Gandhi (1982)
90%RT Audience Score: 92%
Awards & Nominations: Won 8 Oscars
35 wins & 21 nominations total
Director Richard Attenborough is typically sympathetic and sure-handed, but it’s Ben Kingsley’s magnetic performance that acts as the linchpin for this sprawling, lengthy biopic.
Gandhi” is a movie that will make you want to be a better person, but also make you feel like you’ll never be as good as Gandhi himself. Ben Kingsley’s performance is so good, it’s almost like he’s channeling the spirit of the man himself. The film may simplify some things, but it still manages to convey the importance of nonviolent resistance and mutual tolerance. Plus, it’s a great reminder that they just don’t make movies like this anymore. Overall, “Gandhi” is a must-watch for anyone who wants to be inspired and humbled at the same time.
Production Company(ies)
Columbia Pictures, Columbia Pictures, Bill, Phillips
Distributor
Columbia Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Old Town Hall, Staines, Surrey, England, UK
MPAA / Certificate
PG
Year of Release
1983
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Color:Color
Black and White -
Sound mix:Dolby Atmos
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Aspect ratio:2.39 : 1
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Runtime:3h 8m
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Language(s):English, Hindi
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Country of origin:United States, United Kingdom, India, South Africa
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Nov 30, 1982 Original
Release Date (Streaming): Feb 20, 2007
Genre(s)
Biography
Keyword(s)
starring Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, Edward Fox, John Gielgud, Trevor Howard, John Mills, directed by Richard Attenborough, written by John Briley, biography, nonviolent resistance, British rule, India, Lord Irwin, Viceroy, Judge Broomfield, Margaret Bourke-White, Gen Dyer, Lord Chelmsford, Viceroy, PG, Columbia Pictures, Dolby, Stereo, Surround, 35mm, Scope (2.35:1), box office performance, budget, reviewed by Andrew Robinson, Michael Blowen, Gary Arnold, Kathleen Carroll, Richard Schickel, Variety Staff, Mark Jackson, Mike Massie, Molly Haskell, Lawrence O’Toole, Susan Shapiro, Rick Chatenever, MPAA rating, produced by Richard Attenborough
Worldwide gross: $52,767,889
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $161,467,508
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 809
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 17,608,234
US/Canada gross: $52,767,889
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $161,467,508
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 481
US/Canada opening weekend: $131,153
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $401,323
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 1,456
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $22,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $67,319,069
Production budget ranking: 623
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $36,251,319
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $57,897,120
ROI to date (est.): 56%
ROI ranking: 1,117
Candice Bergen – Margaret Bourke-White
Edward Fox – Gen. Dyer
John Gielgud – Lord Irwin, Viceroy
Trevor Howard – Judge Broomfield
John Mills – Lord Chelmsford, Viceroy
Director(s)
Richard Attenborough
Writer(s)
John Briley
Producer(s)
NA
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 8 Oscars
35 wins & 21 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Art Direction Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Cinematography Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Costume Design Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Directing Winners, Oscar Best Achievement in Editing Winners, Oscar Best Picture Winners, Oscar Best Writing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Screenplay Written Directly for the Screen Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (62) | Top Critics (16) | Fresh (53) | Rotten (9)
The film is triumphantly not a deification, but it is necessarily a simplification, and suffers from some of those disadvantages… But the embattled spirit of respect for human dignity and the need for mutual tolerance flow clearly through the film.
March 16, 2020
Andrew Robinson
Sight & Sound
TOP CRITIC
Although Gandhi may lack the depth of a more academic approach, it is an old-fashioned, inspirational ode to a man who dared to challenge military power with self-restraint and political cunning.
April 26, 2018
Michael Blowen
Boston Globe
TOP CRITIC
Grievously doting and squeamishly evasive.
May 6, 2017
Gary Arnold
Washington Post
TOP CRITIC
They simply do not build movies like this any more, which is a pity.
February 17, 2015
Kathleen Carroll
New York Daily News
TOP CRITIC
In playing Gandhi, an actor must be less concerned with physical verisimilitude than with spiritual presence, and here Kingsley is nothing short of astonishing.
February 24, 2010
Richard Schickel
TIME Magazine
TOP CRITIC
Once in a long while a motion picture so eloquently expressive and technically exquisite comes along that one is tempted to hail it as being near perfect.
January 29, 2008
Variety Staff
Variety
TOP CRITIC
“Gandhi” underlines the importance of nonviolent demonstration, especially in 2020 when America has been infiltrated by communist influences turning America’s masses into “useful idiots” by encouraging terrorism as the means to express desire for change.
November 10, 2020 | Rating: 4.5
Mark Jackson
Epoch Times
Kingsley’s performance is central to the film’s triumph – perhaps surpassing the rest of the technical and artistic values.
September 6, 2020 | Rating: 7/10
Mike Massie
Gone With The Twins
This is a film that provokes healthy doubt even as it pays stirring obeisance to sainthood.
February 27, 2020
Molly Haskell
Vogue
As a whole, Gandhi is never less than intelligent in dealing with the events and facts with which it chooses to deal, and there is never a boring moment.
February 6, 2020
Lawrence O’Toole
Maclean’s Magazine
Although he may look like the real thing, Ben Kingsley begins to sound like a computer reading fortune cookies.
August 20, 2019
Susan Shapiro
Sojourner
Few people will leave the theater unaffected, or unchanged.
February 5, 2019
Rick Chatenever
Santa Cruz Sentinel…
Plot
In 1893, Mohandas K. 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 War II to continue enforcing its will in India, Britain finally grants India’s independence. Indians celebrate this victory, but their troubles are far from over. Religious tensions between Hindus and Muslims erupt into nation-wide violence. Gandhi declares a hunger strike, saying he will not eat until the fighting stops. The fighting does stop eventually, but the country is divided. It is decided that the northwest area of India, and eastern part of India (current day Bangladesh), both places where Muslims are in the majority, will become a new country called Pakistan (West and East Pakistan respectively). It is hoped that by encouraging the Muslims to live in a separate country, violence will abate. Gandhi is opposed to the idea, and is even willing to allow Muhammad Ali Jinnah to become the first prime minister of India, but the Partition of India is carried out nevertheless. Gandhi spends his last days trying to bring about peace between both nations. He thereby angers many dissidents on both sides, one of whom finally gets close enough to assassinate him.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Ben Kingsley’s performance as Mohandas K. Gandhi is “nothing short of astonishing,” according to critic Richard Schickel.
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