Gandhi: the screenplay (rare books)

The mode of the year Do person who cares about what greatness the movie screen is capable of should miss it. (It is) an inspired work of rare artistry, a film that staggers the mind and frees the soul. Such greatness is rare. It's a lesson in history-and a lesson in moviemaking-you will never forget." -Rex Reed, New York Post

After twenty years in the making, Richard Attenborough's stunning epic received the kind of triumphant reception from critics and audiences which stamped it as that rare event in film history-an instantaneous classic. Awarded top honors as "Best Picture of the Year." Gandhi is an epic in the grand manner: three hours of action, drama, and violence set against the panoply of the British Raj and India's struggle for freedom. It is, at the same time, the intensely personal drama of one of the greatest figures of the twentieth century. If ever a script is destined for a distinguished life on its own it is Briley's highly readable, entertaining screenplay for Gandhi. "This is the best screenplay I have read in thirty years of filmmaking," said Richard Attenborough. "Both lean and perceptive, it is imbued with humor and emotion, with drama and pain, and maintains at all times a driving story line. His grasp of the subject is masterly. His perception of Gandhi has astounded scholars who have studied the subject for much of their lives."