Being There (UK)
Click to read:
Getting there is half the fun; being there is all of it!
Certificate: 12
Running Time: 123 mins
Retail Price: £12.99
Release Date:
Content Type: Movie
Synopsis:
Peter Sellers stars as Chance, a dapper, mentally deficient gardener who has spent his entire life in the home of a rich recluse. He has learned of the outside world only through television and speaks in minimal, easy-to-digest sound bites. When Chance steps out into the world for the first time, though, his idle sayings are interpreted as philosophical wisdom by a wealthy industrialist and, soon after, swallowed whole by the American public to the point where Chance becomes a media celebrity...
Special Features:
Theatrical trailer
Video Tracks:
Widescreen Anamorphic 1.85:1
Audio Tracks:
Dolby Digital Mono English
Subtitle Tracks:
French
Polish
Czech
Swedish
Turkish
Romanian
English
Spanish
Portuguese
Greek
Croatian
Hungarian
Dutch
Arabic
Norwegian
Directed By:
Hal Ashby
Written By:
Jerzy Kosinski
Robert C. Jones
Starring:
Richard A. Dysart
Jack Warden
Melvyn Douglas
Shirley MacLaine
Peter Sellers
Casting By:
Lynn Stalmaster
Soundtrack By:
Johnny Mandel
Director of Photography:
Caleb Deschanel
Editor:
Don Zimmerman
Costume Designer:
May Routh
Production Designer:
Michael D. Haller
Producer:
Charles Mulvehill
Andrew Braunsberg
Executive Producer:
Jack Schwartzman
Distributor:
Warner Home Video
Your Opinions and Comments
This is a movie that is about basically one joke. How people can get the wrong impression, and where that leads.
The Plot
It stars Peter Sellers in his last film. Its nothing like the slapstick of the Pink Panther movies, but nice gentle humour. A quite amazing performance, outside of his more conventional image.
He plays the character Chance, an IQ challenged gardener, who has lived his entire life in the care of an old rich man. He therefore has no experience of real life. He has never even been in a car before, or even left the building. Meals have always been provided by the housekeeper, so he has lived a cocooned life. Then the old man unfortunately dies and he is forced to leave the house. You would think his journey into the outside world would be lethal (this is after all Washington D.C. and not perhaps the best part of it either). Its touch and go to start with, hes doesn`t understand how to get food or what money is.
However his slow thinking; softly, well spoken way, together with his fine clothes and smart appearance mean people tend to have preconceptions of a smart business man, and see in him what they want, usually in an extremely positive way.
He really only understands gardening, and usually replies to a question he doesn`t understand as though it was a question about a garden. This leads to people interpreting the response as metaphorical and his direction is set. Just how far will it take him though? A nice final twist at the end leaves you wondering too.
The Visuals/Audio
The visuals are nothing special for a film from the 1970s, and the sound is in mono, but then all the action is in the dialog and events.
The Extras
There are few extra features, a trailer and some different languages.
Summary
Its a classic film IMHO, and well worth the investment. It picked up a number of awards including an Oscar for the supporting role, and a nomination for Peter Sellers.