Английская Википедия:Being There

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Being There is a 1979 American satirical comedy-drama film directed by Hal Ashby, based on the 1970 novel of the same name by Jerzy Kosiński. It was adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, and Melvyn Douglas and features Jack Warden, Richard Dysart, and Richard Basehart.

Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Sellers was nominated for Best Actor. The screenplay won the British Academy Film Award for Best Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. In 2015, the Library of Congress selected Being There for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Plot

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 has never left the property. Other than gardening, his knowledge is derived entirely from television. When his benefactor dies, Chance naively tells the lawyers that he has no claim against the estate and is ordered to move out.

Chance 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 chauffeured limousine owned by elderly business mogul Ben Rand. In the car is Ben's glamorous and much younger wife Eve, who mishears "Chance, the gardener" in reply to the question of who he is, as "Chauncey Gardiner".

Eve brings Chance to their palatial estate to recover. He wears expensively-tailored but outmoded clothes from the 1920s and 1930s, which his benefactor had allowed him to take from the attic, and his manners are old-fashioned and courtly. 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 the President 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 television 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, the Secret Service and some 16 other agencies are unable to find any background information on him. Meanwhile, Ben's personal physician, Dr. 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 film The 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 imitating a yoga exercise 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, then walks across the surface of an unfrozen 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."

Cast

• Peter Sellers as Chance the gardener (Chauncey Gardiner)
• Shirley MacLaine as Eve Rand
• Melvyn Douglas as Ben Rand
• Richard Dysart as Dr. Robert Allenby
• Jack Warden as the President
• Richard Basehart as Soviet Ambassador Vladimir Skrapinov
• Than Wyenn as Ambassador Gaufridi
• David Clennon as Thomas Franklin
• Fran Brill as Sally Hayes
• Ruth Attaway as Louise
• Denise DuBarry as Johanna
• Richard Venture as Wilson
• Sam Weisman as Colson
• Alice Hirson as the First Lady
• Arthur Rosenberg as Morton Hull
• Jerome Hellman as Gary Burns
• James Noble as Kaufman
• John Harkins as Courtney
• Elya Baskin as Karpatov
• Richard McKenzie as Ron Steigler
• Oteil Burbridge as Lolo (boy on corner)
• Hoyt Clark Harris Jr. as Secret Service agent Riff

Production

Casting

Burt Lancaster was Ashby's first choice for the role of Ben Rand.Шаблон:Sfn Laurence Olivier was also considered for the role, but turned it down because of the masturbation scene.

Filming

Principal filming occurred at the Biltmore Estate, the largest private home in the United States, located in Asheville, North Carolina. 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." 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. 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.

Melvyn Douglas's granddaughter, Illeana Douglas, visited the set and met Peter Sellers, who is her favorite actor. She has since credited the film for inspiring her to pursue a career in acting. According to Illeana, Sellers and Douglas had known each other since the 1940s, when they first met in Burma during World War II. They often reminisced about their war days while on the set. The making of the film is portrayed in The Life and Death of Peter Sellers, a biographical film of Sellers' life.

Music

Incidental music is used very sparingly. What little original music is used was composed by Johnny Mandel, and primarily features two recurrent piano themes based on "Gnossiennes" No. 4 and No. 5 by Erik Satie. The other major pieces of music used are the Eumir Deodato jazz/funk arrangement of the opening fanfare from Also 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.

Mandel was also assisted by his cousin and fellow composer Miles Goodman with the orchestration of the film.

Reception and legacy

The film opened to positive reviews and gave Sellers a hit after many failed films outside of the Pink Panther series. Film critic Roger Ebert awarded a full grade of four out of four stars in his original print review. 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." Janet Maslin of The New York Times called it "a stately, beautifully acted satire with a premise that's funny but fragile." Variety called it "an unusually fine film" that "represents Peter Sellers' most smashing work since the mid-1960s." Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times called it "a gentle, exquisitely funny film," adding that "Sellers hasn't been so terrific—or had such terrific material—in years."

Vincent Misiano reviewed Being There in Ares 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." Roger Ebert mentioned the reaction of his students to the final scene (which is unique to the film, not appearing in the book), 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."

