Ben Kingsley Movies
Chameleon-like British actor Ben Kingsley has proven he can play just about anyone, from Nazi war criminals to Jewish Holocaust survivors to quiet British bookshop owners. For many viewers, however, he will always be inextricably linked with his title role in Gandhi, a film that won him an Oscar and the undying respect of critics and filmgoers alike.Of English, East Indian, and South African descent, Kingsley was born Krishna Bhanji on December 31, 1943 in Snaiton, Yorkshire, England. The son of a general practitioner, Kingsley started out in amateur theatricals in Manchester before making his professional debut at age 23. In 1967 he made his first London appearance at the Aldwych theater and then joined the Royal Shakespeare Company, devoting himself almost exclusively to stage work for the next 15 years (with the exception of two obscure films, Fear Is the Key [1972] and Hard Labour [1973]). When asked about his favorite stage roles, he listed Hamlet, The Tempest's Ariel, and Volpone's Mosca.
American audiences first saw Kingsley in 1971, when he made his Broadway debut with the Royal Shakespeare Company. In 1982, actor and director Richard Attenborough selected Kingsley for the demanding title role in the epic Gandhi. The film swept the international awards that year, earning the 39-year-old actor overnight success. Among the several awards he was honored with, Kingsley won a Best Actor Oscar. Adamantly refusing to recycle the same roles, Kingsley spent the next decade playing a wide spectrum of characters. Among his more notable parts were an Arab potentate in Harem (1985), an introverted bibliophile and "social rebel" in Turtle Diary (also 1985), a spy of little import in Pascali's Island (1988), an incorruptible American vice president in Dave (1992), New York gangster Meyer Lansky in Bugsy (1992), a Jewish bookkeeper in Schindler's List (1993), and a suspected Nazi war criminal in Death and the Maiden (1994). So many of his characters have been either taciturn or downright villainous that, upon being cast in a good-guy role in the escapist sci-fier Species (1995), Kingsley publicly expressed his relief in several widely circulated magazine articles.
In the latter half of the 1990s, Kingsley continued to embrace a variety of eclectic roles, with turns as the Fool in Trevor Nunn's 1996 film adaptation of Twelfth Night, a media mogul in the 1997 made-for-HBO satire Weapons of Mass Distraction, and the barbarous barber Sweeney Todd in John Schlesinger's 1998 The Tale of Sweeney Todd. Kingsley also took Broadway by storm with his one-man show Edward Kean (later taped for cable), which was directed by his wife, Alison Sutcliffe.
Though Kingsley had retained the variety in his career that he had so diligently pursued, the ever-sharp actor remained as focused as ever heading into the new millennium. For his role as a manipulative criminal with a strong power for persuasion in Sexy Beast (2001), Kingsley earned both a Golden Globe nomination and a third Oscar nomination. His fourth Academy nod would come just 2 years later with his role as a proud Arab-American patriarch in The House of Sand and Fog. Along with the Best Actor Oscar nomination, the role also netted Kingsley Golden Globe and Screen Actor's Guild nominations. Kingsley lost his Oscar bid for House to Sean Penn, who collected the statue for his contribution to Clint Eastwood's Mystic River.
Over the next several years, Sir Ben Kingsley's acting choices often demonstrated the degree of difficulty that A-listers may encounter when seeking multilayered roles in respectable films, with solid scripts and direction; like many of his contemporaries, the magnificent thespian Kingsley turned up in more than one schlocky Hollywood stinker after House of Sand and Fog -- from Jonathan Frakes's ugly Thunderbirds revamp (2004) to Uwe Boll's horrendous, gothic fx-extravaganza BloodRayne (2006) (as evil ruler Lord Kagan). If anyone could ferret out the creme-de-la-creme of roles, however, Kingsley could, and he simultaneously proved it with contributions to the interesting 2005 biopic Mrs. Harris (as the ill-fated Scarsdale Diet Doctor) and the wondrous documentary I Have Never Forgotten You: The Life and Legacy of Simon Rosenthal (2007).
