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
Based on a true story, Steven Spielberg's Schindler's List stars Liam Neeson as Oskar Schindler, a German businessman in Poland who sees an opportunity to make money from the Nazis' rise to power. He starts a company to make cookware and utensils, using flattery and bribes to win military contracts, and brings in accountant and financier Itzhak Stern (Ben Kingsley) to help run the factory. By staffing his plant with Jews who've been herded into Krakow's ghetto by Nazi troops, Schindler has a dependable unpaid labor force. For Stern, a job in a war-related plant could mean survival for himself and the other Jews working for Schindler. However, in 1942, all of Krakow's Jews are assigned to the Plaszow Forced Labor Camp, overseen by Commandant Amon Goeth (Ralph Fiennes), an embittered alcoholic who occasionally shoots prisoners from his balcony. Schindler arranges to continue using Polish Jews in his plant, but, as he sees what is happening to his employees, he begins to develop a conscience. He realizes that his factory (now refitted to manufacture ammunition) is the only thing preventing his staff from being shipped to the death camps. Soon Schindler demands more workers and starts bribing Nazi leaders to keep Jews on his employee lists and out of the camps. By the time Germany falls to the allies, Schindler has lost his entire fortune -- and saved 1,100 people from likely death. Schindler's List was nominated for 12 Academy Awards and won seven, including Best Picture and a long-coveted Best Director for Spielberg, and it quickly gained praise as one of the finest American movies about the Holocaust. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Liam Neeson, Ben Kingsley, (more)
The ghost of Frank Capra must have smiled when he saw Dave, an amusing and effective update of one of Capra's favorite themes -- the scrupulously honest little guy who becomes a force for good against a corrupt system. Dave Kovic (Kevin Kline) runs an employment agency and seems to genuinely enjoy finding work for people who need it. He also bears a striking resemblance to the president of the United States, Bill Mitchell (also played by Kline) and occasionally gets work as a Bill Mitchell impersonator. One day, Dave gets a call from the Secret Service -- for security purposes, they want to hire him to act as a decoy for an upcoming appearance by the president. All goes well, but later that evening President Mitchell suffers a massive stroke while in bed with his mistress. Wanting to keep the matter a secret, two of the president's top advisors appeal to Dave to stand in as Bill Mitchell until he regains his health. One of the men behind this scheme, Bob Alexander (Frank Langella), hopes to use Mitchell's absence to promote his own right-wing political agenda, but after a few weeks "in office," Dave decides it's time to promote some changes of his own that will help increase employment and keep homeless shelters open. Dave also finds himself growing fond of Ellen Mitchell (Sigourney Weaver), the President's wife, while Ellen sees in Dave the idealism her husband left behind years ago. Dave features numerous cameo appearances by politicians, Washington insiders, and journalists; Oliver Stone also appears to explain a conspiracy theory regarding sudden changes in Bill Mitchell's behavior. ~ Mark Deming, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Kevin Kline, Sigourney Weaver, (more)
Searching for Bobby Fischer was inspired by the life of chess prodigy Josh Waitzkin, as written by his father Fred Waitzkin. Josh (Max Pomeranc) is a "regular kid" who begins evincing signs of being a genius at chess. His father (Joe Mantegna) encourages this, hoping that it won't fundamentally change his son's healthy outlook on life. But Josh is taken under the wing of cold-blooded chess instructor Bruce Pandolfini (Ben Kingsley), who indoctrinates the boy in the "Bobby Fischer" strategy. Unfortunately, Pandolfini emphasizes all of Fischer's negative traits, especially his contempt for his opponents. Josh is in danger throughout the film of sacrificing his essential decency, but in a rousing conclusion, the boy is able to successfully blend ruthless competition with good sportsmanship. ~ Hal Erickson, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Joe Mantegna, Max Pomeranc, (more)
