Being There

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Being There
original film poster
Directed by	Hal Ashby
Produced by	Andrew Braunsberg
Written by	Jerzy Kosiński Robert C. Jones
Starring	Peter Sellers Shirley MacLaine Melvyn Douglas Jack Warden Richard A. Dysart Richard Basehart
Music by	Johnny Mandel
Distributed by	United Artists
Release date(s)	December 19, 1979
Running time	130 min.
Language	English
IMDb profile

Being There is a political, satirical 1971 novel by Jerzy Kosiński and a 1979 film directed by Hal Ashby.

The film stars Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas, Jack Warden, Richard A. Dysart and Richard Basehart. It won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor (Melvyn Douglas) and was nominated for Best Actor in a Leading Role (Peter Sellers).

The screenplay was written by Kosinski, and won the 1981 British Academy of Film and Television Arts (Film) Best Screenplay Award, as well as the 1980 Writers Guild of America Award (Screen) for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It was also nominated for the 1980 Golden Globes Best Screenplay Award (Motion Picture).[1]

Contents 1 Plot summary 2 How the Main Characters See "Chance" 3 Memorable scenes 3.1 The Lake Scene 3.2 Bloopers and continuity errors 4 Sellers' view 5 Use of television 6 Use of music 7 Famous quotes 8 See also 9 External links

[edit] Plot summary

Being There depicts the story of a gardener named Chance (Sellers) who grows up in the townhouse of a wealthy man in Washington, D.C.. For reasons that remain unexplained (beyond the implication that he is a simpleton), Chance has had virtually no contact with the outside world and no social interaction for his entire life. Apart from his limited relationship with Louise the maid (Ruth Attaway), Chance's cultural and social education is derived entirely from what he watches on the television sets provided by his employer.

When his benefactor dies, Chance, now middle-aged, is forced to leave his sheltered existence in the house and discover the world outside for the first time. He wanders around wintry Washington dressed in clothes that are thirty years out of fashion and carrying a suitcase and umbrella. Some of the rougher people he meets look upon him as either odd or trying to provoke trouble (which is furthest from his mind).

After being adventitiously struck by the vehicle of a wealthy and powerful businessman named Ben Rand (Douglas), he is invited into their home to recover from his broken leg. Coughing over a strong drink, Chance's name is interpreted as "Chauncey Gardiner" rather than "Chance the gardener", which is what he said. Rand and his wife Eve (MacLaine) believe that Chance is a businessman who has gone bust and take him under their wing. His simplistic, indeliberate utterances, that mostly concern the garden of which he was once steward, are interpreted as allegorical statements of deep wisdom.

Rand, a dying man, is also the confidant and adviser of the US President (Warden), whom Chance has "seen on TV". In their meeting, Chance's remarks about how the garden changes with the seasons are interpreted by the President for economic and political advice. He makes similar quotes in a TV speech and as a result Chance quickly rises to national public prominence.

"Chauncey Gardiner"'s appeal is increased by the fact that nobody seems to know who he is or where he comes from. Neither the press nor the Secret Service can find information on him. Even the heads of the CIA and FBI argue if he is a former agent of each others' organization.

Only Rand's doctor (Dysart) sees Chance for what he is: a simple-minded gardener. However, the fact that the man has given his patient an apparent acceptance of his illness and peace with his imminent death makes him hesitant in revealing this. Rand himself encourages his wife to get close to Chance.

Rand dies and the President gives a long-winded read-out of his quotes at the funeral. The pallbearers, members of the board of Rand's companies, hold a whispered discussion over potential replacements for the President for the next term of office. As Rand's coffin is about to be added to his family's pyramid-like mausoleum they finally agree on "Chauncey Gardiner".

Oblivious to all this, Chance wanders through Rand's wintry estate. Ever the gardener, he straightens out a bush and then walks off across a small lake, seemingly on the water's surface.

[edit] How the Main Characters See "Chance"

The way each main character sees Chance says a little about Chance and a lot about themselves.

Ben Rand, the dying business leader and political king-maker, gains a perception of Chauncey as a failed though totally decent businessman down on his luck. And he sees Chauncey's reference to seasons in gardening as an insightful comment about the national economy.

Eve Rand (Ben's wife) is at first puzzled by Chauncey's strangeness and then thinks of him as having insight and a sense of humor. Later she sinks her own initial doubts and adopts the consensus view that he is a great man. She then pursues her own need for friendship and sexual contact, especially when her dying husband signals his assent to her forming a relationship with Chauncey.

The President initially sees Chauncey's "advice" as inspiring to the point that he quotes and names him on national TV. But he soon comes to regret bringing this mystery man into the spotlight since it might jeopardise his chances of running for a second term.

