since its release. This is rightfully destined to be a classic in the upcoming years.

To All,

I would like to let everyone know that Gandhiji did steal money to pay for smoking in his childhood and in-spite of knowing well that no one would have known about it, he confessed to his father in writting about his act. His confession, clearly shows his deep rooted faith on truth and I am sure that honesty, non violance and simplicity was part of his DNA finger print.

India and world as a whole should be thankful to his parents, as well, who gifted such a noble individual to humankind.

When I see excellent reviews about him, I always wonder why schools in North America do not offer any space (atleast for one chapter) about the life of Gandhiji. (We did learn about Martin Luther King Jr. in our primary school in India.)

Gandhiji is my role model.

Nimish

I have seen this movie about 6 times and each time I do feel a deeper appreciation for it. This movie is a master piece filled with great acting, strong dialogue, great shot locations, film direction, editing, and much more. To refer to this film as anything but a master piece would be incorrect. This in my opinon is the best movie ever made. I don't say that lightly because I have seen great works of art such as Godfather one and two, Roman Holiday, look who's coming to dinner, casablanca and ordinary people. I am also under the distinct impression that of all movies i have seen the best opening to any movie is Ghandi. Over 400,000 extras were in the first scene paying homage to Ghandi as his dead body lay covered in roses. They even quote one of the most brilliant minds ( Einstein ) as of having said something to the extent that " Generations from now man will struggle to believe a man such as Ghandie walked the face of the earth" or something like that. GREAT FILM!

I loved this movie about this holy saint. His movement of "soul force" has been the inspiriation for non-violent social protests for decades. I loved that the wit and humor that he portrayed in his books was not lost in this movie!

First of all, I would sincerely thank the movie making team to produce such a good movie on Mahatma Gandhi and History of India. The whole movie would spell bind the first time watchers as long as they are keen in Mahatma Gandhi and the independence of India. There are two great shortfalls of such a huge production though:

- The Blu-ray media does not have Hindi audio, which makes this movie almost useless to the millions of people who understand Hindi. Is this fair or cheating with the Mahatma and the nation on which this movie is filmed. I would like to remind the movie making team that the national language of India is Hindi, and the people of India do have the right to watch this movie in their national language, am I right? What is your though on this Sir Richard Attenborough?

- When Mahatma Gandhi was shot, he remembered his Hindu deity God Ram and said 'He Ram' before dying. Only 'Oh God', the English translation of 'He Ram' was kept in light. I am not trying to favor a religion here but trying to be fair with Mahatma. The movie making team at least could keep the text 'He Ram' on the screen to keep the last words of Mahatma intact to convey the same to the audience as it is. What is your though on this Sir Richard Attenborough?

I hope such mistakes will not be repeated by other movie makers in future.

Let us live and die in peace. Hail to Mahatma Gandhi.

Should the Academy of Motion Pictures ever choose to select the greatest films and performances of the 20th ca, I'm fairly certain "Gandhi" would be in the top 5 Best Movie nominees; but there is no doubt Ben Kingsley would win for Best Actor.

Kingsley would not win based on his acting ability alone, although few (if any) in the industry's history have been better. Richard Attenborough was clearly a driving force, a superb filmmaker who spent decades crafting and refining this movie. Another force was the Indian people themselves, who become enraptured with Kingsley, lending believability to the speeches and funeral scene and enhancing Kingsley's performance. But the greatest credit clearly goes to Gandhi himself, whose meditations upon Hindi and Christian and Islamic principles crafted a philosophy of non-violent non-cooperation that brought about the peaceful independence of all Southeast Asia and prevented civil war.

When you bring talent like Kingsley's and Attenborough's together with the content of Gandhi's life, you cannot help but have a masterpiece.

Kingsley is the lynchpin to this movie. Beyond his visual resemblance to Gandhi, the physical movements, the subtle tonal inflections, and beyond the incredible range of emotion and passion Kingsley brings to the screen, his portrayal of Gandhi through 5 distinct phases in his life are what make his performance monumental.

We start with Gandhi a young man, mid 20's, working as a lawyer in South Africa. He is treated unfairly and thrown off a train (in retrospect, one of the biggest blunders ever made by the British Empire). The first phase, then, is the young lawyer outraged at injustice, unclear how to direct his outrage but with a firm moral base. As the film progress in South Africa, we see Gandhi become a strong leader, with the principles of non-violence resistance taking form and outrage directed against specific unjust laws. Here the young Gandhi is a man of outward passion.

Gandhi accomplishes his goals in South Africa and returns to India. The Indian Congress sees him as a potential leader, but Gandhi is unsure about the innate morality of independence. Under the recommendation of Gokale, he travels throughout India and observes the injustice to the masses, not just by the English but by radical and violent Indians themselves. He gives his first powerful speech to Congress, chastising them for not understanding the plight of the masses. Here begins the second phase - the fight for independence not for political reasons, but for moral reasons. His outrage is directed at the general injustice of foreign rule, not simply one law. Again fiery, his passion is redirected against injustice in general, and he begins general campaigns against British industry.

His first major crises occurs when violence erupts, killing 21 policemen. Gandhi realizes that independence can only come about if dignity and self-determination are restored to the people, and that violence restores neither. So where almost surely independence would have come to India 20 years earlier than it eventually did, Gandhi stops the campaign. He is immediately arrested.

Upon release, Gandhi looks inward to realize that nonviolent acts directed against something does not in itself restore dignity, but upon the restoration of dignity people will non-violently refuse to be treated unjustly. Gandhi marches to the sea, where he encourages the masses to make salt in direct violation of British law. The British are powerless - the Indians will not fight, they will not capitulate, they will not cooperate, and the government falls to pieces around them. This is the third phase - the fire is turned inward with the realization that the fight is not against a foreign power, but to restore dignity within ourselves.

Independence comes, but at a price. While the masses maintained nonviolence in their struggle against the British, it proved impossible to maintain against the deepest religious fears and bigotries. Violence erupts, thousands die. Greater India splits between India and Pakistan, and the nations teeter on all-out war. Here is the brief fourth phase: That all he had accomplished was meaningless. The fire is gone from Gandhi, he is a defeated man. As he states, "I cannot stand to see the destruction of all that I have fought for."

In this horrible setback is the final transformation, where Gandhi transcends from leader and teacher to a true Saint. He begins his last fast, a fast with conviction in his principles that reverberate throughout India and Pakistan. With his fast he conveys that his principles were not just to gain independence, not just to gain the easy and desirable goals - they were the principles of God, God's Way. The fire that had burned all his life was now buried deep inside but cut like a laser in his surety of God's Law.

"Eat! I am going to Hell..." a distraught man tells him, "...but not with your death on my soul."
"Only God knows who goes to Hell." Gandhi replies.
"I KILLED A CHILD! I SMASHED HIS HEAD AGAINST A WALL!!"
"Why?"
"They killed my son. The Muslims killed my son..."
"I know a way out of Hell." Gandhi replies. "Find a small child, a little boy, whose parents have been killed, and raise him as your own....

...Only be sure he is a Muslim, and that you raise him as one..."

Gandhi's fast stops the violence and ends the civil war. In this final phase, Gandhi is no longer the leader, the fighter, the outraged. He is simply God's messenger, bringing His Way. Kingsley portrays these transformations subtly and convincingly, so that we are lost in the story of the man, forgetting we are watching the portrayal of a man. That is what makes this movie so great, and Kingsley's performance the greatest of all.

There is nothing I can say about this movie that hasn't already been said by previous reviewers - beyond excellence -
except
Gandhi said "my life is my message" - and the message of this film can change lives - not many films can make that claim!