Gandhi Juni 19, 2008

Key scenes:

- Gandhi’s first trip on train, when he is thrown out of the first class, because he is an Indian

- The first public meeting and speech of Gandhi

- Gandhi’ s second meeting about the pass law

- The massacre of the Indians by the British army. Everyone is shoot down, including women and children

- Gandhi’s salt march

- Gandhi’s fasts

- The scene shortly before India became independent, in which a long queue is hidden down by the British.

- Gandhi’s death

Questions to the Gandhi movie

 

Part one

 

1. The opening scene of the movie is a reenactment of Gandhi’s assassination. Why would the director choose to begin a movie about Gandhi’s life with his death? Describe the scene. Even if you knew nothing about Gandhi, what conclusions could you draw just from the details of the scene?

I think the director choose this way of beginning the movie to take the audience’s attention away from what happening to why it happened. It is like in “Heat and Dust” or “Moon Palace” where the reader also gets to know the end by reading the first pages.

The scene starts with a crowd of people, walking to one destination: to see Gandhi, who wants to pray in the gardens. Thus he must be an important person. However one of these people shuts him down. The whole nation is sad, which you can see in the impressive funeral procession. A man, commenting on it, gives the audience the information, that Gandhi brought India the independence from the British.

 

1. The next scene takes place in South Africa approximately 55 years earlier. What happens on the train?

In the train is a quite normal control of the tickets. However there is a coloured man in the first class cabin, who is blamed that he has stolen the ticket. It is normal that coloured people travel in the third class, but this man is Gandhi, a lawyer who studied in London. It is no advantage to him and the conductor throws him out at the next station, with the reason that there are no coloured lawyers in South Africa.

 

1. When Gandhi finally meets up with his colleagues he finds out what the actual social conditions are in South Africa, yet up until then, he was ignorant of these. What does this say of communications in this period? What is Gandhi’s decision regarding the social conditions in South Africa?

The communication at this time was very bad. All the tings we use today like telephone or the internet did not exist. Even the post was quite slow to bring information from one point to the other.

Because of the bad treatment in the train, Gandhi decides to fight for equality. He says that every person is a God’s child and all are loved by him the same way. His first steps are to inform the Indian and British press and justices about his first speech.

 

1. What is Gandhi’s first public meeting about? He outlines his method of fighting an unjust law. What is it? What is the outcome of the meeting? Please be detailed.

      Gandhi complains about the unjust law that only the people of the British colonies

      have to carry a passport with them all the time, although the Britain said, that the        

      colonies and the motherland, England, are a family and all the same. While burning

      the passports Gandhi is hidden by British police officers, without struggling or

      stopping the action. There starts the non-violent resistance.

 

1. Gandhi meets Charlie Andrews, the English clergyman, and they walk downtown together. What book does Gandhi quote from when they are about to met up with some aggressive with South Africans? Do you think that this is unusual for a Hindu?

Gandhi quotes the Bible. He says that if someone slaps you, you should turn the other cheek. I think it is unusual that a Hindu knows something about the Christendom and even more that he even quotes it.

 

1. When Gandhi takes the reporter on a tour of his ashram, what does the roofer have around his neck and what is this symbol of? Notice that the director makes sure that there is a clear shot only the roofer so the audience can see this symbol.

 

 

1. Life in the ashram is a new experience for its members. What do we find out about the relationship between Gandhi and is wife.

The situation is about the work which is to do, but Gandhi’s wife refuses to clean the latrines. She points out that she is his wife and that this is a work for the untouchables. However Gandhi teaches her in his belief of equality. While she is still refusing, he makes clear to her that she is will not abided to stay longer in the ashram, without making every work with joy. Shortly after this situation both get along with each other.

This scene shows that Gandhi really makes not difference between people, even his wife gets no privileges.