2007 marked a banner year for Kingsley - his most active in quite some time, with contributions to no less than seven key pictures. In the most prominent, the John Dahl-directed crime comedy You Kill Me, Kingsley plays Frank Falenczyk, an alcoholic hit man who travels to Los Angeles to dry out, takes a job in a morgue, and strikes up a relationship with a relative of one of his victims. That same year, Kingsley re-projected his innate ability to essay ethnic roles convincingly, with his turn as one of two Russian police offers investigating an espionage case on a train, in Brad Anderson's thriller Trans-Siberian.
Later that same year, Kingsley appeared opposite lead Dan Fogler in English director Chase Palmer's Number Thirteen - a period drama about Alfred Hitchcock's ill-fated attempt to realize one of his first movie projects. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
Academy Award-winner Ben Kingsley narrates this look at the life of Chronicles of Narnia author C.S. Lewis, the writer many fiction fans site as the greatest Christian author of the 20th Century. Originally broadcast on public television, Chip Duncan's documentary opens by detailing Lewis' childhood in Northern Ireland, and the impact that losing his mother and witnessing the horrors of World War I had on shaping both his belief system. Later moving on to attend both Oxford and Cambridge Universities, Lewis entered into a close friendship with Lord of the Rings author J.R.R. Tolkien, embraced Christianity after a life of atheism, and began a late-life romance with his beloved wife Joy. Extensive interviews with family members, friends, colleagues, Lewis scholars, and Oscar-nominated Shadowlands star Debra Winger provide fans with a remarkable look into the life of a true literary icon. ~ Jason Buchanan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley
Mrs. Thornley (Liz Smith) leads a rather miserable existence in Salford. She lives with her husband, Jim (Clifford Kershaw), a night custodian at a toy factory, and their grown daughter, Ann (Polly Hemingway). Mrs. Thornley is a maid who works for an imperious upper-middle class woman, Mrs. Stone (Vanessa Harris). Between her work and her home life, it seems like Mrs. Thornley is always cooking, cleaning, and fielding complaints. Jim spends most of his spare time at the pub, and is pretty cold to his wife, drunkenly demanding sex from her once a week on the night he's not working. Jim's efforts to ingratiate himself to his supervisor, Mr. Shaw (Keith Washington), are met with a stony lecture about dressing properly on the job. Ann, meanwhile, has been spending her time trying to arrange an abortion for her friend Julie (Linda Beckett) with the help of a friendly Pakistani taxi driver, Naseem (an early turn by Ben Kingsley). The couple's son, Edward (Bernard Hill, who would later play Théoden in Lord of the Rings) seems to care about his mum, but his wife, Veronica (Alison Steadman, in the first of many performances for writer/director Mike Leigh), is a snob who constantly harangues him about his manners and looks down on his family. Mrs. Thornley, beaten down by her wearying existence, eventually seeks solace from a local priest. Hard Labour, Leigh's follow-up to Bleak Moments, was originally produced for the BBC's Play for Today series. It features an appearance by Alan Erasmus (who would become a major figure in the Manchester pop scene), portrayed by Lennie James in Michael Winterbottom's 24 Hour Party People. ~ Josh Ralske, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liz Smith, Alison Steadman, (more)
- 1973
In this thriller based on a novel by Alistair MacLean, Barry Newman plays John Talbot, an underwater salvage expert who witnesses the murder of his wife and child. After working with the police, Talbot hatches his own scheme to bring the killers to justice; posing as a criminal, he stages the phony murder of a police officer and kidnaps Sarah Ruthven (Suzy Kendall), the heiress to a petroleum fortune. Talbot's false daring attracts the attention of a criminal mastermind who wants to recover the valuables aboard a plane that recently crash-landed in the water; however, Talbot knows that the same man was responsible for his family's death, and he intends to see that he never returns from their exploratory search of the wrecked plane. Watch for Ben Kingsley in a small role, it was his first film, prior to Gandhi in 1982. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Barry Newman, Suzy Kendall, (more)
