| Being There | |
|---|---|
 Theatrical release poster | |
| Directed by | Hal Ashby |
| Screenplay by | Jerzy Kosiński[a] |
| Based on | Being There 1970 novel by Jerzy Kosiński |
| Produced by | Andrew Braunsberg |
| Starring | |
| Cinematography | Caleb Deschanel |
| Edited by | Don Zimmerman |
| Music by | Johnny Mandel |
Production company | |
| Distributed by | United Artists |
Release date |
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Running time | 130 minutes |
| Country | United States |
| Language | English |
| Budget | $7 million[2] |
| Box office | $30.2 million (US)[3] |
Being There is a 1979 American satiricalcomedy-drama film starringPeter Sellers,Shirley MacLaine, andMelvyn Douglas. Directed byHal Ashby, it is based on the 1970 novelBeing There byJerzy Kosiński, and adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncreditedRobert C. Jones.Jack Warden,Richard Dysart, andRichard Basehart are featured in support.
Douglas won theAcademy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Sellers was nominated for Best Actor.[4] The screenplay won theBritish Academy Film Award for Best Screenplay and theWriters Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It was also nominated for theGolden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. In 2015, theLibrary of Congress selectedBeing There for preservation in theNational Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It has since developed a strong cult following and is a favorite among many filmmakers.[5][6][7]
Middle-aged, simple-minded Chance lives in a wealthy old man's townhouse in Washington, D.C., along with the man's African-American maid Louise, who is kind to Chance. He has spent his whole life tending the garden and never left the property. Other than gardening, his knowledge is derived entirely from television. When the old man dies, his estate lawyers order Chance out.
He wanders aimlessly, discovering the outside world for the first time. An African-American youth points a knife at him; Chance ineffectually tries to click him out of existence with a TV remote control. Passing by a TV shop, Chance sees himself captured by a video camera in the shop window. Entranced, he steps backward off the sidewalk and is struck by a limousine chauffeuring Eve Rand, the glamorous and much younger wife of elderly business mogul Ben Rand. When she asks him his name she mishears "Chance, the gardener" as "Chauncey Gardiner".
Eve brings Chance to their palatial estate to be seen by Dr. Allenby, who is resident there caring for Ben, who is slowly dying froma blood disease. After checking Chauncey out, the doctor invites him to stay to keep an eye on him.
Chauncey's manners are old-fashioned and courtly, and he wears expensively-tailored but outmoded 1930s clothes he took from his former employer's attic. When Ben meets him he takes "Chauncey" for an upper-class, highly educated businessman fallen on hard times. Ben admires him, finding him direct, wise and insightful.
Ben is also a confidant and advisor to thePresident of the United States, whom he introduces to Chauncey. In a discussion about the economy, Chance takes his cue from the words "stimulate growth" and talks about the changing seasons of the garden. The President misinterprets this as optimistic political advice and quotes "Chauncey Gardiner" in a speech.
Chance now rises to national prominence, attends important events, develops a close connection with the Soviet ambassador, and appears on a talk show during which his detailed advice about what a serious gardener should do is misunderstood as his opinion on presidential policy. Louise tells other African Americans as they watch Chance on TV that he has "rice pudding between the ears" and that whiteness is all that is needed to succeed in America. The President is shown as sexually impotent with his wife when watching the show.
Though Chance has now risen to the pinnacle of Washington society, theSecret Service and 16 foreign agencies are unable to find any background information on him. Meanwhile, Allenby becomes increasingly suspicious that Chance is not a wise political expert and that his mysterious identity may have a more mundane explanation. Allenby considers telling Ben, but remains silent when he realizes how happy Chance is making him in his final days.
The dying Ben encourages Eve to become close to "Chauncey". She is already attracted to him and makes a sexual advance. Chance has no interest in or knowledge of sex, but mimics a kissing scene from the 1968 filmThe Thomas Crown Affair, which happens to be on TV. When the scene ends, Chance stops suddenly and Eve is confused. She asks what he likes, meaning sexually; he replies "I like to watch," meaning television. She is momentarily taken aback, but masturbates for his voyeuristic pleasure, not noticing he has turned back to the TV and is imitatingLilias, Yoga and You on another channel.
Chance is present at Ben's death and shows genuine sadness. Questioned by Allenby, he admits that he "loves Eve very much" and also that he is just a gardener. When he leaves to inform Eve of Ben's death, Allenby says to himself, "I understand."