In this tech-thriller from director Phil Alden Robinson, a group of five renegade computer hackers, led by Martin Bishop (Robert Redford), are hired by the government to steal a black box, containing a code-breaking machine, from the mathematician who invented the device. The government is able to persuade Martin to take the job by convincing him that they will drop a decades-old federal warrant for his involvement in computer fraud. Martin agrees and he takes his team on the mission, eventually taking the box. Shortly after the hackers have stolen the device, the mathematician turns up dead. Before long, the quintet realize that they've gotten themselves into more than they'd originally bargained for, as Bishop's old rival Cosmo (Ben Kingsley) enters into the fold. The eclectic ensemble also includes River Phoenix, Sidney Poitier, Dan Aykroyd, David Strathairn, Mary McDonnell, and James Earl Jones. ~ Matthew Tobey, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Robert Redford, Sidney Poitier, (more)
- 1992
- PG
A steamer trunk full of the voices of British acting greats (Ben Kingsley, Billie Whitelaw, Michael Hordern, Brian Blessed, and Jonathan Pryce) enliven this absurd pop-cartoon parody of the James Bond films. In a prologue taking place in a faraway time, a widowed magician-king (voice of Michael Hordern) and his son, Prince Freddie (voice of Ben Kingsley) live in their lonely castle. Freddie's mean aunt Messina (voice of Billie Whitelaw), dead-set against Freddie becoming king, kills his father and transforms Freddie into a frog. Freddie escapes the wrath of Messina by jumping into the sea. Several hundred years later, Freddie is now living in modern day Paris -- a six-foot-tall amphibian with the moniker Secret Agent F.R.O.7. Messina, too, is still around causing mischief, joining forces with an arch-villain named El Supremo (voice of Brian Blessed) in a scheme to shrink Big Ben. Freddie, alerted to Messina's nefarious plans, gathers his fellow agents Daffers (voice of Jenny Agutter) and Scottie (voice of John Sessions) together, planning to hide out in Big Ben and surprise the evil doers when they are set to strike at the much-loved British landmark. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Jenny Agutter, (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)
Bugsy is a character study of mobster Benjamin "Bugsy" Siegel wrapped up in a gangster movie. Siegel (Warren Beatty in a flashy performance) arrives in California in the Forties, assigned to oversee the L.A. rackets. He is quickly seduced by both the glamour of Hollywood and actress Virginia Hill (Annette Bening), whom he romances despite being unable to leave his wife and children. Siegel soon has a vision to transform a barren stretch of Nevada desert into an oasis of gambling and entertainment -- the seeds from which Las Vegas was sown. Funded by his gangster bosses, including Meyer Lansky (Ben Kingsley), the flamboyant Siegel sees his budget soar past its original $6 million, a problem compounded by the fact that Virginia has embezzled $2 million of it. In trouble with his superiors, Siegel flies back to L.A. to face the music, telling Virginia to keep the money. He would not live to see his dream of Las Vegas come true. The film is fast-paced and well-directed by Barry Levinson, with an intelligent script by James Toback and excellent support from Kingsley and Harvey Keitel as gangster Mickey Cohen. ~ Don Kaye, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Warren Beatty, Annette Bening, (more)
- 1991
- R
Ben Kingsley stars in this solid adaptation of the Edith Wharton novel (filmed previously in 1929 as The Marriage Playground). Kingsley plays Martin Boyne, an engineer in 1920s Europe who, after five years of correspondence, is planning to travel overseas to marry the recently widowed Rose Sellars (Kim Novak). On his way to marry Rose, he stops off in Venice to visit his old friend Cliffe Wheater (Joe Don Baker), who with his wife Joyce (Geraldine Chaplin) has a large group of children. Rose then contacts Martin, telling him that due to complications arising from her husband's will, he should wait another year before marrying her. Meanwhile, Cliffe and Joyce's fifteen-year-old daughter Judith (Siri Neal) arrives at Rose's door with the younger children. Because of marital problems, the children convince Martin to become their guardian. But Martin, spending too much time around Judith, ends up falling in love with her. Tongues begin to wag and Rose, crestfallen, leaves for France. Martin and Rose split up and Martin disappears in shame, trying to get control of his life and all that he has lost. ~ Paul Brenner, All Movie Guide
- Starring:
- Ben Kingsley, Kim Novak, (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)
- 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)
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)
- 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)
- 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)
- 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)