It was Richard Attenborough's lifelong dream to bring the life story of Indian political and spiritual leader Mahatma Gandhi to the screen. When it finally reached fruition in 1982, the 188-minute, Oscar-winning Gandhi was one of the most exhaustively thorough biopics ever made. The film begins in the early part of the 20th century, when Mohandas K. Gandhi (Ben Kingsley), a British-trained lawyer, forsakes all worldly possessions to take up the cause of Indian independence. Faced with armed resistance from the British government, Gandhi adopts a policy of "passive resistance," endeavoring to win freedom for his people without resorting to bloodshed. In the horrendous "slaughter" sequence, more extras appear on screen than in any previous historical epic. The supporting cast includes Candice Bergen as photographer Margaret Bourke-White, Athol Fugard as General Smuts, John Gielgud as Lord Irwin, John Mills as the viceroy, Martin Sheen as Walker, Trevor Howard as Judge Broomfield, and, in a tiny part as a street bully, star-to-be Daniel Day-Lewis. Gandhi won eight Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor, and Best Director. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Candice Bergen, (more)
- 1982
Windsor is a peaceful town on the Thames where hardly a leaf falls to disturb the silence. And then England's most notorious mischief maker, Sir John Falstaff (Richard Griffiths), arrives from London with his hooligans -- Bardolph (Gordon Gostelow), Nym (Michael Robbins), and Pistol (Nigel Terry) -- to steal and make merry. After breaking into a lodge and killing a deer on private land, they arouse the wrath of the locals. But quick tongues and pleadings of innocence exonerate them and even earn Falstaff a meal at the home of George Page (Bryan Marshall), a Windsor gentleman. There, Falstaff converses with Mrs. Page (Prunella Scales) and her neighbor, Mrs. Ford (Judy Davis), both of whom rule the purse strings of their households. Falstaff then decides to woo both women and charm them free of their money. But after he writes them a love letter -- the same letter word-for-word except for the name of the addressee -- the two "merry wives" compare letters and decide to give Sir John his comeuppance. Meanwhile, Mr. Ford (Ben Kingsley) gets wind of Falstaff's designs on his wife and, riven with jealousy, plots to surprise Falstaff when he comes calling. Scenes ensue in which Mr. Ford bursts through his front door in an attempt to discover Falstaff. The tee-heeing wives couldn't be happier, for these occasions give them a chance to humiliate Falstaff -- once by having him hide in a laundry basket which is dumped in the muddy Thames and another time by dressing as "the fat woman of Brentford." A subplot follows three men as they woo Mrs. Page's lovely daughter, Anne (Miranda Foster). In the end, Falstaff acknowledges his bad behavior, Anne Page gets her man, and good feelings abound. ~ Mike Cummings, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley
- 1983
Director David Jones adapted Harold Pinter's play of the same name -- with the help of Pinter himself -- to better fit this chronologically reversed drama of love and betrayal to the medium of film. The action starts with a scene in a London pub in which Jerry (Jeremy Irons) and Emma (Patricia Hodge) hold a subtly sardonic conversation on the nature of human failings as they meet for the first time after the end of their affair. The next scene, introduced by an intertitle, details how their romance fizzled and is followed by the next vignette, one year earlier, on how Jerry broke the news to Emma's husband Robert (Ben Kingsley) that he and Emma were lovers. And so it continues, through a total of nine scenes, back to the beginning of a complex, interpersonal drama. The film benefits considerably from Kingsley and Irons as the lead males, and the backwards story is in no way hard to follow. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Jeremy Irons, Ben Kingsley, (more)
- 1984