While the President delivers a speech at Ben's funeral, the pallbearers hold a whispered discussion over potential replacements for the President in the next presidential term, and unanimously agree on "Chauncey" as successor. Oblivious, Chance wanders off through Ben's wintry estate. He straightens out a pine sapling flattened by a fallen branch, thenwalks across the surface of a lake without sinking. He pauses, dips his umbrella deep into the water to the right of his path, then continues on, while the President is heard quoting Ben: "Life is a state of mind."
Burt Lancaster was Ashby's first choice for the role of Ben Rand.[8][9]Laurence Olivier was also considered for the role, but turned it down because of the masturbation scene.[8][10]
Principal filming occurred at theBiltmore Estate, the largest private home in the United States, located inAsheville, North Carolina.[11] According to MacLaine, "(Peter) believed he was Chauncey. He never had lunch with me ... He was Chauncey Gardiner the whole shoot, but believing he was having a love affair with me."[12] The original ending as written in the script was filmed; it shows Eve finding Chance by the lake, they declare they have found each other, and both walk back together.[13] However, Ashby was unhappy with this ending so he had a platform submerged in the lake for Sellers to walk on, creating the film's enigmatic final scene.[14]
The making of the film is portrayed inThe Life and Death of Peter Sellers, a biographical film of Sellers's life.
Incidental music is used very sparingly. What little original music is used was composed byJohnny Mandel, and primarily features two recurrent piano themes based on "Gnossiennes" No. 4 and No. 5 byErik Satie. The other major pieces of music used are theEumir Deodato jazz/funk arrangement of the opening fanfare fromAlso Sprach Zarathustra and "Basketball Jones" by Cheech and Chong. These pieces respectively accompany the title credits and Chance's first arrival to the Biltmore Estate.[15] Mandel was also assisted by his cousin and fellow composerMiles Goodman with the orchestration of the film.[16][17][18][19][20][21]
The film opened to positive reviews and gave Sellers a hit after a run of failed films outside of thePink Panther series. Film criticRoger Ebert ofThe Chicago Sun-Times awarded a grade of four out of four stars in his original print review, writing howBeing There was "one of the most confoundingly provocative movies of the year" and contained "wonderful comic moments".[22]Gene Siskel also gave the film a perfect grade of four stars, calling it "one of those rare films, a work of such electric comedy that you are more likely to watch it in amazement than to break down and laugh".[23]Janet Maslin ofThe New York Times called it "a stately, beautifully acted satire with a premise that's funny but fragile".[24]Variety called it "an unusually fine film" that "represents Peter Sellers's most smashing work since the mid-1960s".[25]Kevin Thomas of theLos Angeles Times called it "a gentle, exquisitely funny film", adding that "Sellers hasn't been so terrific—or had such terrific material—in years."[26]
Vincent Misiano reviewedBeing There inAres Magazine and commented that "the film's humor never flags and yet its delicately bitter irony is never far away. It satirizes politics and politicians, business and businessmen, and, finally, all the rest of us and what we imagine we see when we look at one another."[27]
In 2006, Roger Ebert mentioned the reaction of his students to the final scene (which is unique to the film, not appearing in the book),[28] stating that they once suggested that Chance may be walking on a submerged pier. But, Ebert writes, "The movie presents us with an image, and while you may discuss the meaning of the image, it is not permitted to devise explanations for it. Since Ashby does not show a pier, there is no pier—a movie is exactly what it shows us, and nothing more."[29]
The ending credits roll over the "Rafaelouttake". Sellers was displeased that the outtake ran because he believed that it took away from Chauncey's mystique.[30] He also believed that it prevented him from winning the Oscar.[31][32]
As of 2023, the film holds a score of 95% onRotten Tomatoes based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 8.60/10. The critical consensus reads, "Smart, sophisticated, and refreshingly subtle,Being There soars behind sensitive direction from Hal Ashby and a stellar Peter Sellers performance."[33] In 2003,The New York Times placed the film on itsBest 1000 Movies Ever list.[34]
The film is recognized byAmerican Film Institute in:
A 30th Anniversary Edition was released onDVD andBlu-ray in February 2009.[31]The Criterion Collection issued the film on DVD and Blu-ray in March 2017.[45]
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