The credits at the film's end roll over an out-take known as the "Rafael outtake." Sellers was displeased that the out-take ran because he believed that it took away from Chauncey's mystique. He also believed that it prevented him from winning the Oscar.Шаблон:Sfn

The film holds a score of 95% on Rotten Tomatoes based on 62 reviews, with an average rating of 8.60/10. The critical consensus calls it "smart, sophisticated, and refreshingly subtle." In 2003, The New York Times placed the film on its Best 1000 Movies Ever list.

Awards and nominations

Award	Category	Nominee(s)	Result
Academy Awards	Best Actor	Peter Sellers	Шаблон:Nom
	Best Supporting Actor	Melvyn Douglas	Шаблон:Won
British Academy Film Awards	Best Film	Andrew Braunsberg	Шаблон:Nom
	Best Actor in a Leading Role	Peter Sellers	Шаблон:Nom
	Best Actress in a Leading Role	Shirley MacLaine	Шаблон:Nom
	Best Screenplay	Jerzy Kosiński	Шаблон:Won
Cannes Film Festival	Palme d'Or	Hal Ashby	Шаблон:Nom
Fotogramas de Plata Awards	Best Foreign Performer	Peter Sellers	Шаблон:Won
Golden Globe Awards	Best Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy		Шаблон:Nom
	Best Actor in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy	Peter Sellers	Шаблон:Won
	Best Actress in a Motion Picture – Musical or Comedy	Shirley MacLaine	Шаблон:Nom
	Best Supporting Actor – Motion Picture	Melvyn Douglas	Шаблон:WonШаблон:Efn
	Best Director – Motion Picture	Hal Ashby	Шаблон:Nom
	Best Screenplay – Motion Picture	Jerzy Kosinski	Шаблон:Nom
Japan Academy Film Prize	Outstanding Foreign Language Film	Hal Ashby	Шаблон:Nom
London Critics Circle Film Awards	Special Achievement Award	Peter Sellers	Шаблон:Won
Los Angeles Film Critics Association Awards	Best Supporting Actor	Melvyn Douglas Шаблон:Small	Шаблон:Won
National Board of Review Awards	Top Ten Films		Шаблон:Won
	Best Actor	Peter Sellers	Шаблон:Won
National Film Preservation Board	National Film Registry		Шаблон:Won
National Society of Film Critics Awards	Best Actor	Peter Sellers	Шаблон:Nom
	Best Supporting Actor	Melvyn Douglas	Шаблон:Nom
	Best Screenplay	Jerzy Kosinski and Robert C. Jones	Шаблон:Nom
	Best Cinematography	Caleb Deschanel Шаблон:Small	Шаблон:Won
New York Film Critics Circle Awards	Best Actor	Peter Sellers	Шаблон:Nom
	Best Supporting Actor	Melvyn Douglas	Шаблон:Won
	Best Screenplay	Jerzy Kosinski	Шаблон:Nom
Writers Guild of America Awards	Best Comedy – Adapted from Another Medium		Шаблон:Won

The film is recognized by American Film Institute in:

• 2000: AFI's 100 Years...100 Laughs – #26

Home media

A 30th Anniversary Edition was released on DVD and Blu-ray in February 2009. The Criterion Collection issued the film on DVD and Blu-ray in March 2017.

See also

• The Career of Nicodemus Dyzma: Being There is said to bear a strong resemblance to this 1932 Polish novel, and the film's originality became a subject of controversy in 1982. Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska wrote "most Polish critics immediately recognized Шаблон:Greyhis bookШаблон:Grey as a version of Kariera Nikodema Dyzmy by Tadeusz Dolega-Mostowicz.
• Politics in fiction – a list of other fictional stories in which politics similarly features as an important plot element.
• Social effects of television
• Шаблон:Annotated link

References

Bibliography

• Шаблон:Cite book
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External links

• Being There essay by Jerry Dean Roberts at National Film Registry
• Шаблон:AFI film
• Шаблон:IMDb title
• Шаблон:AllMovie title
• Шаблон:TCMDb title
• Шаблон:Mojo title
• Шаблон:Rotten-tomatoes
• Being There: American Cipher an essay by Mark Harris at the Criterion Collection
• "The 34 best political movies ever made", Ann Hornaday, The Washington Post Jan. 23, 2020, ranked No. 24