Alexandre Dumas fis first dramatized his own novel La Dame aux Camelias in 1852. Before the century was out, the work had been transformed by Giuseppe Verdi into the opera La Traviata; before the next century was out, the Dumas book had been made into no fewer than 25 films. The 1984 TV-movie adaptation, titled Camille like most of the others (including the first film, way back in 1907), stars Greta Schacchi as Marguerite, the popular Parisian courtesan who is wooed by innocent young Armand (Colin Firth). She is willing to give up her libertine lifestyle for Armand, but is gently convinced by the boy's father (John Gielgud) that such a union would be impossible. She renounces Armand, but he returns to her side, just as she is dying of consumption. Blanche Hanalis' adaptation of the Dumas novel takes a franker approach to the subject matter than the more familiar 1937 filmization with that other Greta (Garbo), and also manages to insert a soupcon of feminism. Filmed in Paris, the 1984 Camille was originally offered as a Hallmark Hall of Fame special. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Greta Scacchi, Colin Firth, (more)
- 1984
This 90-minute drama was made for British television. The chameleon-like Ben Kingsley stars as an ulcerated movie producer. Jeremy Child co-stars as Kingsley's equally overworked agent. The relationship between these two predators is placed in context with the cutthroat world of showbiz. Diane Keen is featured as the requisite woman in the case. Sleeps Six was first telecast in the U.S. over the A&E cable service. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Diane Keen, (more)
- 1985
This film's two well-known stars -- Nastassja Kinski as Diane, a sophisticated trainee on the New York Stock Exchange, and Ben Kingsley as Selim an Arab mogul -- are hard-put to bring life into this beautifully photographed but underscripted romantic drama. Diane is kidnapped and brought to Selim's scenic fortress hideaway in a North African desert. In an interesting role reversal, Diane has no qualms about bedding down an attractive man, but Selim's harem is purely decorative -- he does not share her cavalier view of sexual relationships. The twist is that Selim is not really that bad -- in spite of the fact that he has kidnapped the girl, he actually feels compelled to uphold a time-honored tradition that he doesn't really believe. Selim is an aesthete who wants to embrace the ways of the Western world. ~ Eleanor Mannikka, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Nastassja Kinski, Ben Kingsley, (more)
This TV adaptation of George Elliot's 1861 novel Silas Marner was one of the rare single-episode presentations of PBS' Masterpiece Theatre. Ben Kingsley plays Silas Marner, who after being falsely accused of a crime and banished from his own town, becomes a miserly recluse in the small British community of Raveloe. When his precious cache of money is stolen by the town wastrel (Jonathan Coy) Silas can see no reason for going on with life. He is transformed from misanthrope to rehabilitated human being through the love of Eppie, an orphaned child left in his care. Patsy Kensit is featured as the grown-up Eppie. Originally taped in 1985 for the BBC, Silas Marner was first shown in the US on March 15, 1987. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Jenny Agutter, (more)
- 1985
- PG
Adapted by Harold Pinter from the novel by Russell Hoban, Turtle Diary stars Glenda Jackson as a famed author/illustrator of children's books. In the midst of her success, Jackson suffers from writer's block. While casting about for new ideas, she makes several visits to the turtle tank at the local aquarium, where she becomes acquainted with shy bookstore clerk Ben Kingsley. From this point on, nothing is in the least predictable. What can one say that's sensible about a plotline that climaxes with a turtle hijacking? Screenwriter Pinter has a cameo role as "Man in Bookshop." Turtle Diary was the maiden effort of United British Artists, a consortium consisting of Glenda Jackson, Harold Pinter, and producer Richard Johnson (who also appears in the film). ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Glenda Jackson, Ben Kingsley, (more)
- 1987
Ben Kingsley stars as celebrated Russian composer Dmitri Shostakovich in this lengthy historical biography. Along with Prokofiev, Shostakovich is considered among the elite of the 20th-century composers to emerge from his country. Striving to be true to his art form, the composer was caught in the political crossfire of the Stalin regime and was criticized for being politically ambiguous. Under constant pressure, Shostakovich silenced many of his critics when he remained in Leningrad during the Nazi siege to complete his stirring 7th symphony. Terrence Rigby plays Stalin, with Ronald Pickup as the ill-fated Soviet official Tukhachevsky, another of Stalin's many victims. Shostakovich lived until 1975. ~ Dan Pavlides, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Sherry Baines, (more)
