Being There (1979) - 9/10

What a great film this is: beautiful, thought-provoking, sensitive and full of wonder. Being There is usually billed as a comedy, but it is so much more than that. The story follows the events in the life of a gardener, who works in a small house in Washington, D.C., after the death of his employer (although it is not clear whether he was actually employed by the dead old man or if he was related to the old man in some way). The gardener's name is Chance (Peter Sellers) and after the old man's death, the house-maid Louise (Ruth Attaway) must leave (she used to bring Chance his meals), this appears to be a problem but we are not given a chance to consider this as two attorneys from the law firm representing the dead man's estate turn up and ask Chance to leave. It appears Chance has always lived in this house, he was not allowed to leave the house and has therefore never been in an automobile (a theme which will return later in the film as a wonderful comic moment) and the clothes he wears are essentially from the old man's wardrobe (they are a good fit) and therefore Chance always appears dapper in great suits. This has implications for the rest of the story.

As for what kind of person Chance is, from early conversations with Louise and his matter-of-fact reaction to the old man's death suggest that he is either retarded or just kind of slow. His main interest in life is watching the TV set, he spends his time watching the TV (even when he is next to the dead man), he usually carries around a remote so that he can easily change channels. Chance also cannot read and write, he apes actions that he sees on the TV set and it seems that most (if not all) of his education has been through that medium. Therefore when he is asked to move out we have already been supplied with enough anticipation for what's to come once he moves into the outside world. However, anything we can think of is far from what's really to come, and how the story unfolds is one of the joys of the movie for me. As Chance walks out of the house with a suitcase, the soundtrack plays a rocking remix / improvization based on Richard Strauss's "Thus Spake Zarathustra and coupled with the shots of Washington, D.C. as Chance discovers it the effect is fantastic (it also works at a subliminal level to inform the viewer of the fact that something big is about to come - as a vision of 2001: A Space Odyssey flashes through the mind - the remix perhaps suggesting the unexpected nature of it), but I'll say more about the soundtrack later.

How much of Chance's experience is TV-related becomes apparent when he gets confronted by a gang of black kids. What does he do? He tries to change the channel using the remote. He gets off the hook by promising to deliver a message to Raphael (whoever that is). This again is a small plot point which returns as good laughs later on. This and many other small things like that show how wonderful the writing is. The screenplay was adapted by Jerry Kosinski (and Robert C. Jones) from his novel.

The remote also leads to an accident when Chance is confronted by a TV set in shop window displaying passers by and while trying to change the channel in earnest he crashes against a backing car and hurts his leg. This leads to him being taken into the household of Benjamin Rand(Melvyn Douglas) and his wife Eve (Shirley Maclaine). Ben is ill and they have a Doctor living at the house and it is thought that he would be best-suited to take care of Chance's injury. Chance is asked to stay for a few days by the Doctor (Richard Dysart) so that he can observe Chance's progress, is it any wonder that Chance agrees?

Through some mis-understandings Chance comes to be known as Mr. Chauncey Gardener and is thought of as a wealthy business (certainly his appearance confirms that view, even if his manners are a little out of the ordinary). Ben and Eve grow fond of Mr. Gardener and so do some of the minor characters such as a lift-man. The only person who doubts Chance is the Doctor who begins a personal investigation about the money. The next few days unfold as a sort of dream in which we expect that Chance's deception to be discovered at any moment and the dream shattered. But Chance is not intentionally deceiving anybody and this holds him in good stead.

Ben's good friend the President visits and is introduced to Mr. Gardener. The President is surprised by the man's allegory - when asked about growth Chance speaks of gardening the only thing he knows, but the other two men find a much deeper meaning in this. The President goes on to repeat this on TV and overnight Chance becomes a much sought-after figure. Now in addition to the Doctor there are many more people who investigate his past but they all come up with nothing and in the meantime his stature only rises. More importantly, Eve falls in love with Chance (and maybe he falls in love with her) and Ben accepts that this is so and in fact is happy and it seems because of Chance's appearance he is now content and no longer afraid of dying.

I think the basic premise of the story is how adults can be easily taken in by a simple-minded and straight-talking person such as Chance, as most of what he says is based on his immediate reaction to what he hears (and knows from TV experience) and this works in a wonderful way for the listener. Of course, his being named Chance is no co-incidence because chance is working overtime to make all this possible. But ultimately, the movie grows to be much more than that, as all the supporting characters are written with pitch perfection and we begin to understand why Ben and Eve would easily accept Chance in this situation. Again the dialogue is phenomenal and this is one of those movies where every word is placed near perfectly.

I was reminded of Forrest Gump as I watched Chance. It appears that they have much the same IQ and respond with the same sort of honesty and earnestness when spoken to (as such Forrest is a much more interesting character, because he does have thoughts of his own and displays a lot more emotion). In fact, that idea of working within one's limitations and therefore achieving a lot more than one hopes is also a crucial idea of this film. It is true that this is a plot driven by appearances but as I said before Chance is not actively participating in the deception (he is not completely aware of what is happening) and therefore there is nothing morally questionable about it. In any case, most of the time Chance just makes a good attempt of listening to the people talking to him and responding as best as he can. That this is what the people meeting him need the most is just a matter of chance, but then again there is a lesson for everybody about what is important in human interaction. Both Chance and Forrest Gump at some level understand this better than most people who are much more gifted intellectually, and it appears they are rewarded for that.

Peter Sellers is fascinating to watch in this movie because of his restraint through the part. Whenever you see his name in a movie there is always the possibility of something quite over-the-top, but his poise here demonstrates why he was considered such a dramatic talent (even if he rarely chose to use it to its fullest extent going rather for effect most often - much like our very own Jim Carrey). Shirley Maclaine is once again looking gorgeous (at 45?) and turns in another of those wonderful performances that She has demonstrated herself to be more than apt at (consider Terms of Endearment). She has great subtlety in her role here, which involves even a masturbation sequence at one point (since Chance likes to watch - but he meant the TV; the scene has been called embarrassing for Maclaine and I am sure that it was, but in the context of the film and a particular conversation that follows some time later it is apt). The rest of the supporting cast delivers very good performances and everyone is helped along by the exactness of the dialogue. Melvyn Douglas won an Academy Award for his role as the dying man.

The soundtrack is wonderful and after the initial fanfare of the "Thus Spake Zarathustra" mix it almost recedes into the background, but is really always there to highlight the right moments. But even here there is a restraint shown that makes the soundtrack less of an emotional aid (for the right cues) and more of an enhancing element to the visuals (as any good soundtrack should be). The closing shots of the movie are wonderful in the combination of visuals and music as well as our thought-process as we summarize what we have seen. The cinematography throughout is actually very good and is able to convey the beauty of the D.C. surroundings better than I can remember in any other movie, but that maybe because it tries to see it from the perspective of Chance.

I give it 9 out of 10. The major negative point being the outtakes that appear in the movies end credits, after the wonderful closing moments which elevates the movie to yet another plane altogether (the last words of the movie are "Life is a state of mind" and its juxtaposition with the closing image is just something else and needs to be discovered for itself by each viewer). I thought this was unnecessary and detracted from my experience of watching the movie. I know people will say that this is a comedy, but as I said before I have perceived this to be more than that (imagine Forrest Gump with similar outtakes and you'll know what I mean). Sometimes movies are just not content with brilliant closing moments, remember Donnie Brasco. I wonder why that is. It could be that they want to deliberately bring down the movie at the end. Another negative was that the pace of the movie could have been a little quicker although I cannot really fault it. Thankfully, sense reigns and this movie is rated PG. However, thematic elements really don't lend it as interesting viewing for kids.