The CIA, astounded by their inability to discover any records of a Chauncey Gardiner, come to the conclusion that someone has eliminated the entire record - a feat of such ability that "only a CIA man could have done it!" The FBI prefer to think that the cover-up was done by one of their own, highlighting the rivalry between the two organizations.

Thomas Franklin, the lawyer, distrusts Chance's motives for acting the way he does when they first meet. Later the lawyer, keen to make a career in politics, seems to view his contact with Chauncey Gardiner as potentially ruinous to his career.

Louise, the maid, sees Chance, whom she has known since he was a boy, on national TV, and declares out loud that he only has "rice pudding between the ears". It confirms her opinion that America is certainly a "white man's world".

The general public, as portrayed by the audience in the TV studio, opinion polls and the lawyer's girlfriend, thinks that Chauncey is "brilliant".

The political elite, seen at Rand's funeral, believe that Gardiner may be their man for the next presidential election instead of a second term for the current President.

Dr. Robert Allenby, the good-hearted doctor, initially worries that Chauncey will sue Rand for damages following the accident. Later he comes to understand the truth about Chauncey but chooses to hush it up.

[edit] Memorable scenes

Memorable scenes in the film version include Chance being confronted early on by a street gang. He pulls out his TV remote control as though to change the vision before his eyes. A lifetime of watching TV has not prepared him for the realities of real-life. He is surprised when it doesn't work.

In Eve Rand's limousine, Chance asks to watch TV, to which he pays more attention than the luxurious vehicle around him or the woman he has just met. Chance watches the Cheech and Chong short film Basketball Jones in Eve's limo, and the song continues to play when he arrives at the Rand estate and is brought into their mansion.

Leaving the house he has lived in all his life to enter into the poor black Washington, D.C. neighborhood he has never explored, the scene is musically set to a funked-up version of "Also Sprach Zarathustra", the music popularized in 2001: A Space Odyssey and an accompaniment to many TV programs regarding space exploration.

MacLaine's character writhing in long-suppressed sexual pleasure on a bear rug while Chance obliviously channel-surfs and tries to mimic a yoga program by standing on his head.

The second to last scene has generated discussion and controversy. Before Ben dies, he says, "Tell Eve that...", and he dies in the middle of the sentence. The doctor puts Ben's hand to his chest. Chance then puts his hand on Ben's forehead as if reviving him. When he takes his hand off Ben's forehead, he speaks with the doctor, and then, leaves the room. As Chance is leaving the room, the doctor, blurred, is watching him with his back facing the screen. Someone (the doctor or Rand) then says, "I understand." The doctor turning around to look at the dead Ben, then says, "I understand?"

[edit] The Lake Scene

In the final scene, Chance is seen apparently walking across the surface of a lake while the most important movers and shakers in the USA discuss running him for President. This scene continues to generate discussion and controversy. Clearly we see Chance walking on water, an act with a clear Biblical reference. It is as though the director is pushing our own sense of seeing what we see or what we want to see. Are we prepared just to see the same view that others are seeing, or are we prepared to go beyond that. Is there a prosaic explanation, such as hidden stepping-stones? Or is Chance the Savior (as so many of the characters are looking for)? Does he truly possess some special grace, given his simple innocence and simply being present to each moment without filters and ideas? In his 2001 book The Great Movies, Roger Ebert argues for the latter interpretation. Another view is that the director (and the author) are simply asking the audience: "How much more would you have believed? We've been kidding you all along you know!"

[edit] Bloopers and continuity errors

While the credits are rolling the viewers get to see some bloopers from a scene in the movie: Sellers, lying on an operating bed, tries in vain to quote inner-city slang and swearwords with as straight a face as possible and ends up chuckling instead. The audience gets to see Peter Sellers "out of character" — the opposite of how his character has been portrayed. Outtakes like these being shown in a major Hollywood production were very rare.

IMDb reports two continuity errors in the film. The napkin tucked into Chance's neck moves around from shot to shot, and while at dinner for the first evening with Ben and Eve, Chauncey's wine glass fills and empties within seconds. There is another they have omitted. When Chance first meets Ben they are in the part of the home deemed the hospital. As Ben tells Chance about his aplastic anemia and Chance prepares for x-rays the camera cuts repeatedly from one to the other. As it does, the nurses who are taking care of Ben during his transfusion repeatedly disappear and reappear.

[edit] Sellers' view

This was Peter Sellers' penultimate film (his next and the last one being The Fiendish Plot of Dr. Fu Manchu).

It is said to be the one film about which he was truly passionate since it was an opportunity to showcase his skills as an actor as opposed to being a comedian. Up till now almost all of his films had been straight or black comedies.

Reputedly, he pulled out all the stops to gain the role for himself after reading the book.

