Gandhi-25th Anniversary Collectors Edition (1982)

Variety
"...Eloquently expressive and technically exquisite....The score, springing from the talents of Ravi Shankar and George Fenton is a major plus in evocation of the film's many emotional variations..." 11/24/1982

Sight and Sound
"...Ben Kingsley's central performance shines..." 03/01/2002 p.64

Total Film
"...A challenging and inspiring story..." 08/01/2000 p.100

Chicago Sun-Times 10 of 10
In the middle of this epic film there is a quiet, small scene that helps explain why Gandhi is such a remarkable experience. Mahatma Gandhi, at the height of his power and his fame, stands by the side of a lake with his wife of many years. Together, for the benefit of a visitor from the West, they reenact their marriage vows. They do it with solemnity, quiet warmth, and perhaps just a touch of shyness; they are simultaneously demonstrating an aspect of Indian culture and touching on something very personal to them both. At the end of the ceremony, Gandhi says, "We were thirteen at the time." He shrugs. The marriage had been arranged. Gandhi and his wife had not been in love, had not been old enough for love, and yet love had grown between them. But that is not really the point of the scene. The point, I think, comes in the quiet smile with which Gandhi says the words. At that moment we believe that he is fully and truly human, and at that moment, a turning point in the film, Gandhi declares that it is not only a historical record but a breathing, living document...This is the sort of rare epic film that spans the decades, that uses the proverbial cast of thousands, and yet follows a human thread from beginning to end: Gandhi is no more overwhelmed by the scope of its production than was Gandhi overwhelmed by all the glory of the British Empire. The movie earns comparison with two classic works by David Lean, Lawrence of Arabia and Doctor Zhivago, in its ability to paint a strong human story on a very large canvas...What is important about this film is not that it serves as a history lesson (although it does) but that, at a time when the threat of nuclear holocaust hangs ominously in the air, it reminds us that we are, after all, human, and thus capable of the most extraordinary and wonderful achievements, simply through the use of our imagination, our will, and our sense of right. - Roger Ebert
 
Reel.com 9 of 10
Most of the time, if an actor describes his film as "one of the last great epics," my first reaction would be to slap him. But when that actor is Ben Kingsley and the film is Gandhi, the statement almost seems modest. A sprawling, powerful epic about one of the most noble men in history, it ranks alongside Lawrence of Arabia and Patton as one of the grandest biopics ever made. It's certainly director Richard Attenborough's best work, gracefully tracing Gandhi's rise from humble lawyer in South Africa to the benevolent father of an independent India...While critics castigated Attenborough's later biopics Chaplin and Cry Freedom for turning their flawed subjects into saints, it would be almost impossible not to beatify Mohandas K. Gandhi. Yet, when we first meet him, he's the farthest thing from the Mahatma or "Great Soul," as he was later known...Nathuram Godse, the man who assassinated Gandhi, was angered by the leader's perceived collusion in the India/Pakistan partition and historians still debate the degree to which Gandhi resisted the partition. But Attenborough's Gandhi is dead-set against it. Brilliantly played by Ben Kingsley (who won the 1982 best Oscar for the role), the film version of Gandhi is an imposing presence, a figure within whose piercing eyes burn the fires of righteousness...Certainly he was right. British colonial rule, while not as brutal as French Indochina or the Belgian Congo, was inherently evil. Through a mix of military force and political perfidiousness, a mere 100,000 Britons ruled over 300 million Indians, making them buy British-made clothes and taxing their salt, a vital commodity in the sweltering tropics. On a scale not seen before, Attenborough shows how Gandhi's gently powerful resistance to these levies -- his exhortations for Indians to make their own clothes and salt -- sparked a movement that would eventually bring down the British Raj. - Tor Thorsen