December 31, 2013 at 2:59pm
Every Tuesday, "Check This Out" recommends movies available at your friendly local library. So you can satisfy your next film fix at the place with the books.
"Drama is life with the dull bits left out," the wise Hitchcock tells us. So what excitement could one possibly find in a three-hour-plus film of a man who does nothing? He doesn't fight back when others bully and beat him up, he lets himself get thrown into prison multiple times without a word of complaint and sometimes he even refuses to eat. But Gandhi (and the 1982 film of the same name) proved to the world that rejecting the status quo packs plenty of drama, and, against all odds, quiet inaction can still bring down empires and inspire millions.
Winner of the Oscar for Best Picture, Gandhi tells the story of one man on a grand scale, and remains one of cinema's last old-fashioned epics before the assist (or crutch, some would argue) of computer-generated imagery. (Interestingly, director Richard Attenborough would usher in moviemaking's digital age indirectly a decade later with Jurassic Park, playing that polite British creator of deadly dinos.) The film achieves its most dazzling effect with nothing more than makeup and the performance of Sir Ben Kingsley, who seamlessly transforms from dark-haired, dark-suited lawyer to white-haired, white-robed global revolutionary.
Early in life, Gandhi gets thrown off a train in India for not moving back to third class, the designated section for people of his heritage. From that incident is born a nearly 50-year fight to secure his nation's independence from the British Empire. Yet he doesn't spur his countrymen to wage war with weapons or bloodshed, but quite the opposite, by using passive resistance. The film does a fine job exploring how this quiet riot ripples out across the continent, all the way to England's highest government leaders, whose initial arrogance towards this willful "little brown man" gets cut down to confusion, frustration, and finally defeat.
Like other powerful sagas, Gandhi packs thousands of extras and crosses multiple eras and landscapes, yet never loses sight of telling the very personal story of an individual who dared to defy. With its anti-imperialist message and call for religious equality, history itself suddenly seems not this buried and forgotten thing, but a voice crying to be heard today.
News and entertainment from Joint Base Lewis-McChord’s most awesome weekly newspapers - The Ranger, Northwest Airlifter and Weekly Volcano.
Thanks for posting! But I want say that Walkie Talkies are really required while organizing fun...
Really nice album. I have already purchased Vedder's Album. Listening to the song of this album,...
about Eddie Vedder’s "Ukulele Songs" available today - and I don’t hold a candle to that shit
Your post contains very beneficial content. Kindly keep sharing such post.
Vedder's album is really nice. I have heard attentively
about Eddie Vedder’s "Ukulele Songs" available today - and I don’t hold a candle to that shit
amazing information for getting the new ideas thanks for sharing a post
about 5 Things To Do Today: Art Chantry, DIY home improvement, "A Shot In The Dark" ...
446th Airlift Wing, 5 Things To Do, 62nd Airlift Wing, 7th Infantry Division, Air Force, All Ages, Army, Arts, Awards, Benefits, Best of Olympia, Best of TAcoma, Bobble Tiki, Books, Business, Camp Murray, Ceremony, Chainsuck, Classical Music, Comedy, Comment The The Day, Community, Concerts, Condemn or Allow?, Contest, Day Tripper, Deals, Defense Department, Deployment, DJ/Electronica, Events, Facebook, Fashion, Federal Way, Fife, Fircrest, Food & Drink, Future Things Are Coming, Games, Gay Rights, Genius, Gig Harbor, Green Crush, Happy Hour Hug, Health, History, Holidays, Honors, I Corps, In Their Words, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Judging by the Trailer, Keeping Up With The Coffeehouses, Kids, Lacey, Lakewood, Legislature, Madigan Army Medical Center, Marines, McChord Field, Media, Memorial, Military, Milton, Morning Joe, Music, National Guard, Navy, Nerd Alert!, New Beer Column, News To Us, Night Moves, Not Cool, Olympia, Outdoor Addict, outdoors, Photo Hot Spot, Podcast, Pop Culture, Poster of the Day, Puyallup, Radio, Rangers, Retail, Rocket Science, ROTC, Ruston, Schools, Screens, Sex, Shout Out, South Sound Sidekick, Spanaway, Special Forces, Sports, Steilacoom, Strykers, Summer Tip, Sumner, Tacoma, Talking Shop, The Mouth, Theater, Tightwad, Tournament of Burgers, Tournament of Mac and Cheese, Training, Travel, Twitter, University Place, USO, Veterans, Video Hot Spot, Volunteer, Web/Tech, Word, Wounded Warrior
Read Comments