Director James Ivory brings his subdued, "Masterpiece Theater" style to a forbidden subject -- homosexual love. Maurice is based on E.M. Forster's suppressed 1914 novel that was held back from publication until after his death. The film takes place at Cambridge, before World War I, when homosexuality was outlawed in Great Britain. Clive (Hugh Grant), an aristocratic Englishman with a life of privilege, suddenly shocks his close friend Maurice (James Wilby) by declaring his love for him. Maurice is initially stunned by the pronouncement, but in the end finds himself giving Clive a passionate kiss and telling him that he loves him as well. Clive, in the stiff-upper-lip British manner, considers their love to be more of an intellectual concept, but Maurice becomes passionate about the affair. Clive, afraid of being exposed as a homosexual, backs off and breaks up with Maurice for marriage, family, and politics. Maurice is crestfallen, but then he has a passionate affair with Clive's gamekeeper, Scudder (Rupert Graves), and Maurice and Scudder decide to risk their reputations by openly living together as lovers. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- James Wilby, Hugh Grant, (more)
According to Without a Clue, master detective Sherlock Holmes was a wholly fictional character. Well, we knew that; what we didn't know was that Holmes was a figment of the imagination of his chronicler, Dr. John Watson (Ben Kingsley). When Holmes' fame begins to grow, would-be clients besiege Watson's office for chance to consult the Great Detective. In desperation, Watson hires a seedy provincial actor (Michael Caine) to pose as Holmes. Trouble is, the preening actor hasn't got a clue -- about anything. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Michael Caine, Ben Kingsley, (more)
- 1988
- PG13
The year is 1908; after centuries of unchecked power, the Ottoman empire is rapidly crumbling. As a result, Turkey's secret agents--those that haven't already been eliminated by downsizing or death--operate in a vacuum, their superiors knowing little and caring less about their activities. One such spy is Ben Kingsley, a minor bureaucrat of no ambition. When ordered to help disreputable English citizens Charles Dance and Helen Mirren in the theft of a precious Greek artifact, Kingsley goes along without question. He is even prepared to follow orders and double-cross Dance the moment the robbery is pulled off. But as the film progresses, Kingsley becomes less and less of a by-the-book government functionary and more and more of an enigma--to Dance, to Mirren, to his country, to himself. More than your usual "caper" film, Pascali's Island has more layers than an artichoke. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Charles Dance, (more)
- 1989
Ben Kingsley stars as Simon Weisenthal, an Austrian Jew who is interred in the Malthausen concentration camp during World War II. When the camp is liberated, it is Weisenthal's eyewitness testimony, coupled with sketches that he's made of the many Nazi atrocities, that leads to the capture of Malthausen's escaped commandants. Weisenthal goes on to join the American War Crimes unit, collecting evidence for the Nuremberg trials. Eventually he dedicates his life to tracking down Nazi war criminals, at great personal cost to himself and his wife (Renee Soutendjik). His most daunting task is to convince his daughter (Louisa Haigh) that he is pursuing justice, not vengeance. Made for HBO, Murderers Among Us: The Simon Wiesenthal Story premiered April 22, 1989. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
In a post-apocalyptic world, a fugitive named Byron (Bob Peck) is captured by cop Will Tasker (Mark Hamill) and his beautiful partner Belitski (Kitty Aldridge). But when bounty hunter Matt Owens (Bill Paxton) learns that there is a price on Byron's head, he tricks the police and absconds with the prisoner. In order to escape detection, Matt flies off into the slipstream --an environmental curiosity of high and harsh winds treated by a local religious cult as a god. The religious cult captures them and holds them captive. Byron has healing powers and the cult decides to bind him up to a giant kite in order to determine whether he is a good or bad spirit. Tasker and Belitiski re-appear and they free Matt after he agrees to help them get the kite-born Byron back down to earth. Matt flies upward to free Byron, but Belitski, not trusting Matt, flies upward herself. A violent wind tosses all three into parts unknown, while Tasker is almost killed by the kite. Matt is found to have been poisoned by Tasker and seeks to accompany a cave dweller named Ariel (Eleanor David) to her homeland, where he can get an antidote to the poison in his veins. Meanwhile, Byron is revealed to be an android. The three journey to a settlement dedicated to sensual pleasure. While they partake of the services, Tasker and Belitski shoot their way into the settlement, looking for Byron. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Mark Hamill, Bob Peck, (more)
