Film Review: Being There (1979)
In today’s world of rising social inequality, the increasingly anti-democratic and alienated elites try to justify their position with their alleged intellectual superiority over the unwashed “deplorable” masses. History, however, teaches us that all the fancy school diplomas or private tutors can’t prevent those elites from being taken for a ride by characters like Rasputin or Bernie Madoff. The same phenomenon inspired Polish writer Jerzy Kosinski for his famous novel Being There, adapted in 1979 into eponymous film directed by Hal Ashby, nowadays known as one of the most interesting films made at the end of New Hollywood.
Protagonist, played by Peter Sellers, is Chance, middle-aged and mentally impaired man who has lived entire life in a Washington D.C. town house and all he knew was television and walled garden he has tended over the years. When the owner of the house dies, he is suddenly forced to leave and begins to wander aimlessly on the streets before he is hit by a limousine. The limousine is carrying Eve Rand (played by Shirley Maclaine) who decides to bring him to her home, which is owned by her wealthy and influential husband Ben Rand (played by Melvyn Douglas). While Chance, or “Chauncey Gardener” as they call him, recuperates at their mansion, Rands are impressed by his tailor-made clothes and impeccable manners and tend to interpret Chance’s simple answers to their questions as deep wisdom. This continues when Chance is introduced as parties attended by Washington elite, including even US President (played by Jack Warden) who sees Chance’s words about gardening as an advice how to solve difficult economic problems. Ben Rand, who is terminally sick, is so impressed with Chance that he even encourages his wife to have an affair with him.
Being There is these days known mostly as the last film in the career of Peter Sellers, immensely talented British comedian who became famous for his role of Inspector Clouseau in series of Pink Panther films. This film was his personal project, in many ways motivated by his desire to show his tremendous skill by playing not only different character but also employ different acting style. His Chance is actually quite simple and unremarkable character, and it took truly great talent to make it both believable and funny. Sellers achieved that and easily outclassed every other member of rather talented cast, including Melvyn Douglas, who had won Oscar for Best Supporting Actor.
Being There is also known as the last great film in the career of Hal Ashby, one of the most iconic directors of New Hollywood. Ashby, known for his anti-establishment views, was best when making films about characters at odds with “normal” society. Being There, on the other hand, deals with character which is clearly abnormal due to his social and mental impairment, but it is instead enthusiastically embraced by the pillars of that “normal” society. And it happens exactly because the elite sees in him a blank screen in which they can project their own desires and wishes; furthermore, they can even use character of Chance as a tool to maintain their position because just as Chance unwittingly fools them, they can use Chance to unwittingly fool ordinary people through media manipulation. This is best seen in the funeral scene at the end when the pallbearers – who happen to belong to the same set of influential oligarchs like Rands – openly discuss plans to replace current President with someone “unknown” and without “baggage”, and the blank slate like Chance would be perfect. That scene gained prophetic dimension only a year later when the new president became Ronald Reagan, politician who had great charm but was often viewed as a person of subpar intellectual capacities.
Ashby, however, despite all of his talents, didn’t make a flawless film. On the contrary, his insistence of New Hollywood styles made Being There slow and the main joke became at times repetitive. The film, which would at times require too much suspension of disbelief and patience from modern viewers, also had ending which is memorable but too symbolic and the motive of “sacred fool” and interpretation of Chance of some kind of angelic heavenly figure was at the odds with the rest of the film. Because of such inconsistencies Being There is not as great many fans of Sellers and Ashby would like to think, but nevertheless provides good combination of humour and serious food for thought.
RATING: 7/10 (++)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/10322-being-there
Critic: AA