Director Hal Ashby looked like an unlikely guy to be hitting the heights of 1970s counterculture cinema but he somehow managed it.
Being There were the last major work from him as director. It was almost the last film from Peter Seller's who gives an Oscar nominated performance. He died a few months after the film's release.
Seller's plays Chance a simple minded middle aged gardener in a rich man's townhouse in Washington. He cannot read or write, the maid fed him and looked after him. When the wealthy benefactor dies he is turfed out on to the streets. We have no idea how he came into this household. He could had been the old man's son or some stray who he just took care of. He tended the garden, watched television and no provision for his well being was made after the old man's death.
After wandering the streets aimlessly Chance is accidentally hit by a limousine carrying Eve (Shirley Maclaine) who takes him home to be examined by their doctor who is already looking after her wealthy dying husband Ben (Melvyn Douglas.)
Impressed by his wardrobe, which is basically his master's vintage clothes they come to realise that he is someone down on his luck, a businessman brought low in hard times and ask him to stay at the house.
Chance is a man of few words, he likes to watch television. The only thing he knows about is gardening. After talking to the President who is visiting Ben where in essence he talks about the seasons he comes across as some wise sage when the President repeats his words to the media.
His simple answers to complex problems makes him a media personality who takes it all seriously, the rest of the film is Chance being put into various potentially embarrassing positions where you think he would be found out, such as a television talk show or a reception with the high and mighty and no one suspects that he is a simpleton (although Chance might be Autistic.)
Director Hal Ashby made political films, this is a political satire and a perceptive one. This is about elites and how they get taken in by folksy charm and also dispense it to the rest of us in the most cynical way. How else can one explain the popularity of the likes of Rush Limbaugh with the right whingers. Ben when he dies is buried in a pyramid like tomb with an eye. A symbol of the Illuminati I believe.
Sellers is spot on as Chance, he plays his character with one note, but it is the right note. None of the over the top histrionics he was known for in his comedy parts. I am glad that he went out on a high. However director Hal Ashby should not be forgotten for crafting a simple but intelligent film.
Being There were the last major work from him as director. It was almost the last film from Peter Seller's who gives an Oscar nominated performance. He died a few months after the film's release.
Seller's plays Chance a simple minded middle aged gardener in a rich man's townhouse in Washington. He cannot read or write, the maid fed him and looked after him. When the wealthy benefactor dies he is turfed out on to the streets. We have no idea how he came into this household. He could had been the old man's son or some stray who he just took care of. He tended the garden, watched television and no provision for his well being was made after the old man's death.
After wandering the streets aimlessly Chance is accidentally hit by a limousine carrying Eve (Shirley Maclaine) who takes him home to be examined by their doctor who is already looking after her wealthy dying husband Ben (Melvyn Douglas.)
Impressed by his wardrobe, which is basically his master's vintage clothes they come to realise that he is someone down on his luck, a businessman brought low in hard times and ask him to stay at the house.
Chance is a man of few words, he likes to watch television. The only thing he knows about is gardening. After talking to the President who is visiting Ben where in essence he talks about the seasons he comes across as some wise sage when the President repeats his words to the media.
His simple answers to complex problems makes him a media personality who takes it all seriously, the rest of the film is Chance being put into various potentially embarrassing positions where you think he would be found out, such as a television talk show or a reception with the high and mighty and no one suspects that he is a simpleton (although Chance might be Autistic.)
Director Hal Ashby made political films, this is a political satire and a perceptive one. This is about elites and how they get taken in by folksy charm and also dispense it to the rest of us in the most cynical way. How else can one explain the popularity of the likes of Rush Limbaugh with the right whingers. Ben when he dies is buried in a pyramid like tomb with an eye. A symbol of the Illuminati I believe.
Sellers is spot on as Chance, he plays his character with one note, but it is the right note. None of the over the top histrionics he was known for in his comedy parts. I am glad that he went out on a high. However director Hal Ashby should not be forgotten for crafting a simple but intelligent film.