Moving Images

Two new films about fathers debate the cases for the insanity or heroism of larger-than-life dads. Every father has been there, but few so prominently as Mohandas Karamchand Gandhi (1869-1948) and Emanuel H. Bronner (1908-1997).

The familial struggles with Harilal, the eldest (of four) and self-destructive son of the man who led India to liberation from Great Britain, are the focus of the newly released Indian film "Gandhi My Father." And the irony of the less favored, second son, Ralph, becoming more and more dadlike (except for the threatening craziness) while running the business is a key subplot of "Dr. Bronner's Magic Soapbox," a documentary on a counterculture icon.

** Imagine the movie to be made about you in a few years. **