#864: ASHBY, Hal: Being There (1979)

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ASHBY, Hal (United States)
Being There [1979]
Spine #864
Blu-ray


In one of his most finely tuned performances, Peter Sellers plays the pure-hearted, childlike Chance, a gardener who is forced into the wilds of Washington, D.C., when his wealthy guardian dies. Shocked to discover that the real world doesn't respond to the click of a remote, Chance stumbles into celebrity after being taken under the wing of a tycoon (Melvyn Douglas, in an Oscar-winning performance), who mistakes his protégé's horticultural mumblings for sagacious pronouncements on life and politics, and whose wife (Shirley MacLaine) targets Chance as the object of her desire. Adapted from a novel by Jerzy Kasinski, this satire, both deeply melancholy and hilarious, is the culmination of Hal Ashby's remarkable string of films in the 1970s, and a carefully modulated examination of the ideals, anxieties, and media-fueled delusions that shaped American culture during that decade.

130 minutes
Color
Monaural
1:85:1 aspect ratio
Criterion Release 2017
Director/Writers


Based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski.
Screenplay by Kosinski and Robert C. Jones.
Hal Ashby was 50 when he directed Being There.

Other Ashby films in the Collection:

#608: Harold And Maude (1971)
#947: Shampoo (1975)

The Film

A

Film Rating (0-60):

60

The Extras

 The Booklet

Ten-page wraparound featuring an essay by critic Mark Harris.

Commentary

None.

Documentary

On the making of the film, featuring interviews with members of the production team.

Excerpts

From a 1980 American Film Institute seminar with director Ashby.

Author

Kosinski in a 1979 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show.

Appearances

From 1980 by actor Sellers on NBC’s Today and on the The Don Lane Show.

Promo reel

Featuring Sellers and Ashby.

Trailer and TV spots

Deleted scenes, outtakes, and alternate ending

Extras Rating (0-40):

39

60 + 39 =

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