Kingsley’s Gandhi Shines Anew
The 1982 Oscar bash belonged to “Gandhi.” The film, with Ben Kingsley in the title role, was nominated for 11 Academy Awards and won eight, including best picture, best actor and best director for Richard Attenborough.
The movie also won Oscars for John Briley’s screenplay and best cinematography.
On Tuesday, a repackaged version is being re-released on DVD and VHS. The three-hour, 10-minute movie tells the story of Mohandas K. Gandhi, who rose from simple lawyer to become India’s spiritual leader through his philosophy of nonviolent but direct-action protest. Through his work for Indian independence, he became a worldwide symbol of peace and understanding.
In the tradition of Hollywood epics, the long movie seems to have a hard pull in the second half, but Kingsley’s unforgettable performance lightens that pull considerably.
In today’s world of DVD “extras,” features have been added. The repackaged edition offers Kingsley talking about Gandhi, four vintage newsreel clips of Gandhi going to England, Gandhi’s farewell talk in Europe, the beginning of his death fast and the first talking pictures of Gandhi.
There are also a making-of-“Gandhi” photo montage, a theatrical trailer, talent files, production menus and scene selections.
The talent files include material on co-stars Candice Bergen, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, Martin Sheen, Edward Fox and John Mills.
Attenborough’s sweeping account of Gandhi’s life and struggles also includes actors Rohini Hattangady, Ian Charleson Athol Fugard, Roshan Seth, Saeed Jaffrey, Geraldine James, Shreeram Lagoo, Mohan Agashe, Supriya Pathak, Ratna Pathak, Aleque Padamsee, Amrish Puri, Michael Hordern, Marius Weyers and John Ratzenberger (who played postman Cliff Clavin in the NBC series “Cheers”). Daniel Day-Lewis is among three youths shown accosting Gandhi in a street scene.
Columbia TriStar lists the DVD at $24.95. The repackaged VHS is listed at $19.96.