- 1990
- PG13
Ben Kingsley headlines this thoughtful adventure that was filmed on location in Brazil. The story centers on Cunda, a poor hunter who makes his meager living killing snakes. One day, he runs across four chimpanzees. The hunter is elated, for he hopes that selling them in the Big City will net him enough money to pay the dowry of his beloved Maria, a widow who lives in his village. His journey is long and arduous. At one point he ends up forced to work in a remote mining camp; at another he gets captured by military slavers. He and a beautiful Indian girl manage to escape from the latter and with the chimps make it to the city. But things don't go well there. More adventures ensue, and with each one, Cunda ponders humankind's true place in the natural world. ~ Sandra Brennan, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Mika Lins, (more)
- 1990
Benvenuto Cellini was a gifted metalworker who created gorgeous objects for the rich, a rogue, a warrior and a sensitive man. In short, he was an archetypical product of his period in Renaissance Italy, a lusty antihero par excellence. This movie is based on selections from his famous autobiography, and chronicles the life of this egotistical fabricator of beautiful objects as he battles, murders, has love affairs, rapes, connives, copes with imprisonment and near madness and generally thrives amid the worst that his tumultuous times can throw at him. Not for the weak of stomach, this film graphically depicts the violence of the period, as well as the unpleasantnesses of the plague. His truly was A Violent Life. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Wadeck Stanczak, Max von Sydow, (more)
- 1990
Despite the use in this film of voices dubbed by greats of English theater, the casting of long-haired cats to play the roles of Romeo and Juliet seems somewhat perverse. Nonetheless, the lines are well read, and the movie contains some fine original musical compositions. Among the voices: Maggie Smith, Ben Kingsley, Vanessa Redgrave, and John Hurt. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- John Hurt, Robert Powell, (more)
- 1991
This documentary is a tribute by two British photojournalists to four of their colleagues who died covering this incredibly messy war. There is very little good one can say about the war the Russians fought in Afghanistan (from 1979 to 1988) or its aftermath. As many as 50,000 Soviet soldiers died there, in fighting between the outnumbered and outgunned Afghanis and the forces of the powerful U.S.S.R. to the north. While the local resistance received some international support (most notably from the U.S., Saudi Arabia and Pakistan) and was eventually victorious, the country was soon embroiled in yet another vicious civil war, from which the ultra-fundamentalist (and virulently anti-female) Taliban faction emerged largely in control. It was called "the Russians' Vietnam," and rightly so. Both were vicious, unwinnable wars against adamantly opposed local populations -- and were very dangerous for any journalist to cover. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley
- 1991
Ernesto and Valentina are sure of their relationship. It is late in the 19th century in Europe, and this sophisticated married couple consider that a little openly conducted outside dalliance only adds spice to their partnership. When the architect (Ben Kingsley) and his wife (Marie-Christine Barrault) spy an attractive and very much in love set of newlyweds at the resort hotel they are staying at, they set their sights on seducing both of them. However, though their effort to bring about the corruption of the newlyweds' innocence succeeds, it brings them far less satisfaction than they imagined it would. Though this is an Italian and French co-production, it was filmed separately in English and French. ~ Clarke Fountain, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Marie-Christine Barrault, (more)