[edit] Use of television

The film makes continued use of actual television clips throughout. These clips are part of the ambient visual and audio background, presented as a natural occurrence of a television being on in the room where the scene is taking place. The clips were chosen by Dianne Schroeder, and are referenced in the film credits as "Special Television Effects."

These clips are an essential element of the film. They provide a window into the mind of Chance, who knows nothing of the world outside the old man's home except from what he's learned on television.

• A car being driven out on "The Price is Right".
• Orchestral program, playing Franz Schubert's Symphony No. 8 in B Minor, the "Unfinished Symphony."
• Scene from Jezebel, "Yowsah!"
• Sealy mattress commercial: "It's a Sealy Posturepedic morning! Yeah!".
• Scene from Sesame Street, with the song "Different People, Different Ways."
• Lt. Mumbly cartoon, "I dare you to stop me in my Super Cop Clobberer."
• Green Acres scene.
• Mister Rogers' Neighborhood.
• Captain Kangaroo scene.
• Quaker State Motor Oil commercial.
• Washington Post commercial.
• Basketball Jones cartoon and song (sung by Cheech and Chong), including the line "I've got more moves than Ex-Lax!"
• Get Smart, "Pardon me for intruding at a time like this, but were you very close to Max?" "Are you kidding? We were inseparable."
• Fuzzbuster commercial, "You wouldn't think of driving without your rear view mirror. And yet some people still drive without a Fuzzbuster."
• Gatorade commercial, "Ever watch a game on TV and see the players chuggin' down this stuff? Ever wonder why?"
• Scene from Days of Our Lives.
• Sanford and Son scene.
• Scene from the film Little Caesar.
• Scene from The Beverly Hillbillies.
• Match Game clip.
• Lilias! Yoga and You exercise program.
• Paul Lynde on The Hollywood Squares.
• Love-making scene from The Thomas Crown Affair, featuring Faye Dunaway and Steve McQueen. Hal Ashby served as editor of The Thomas Crown Affair.
• TV news broadcast about a blizzard in the Midwest.
• Documentary or news clip about a wheelchair-bound man who gets his Masters degree.
• Anheuser Busch Natural Light beer commercial: "You can call me Ray."
• Scene from The Gong Show

Clips are also included which were made especially for the film and not taken from actual programs, such as Chance's appearance on the Gary Burns Show, and the president (Jack Warden) appearing on television.

[edit] Use of music

The small amount of original music in the film (i.e. written for the film) is by Johnny Mandel and primarily features two recurring piano themes. These are both based on (but not the same as) two Gnossiennes by Eric Satie (No. 4, which is very haunting, and No. 5 which is slightly jovial). The other major piece of music used is the Eumir Deodato arrangement of the opening fanfare from Also Sprach Zarathustra by Richard Strauss, in the scene where Chance leaves the house and ventures out into the world for the first time. This composition is widely known for its use in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film 2001: A Space Odyssey.

[edit] Famous quotes

• I like to watch.
• Life is a state of mind.
• All is well...and all will be well...in the garden.
• Now, get this, honky. You go tell Raphael that I ain't taking no jive from no Western Union messenger.
• Are you going to die now?
• That's a very small room.
• In the garden, growth has its seasons. First comes spring and summer, but then we have fall and winter. And then we get spring and summer again.
• I can't write. and I can't read. and I like to watch TV.

Ben's Quotes (As Read at His Funeral)

• "I have no use for those on welfare, no patience whatsoever, but if I am to be honest with myself, I must admit that they have no use for me either."
• "I do not regret having political differences with men that I respect. I do regret however, that our philosophies kept us apart."
• "I could never conceive why I could never convince my kitchen staff that I looked forward to a good bowl of chili now and then."
• "I have heard the word "sir," more often than I have heard the word "friend," but I suppose there are other rewards for wealth."
• "I have met with kings; during these conferences I have suppressed bizarre thoughts. Could I beat him in a foot race? Could I throw a ball further than he?"
• "No matter what our facades, we are all children."
• "To raise your rifle is to lower your sights."
• "No matter what you are told there is no such thing as an even trade."
• "I was born into a position of extreme wealth, but I have spent many sleepless nights

thinking about extreme poverty."

• "I have lived a lot, trembled a lot, was surrounded by little men who forgot that we entered naked and exit naked and that no accountant can audit life in our favor."
• "When I was a boy, I was told that the Lord fashioned us from His own image, that's when I decided to manufacture mirrors."
• "Security. Tranquility. A Well Deserved Rest. All the aims I have pursued will soon be realized."
• "Life is a state of mind."

[edit] See also

• Politics in fiction.

[edit] External links

• Being There at the Internet Movie Database
• Being There at Filmsite.org
• All Movie Guide entry
• Review by Roger Ebert, who puts Being There on his Greatest Movies list
• The Making of Being There by Michael Dare