by Chris Marshall:
Gandhi is a film
that brings me back to Oscar winners of old, in that they take an Indian man, a
man who devoted the second half of his life entirely to securing India’s
independence from the British Empire, and they cast an actor (Ben Kingsley) who
is white and British. I’m sure there’s some kind of symbolism in that. I’m just
not sure what it is.
That being said, Kingsley was fantastic as Gandhi. In the
first part of the film, which takes place in South Africa, everything seemed a
little off. Honestly, though, I think that has more to do with seeing Gandhi
(who was an attorney, after all) wearing suits and other European clothing. I’m
so accustomed to seeing him in his traditional Indian garb that it just seems
wrong to see him wear anything else.
After Gandhi returns to India, by which point he has already
overcome grave injustice toward his fellow Indians in South Africa, Ben
Kingsley stops being Ben Kingsley and transforms entirely into Mohandas K.
Gandhi. I don’t think anybody ever doubts his acting skills in general, but if
they do, they need look no further than this film.
