Being There 30th Anniversary Edition

Warner Home Video has released a 30th anniversary of director Hal Ashby's Being There, based on the Jerzy Kosinski novel. The film represented Peter Sellers' last cinematic triumph and earned him an Oscar nomination. Sellers gives an unusually understated performance that gives credence to the notion that sometimes less is more. The story centers on Chance, a dapper but dim-witted gardener who has been kept in complete isolation for his entire life by his benefactor, an elderly millionaire. Deprived of a social life or formal education, Chance is totally satisfied with his daily routine of presiding over an elaborate garden. His only vice is an obsession with television, which he watches without the slightest regard for a program's content. Like a parrot, he learns to mimic the actors he witnesses on the boob tube and the entire level of his intellectual capabilities is limited to statements about gardening and television. When the old man dies, Chance is evicted from the house - but is too stupid to realize the implications of his dilemma. When he is injured by a limousine belonging to Shirley MacLaine, Chance is brought back to her mansion to recuperate. It turns out she is the wife of one of America's most influential industrialists and power brokers (Melvin Douglas, in his final triumphant role which won him the Oscar for Supporting Actor.) Through a complex series of events, Douglas and the intellectual yes men in his circle mistake Chance for a great philosopher, feeling that his elementary observations have meaning regarding the economy and political scenarios. Before long, even the President (Jack Warden) is using the hapless man as an adviser. The film hints that Chance has a political future ahead of him -despite the fact that he can't read, write or relate whatsoever to the world around him.
The film is not only hilarious, but prescient in foreseeing the day when a charming personality is all a candidate needs to rise to the top. The brilliant screenplay also takes aim at intellectuals and pseudo-intellectuals whose obsession with being considered deep thinkers allows them to read meaning into the most innocuous of statements. The film presents Peter Sellers as he had never been seen before. He rarely utters more than a few words at a time, instead relying on a gentle demeanor and disarming smile to impress those he encounters. In one hilarious scene, MacLaine tries to seduce him and mistakes his statement that "I like to watch" as a reference to a sexual fetish. In fact, he is simply referring to the cartoon playing on the TV in the bedroom. MacLaine then engages in a liberating mastubation session in front of the oblivious Chance, who is mesmerized by the TV program. Sellers' great performance is matched by a superb supporting cast, with Melyvn Douglas having the kind of role that every actor dreams of for a cinematic farewell. There is also yeoman work from Jack Warden and Richard Dysart. The film is a reminder that Hal Ashby was a major talent whose work is not as widely discussed as it should be.

This special edition is somewhat meager on extras but includes a trailer and an interesting featurette in which Melvyn Douglas' grandaughter Ilena discusses her memories of visiting the set as a young girl. She also reminds us of her grandfather's long and distinguished career. It's an informative and bittersweet documentary produced by David Naylor.