Richard Attenborough died on Sunday,
August 24, 2014. I fondly remember him for his patient and wondrous
Nature documentaries. But I am moved to write here about his
production of the epic lawyer movie, Gandhi (1982).
Attenborough worked for twenty years
to produce this film. He researched Gandhi’s professional life as a
non-violent activist, and also his personal relationships with Indian
leaders during the campaign for independence. He not only captured
Gandhi’s key role in guiding his native country’s resistance to
British rule, but also the essence of Gandhi’s philosophy for
social change.
Attenborough’s story of Gandhi’s
career begins on a train in South Africa, 1893. A young lawyer of
Indian descent discovers that the first class car is reserved for
white people only. He is literally and metaphorically tossed from the
elite class onto the sidewalk of a working class racial minority in
apartheid South Africa.
Gandhi’s first clients are the
Indian businessmen struggling against a new pass law. He files no
lawsuits and writes no briefs. He organizes a non-violent protest in
which he and his clients will publicly burn their passes in
defiance of the law. He is beaten, but his quivering hand still
reaches to push his pass into the flames. After larger, but still
peaceful, protests garner wider attention, Gandhi and his clients are
soon corralled together in an overflowing jail. Then, finally,
General Smuts promises to repeal the law, but with a proviso that
South Africa will bar the future immigration of Indians. In a sad
acceptance that the campaign had not addressed immigration as an
issue, Gandhi accepts the compromise. The racist law he targeted is
repealed, but a new racist law is adopted in its place. It is a sad
foreshadow of the campaign for Indian independence.
My clients are rightfully motivated
to win their cases because they have been wronged, and they want
their lawful remedies. Some of my clients see their cases as part of
a movement to redress historical wrongs and protect future
generations from systematic oppression. For these clients, I urge a
careful viewing of Gandhi to study his technique for winning
independence for India.
Gandhi begins with another train
ride. This time he rides in third class to experience India the way
most Indians do. British rule is linked to deep and widespread
poverty. In Champaran, British landowners have subjugated tens of
thousands of peasants with prices so low that their families starve
while they work full time growing indigo. They revolt. Gandhi arrives
and is immediately arrested. He refused to pay a small bail, and the
judge concludes that it is best just to release Gandhi to appease the
hoarde of protesters. Soon, the British government intervenes and the
landowners have to agree to reforms that allow workers to feed their
children. Gandhi’s “satyagraha” method of campaigning is born.
Gandhi looks for ways to press the
political and economic causes of Indian people. He writes, speaks,
tours and organizes. Our hearts ache for the Jallianwala Bagh
massacre in Amritsar, and also for the Britons attacked by mobs
spurred by anger before they learned Gandhi’s philosophy of
“ahimsa” or non-violence. Gandhi undertakes his first fast to
call on Indians to prove to the British that they have no need to
fear further violence. The Indian people respond to his suffering
with a suspension of the campaign and a period of giving flowers to
the British to show their commitment to non-violence.
I urge my clients to think creatively
about non-violent actions that can reveal the other side’s
injustices. Consider Gandhi’s situation in 1930. He concludes that
the Indian Independence Movement is ready for action again. But what
action? They protest a British tax with the Great Salt March. The
world sees that Britain must resort to violence to preserve its rule
in the face of peaceful protest. Britain relents and agrees to host
the Round Table Conference in London. Britain reveals its plan to
create not one independent country, but two – India and Pakistan.
Gandhi is heartbroken. As riots erupt between Hindus and Muslims,
Gandhi fasts again. Near death, he wins the hearts of all Indians,
but fails to keep his homeland united. He stays home on the day India
and Pakistan are granted independence. This moment reveals the need
for patience. If Indian and Pakistani leaders had been willing to
wait longer to build a unified and diverse nation, we may have saved
them from several wars and the development of two nuclear powers
taking aim at each other. We, too, have to be mindful of whether our
campaigns will yield worthy and lasting results.
Attenborough’s gift to our
cultural heritage is more profound compared to recent popular movies.
This Summer’s number one box office draw paints practically the
opposite picture of Gandhi. The Guardians of the Galaxy can save
freedom by using violence more effectively against their adversaries.
It is the story of Popeye, told over and over again while justifying
the drive to fund bigger and bigger weapons.
Gandhi’s opening and closing scenes
feature Gandhi’s funeral. Attenborough amassed 300,000 extras to
film this scene – the largest cast of any movie ever. While I mourn
the way Gandhi died, my life is richer for the way Richard
Attenborough made his message current.
By Richard Renner
By Richard Renner