The Man is the Message

Abstract

The eight-time Academy Award-winning film Gandhi (1982) aims to present the person Mohandas K. (Mahatma) Gandhi (1869–1948) as a “spokesman for the conscience of all mankind.” More than forty years later, the film still brings to light significant issues regarding the essence of broad moral and political aspirations, the formation and upholding of “civil religion,” and the potential of non-violent political and social actions to prevail in a troubled world. While primarily focusing on the portrayal of Gandhi, the film contrasts and reflects upon the differences and similarities between the markedly different—yet in crucial ways, alike—depictions of civil religion in the 1935 German Nazi propaganda film, Triumph of the Will. Both films, as argued here, document uncertainty—Gandhi overtly showcasing it as a “soft” film of civil religious enactment, and Triumph covertly displaying it as a “hard” film of civil religious enactment. Whereas Triumph aimed to present a clear vision of a future devoid of doubt, Gandhi raises queries and leaves audiences uncertain about its message, except for the assertion that the man (Mahatma Gandhi) embodies the message itself.