864 Being There

[britcom68]

The Oscar win for Douglas which is far more "bizarre" (if indeed that word should even be used in this context) would be for his performance in Hud. If you read the news articles published after the awards were presented, as well as some reviews before the Oscar nominations, some contemporaries were unimpressed with Douglas's character which was not considered drastically different from other Western-genre patriarchs. This Oscar win is also more "bizarre" as well as for Douglas's welcoming back into the fold from his political grey-listing for his liberal politics in the McCarthy-era. From 1953 to 1962 Douglas was shut out of films entirely and could only work in television. If you really consider Hud in that context, it is more unexpected (*perhaps a more appropriate word than "bizarre") that he would win for Hud, considering that Hud was filmed entirely in 1962 during the heated California Governors race featuring Richard Nixon who famously defeated Douglas's wife Congresswoman Helen Gahagan in the 1950 US Senate race through dirty campaign tricks including circulating fraudulent rumors and pink-pamphlets stating that Gahagan was endorsed by non-existent Communist groups.

[Kat]

One of my favourite films - there are lots of those, but this is a treasure amongst treasures, makes me feel happy just to think of. I agree about Basketball Jones, also love the funky Zarathustra, that Ive never bought. I lost my dvd when i put it down when someone returned it to me - but need no excuse really to be one of the first in line for this release. Oh and the changed ending from the book (which I also love) but this is a moment of grace.

[Roger Ryan]

...and the original, superior cut of Lookin' to Get Out has never been released on DVD...

It was released on DVD, but not yet on Blu-ray (perhaps that's what you meant?).

I've been enchanted by Being There since I saw it in '79. I can understand the criticism that it's conceit is extended farther than logic should allow, but I believe the film largely overcomes this flaw by maintaining an earnest and gentle approach. Ashby, as he did with Harold and Maude, will play up the humor (although with this film, that approach still qualifies as "deadpan") while the emotional and philosophical aspects are treated dryly. I'm not certain I can think of another film that handles death as matter-of-fact as this one does. Sellers is sublime in a performance that stands completely apart from his broader creations. Being There turned out to be his penultimate film role and the film itself feels like the true end of the New Hollywood era. By comparison, the autistic savant idea as revisited in Rain Man and Forrest Gump is insultingly manipulative and cloying.

[Big Ben]

By comparison, the autistic savant idea as revisited in Rain Man and Forrest Gump is insultingly manipulative and cloying.

I am on the autism spectrum and would like to second this point on Rain Man and Forrest Gump. Autism portrayals often are not very nuanced and rely rather on stereotypes rather than reality. The thing I want people to note is that some individuals like myself are high functioning and are just like every day people. We just have some problems with social interaction and anxiety. The problem with media portrayals is that we only often exist to highlight our oddities. That is to say the character only exists to be odd or quirky and has no merit besides that. Emotions like empathy (Which we do possess, often in great amounts) are often left out of the mix entirely. This has lead to the incredibly harmful stereotype that autistic individuals do not care about others and exist only to further their own goals in their own little world.

As for the film I'd certainly like to give it a shot because I love Peter Sellers. Is his performance nuanced? Does the film treat him only as an object to laugh at?

[beamish13]

...and the original, superior cut of Lookin' to Get Out has never been released on DVD...

It was released on DVD, but not yet on Blu-ray (perhaps that's what you meant?).

No, I meant the original, commercially released version of it, not the alternate cut that was discovered at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, which is what was eventually released on DVD.

[Roger Ryan]

...and the original, superior cut of Lookin' to Get Out has never been released on DVD...

It was released on DVD, but not yet on Blu-ray (perhaps that's what you meant?).

No, I meant the original, commercially released version of it, not the alternate cut that was discovered at the UCLA Film & Television Archive, which is what was eventually released on DVD.

Got it. Although I think Ashby's "Director's Cut" is the better version, any potential Blu-ray release should contain both cuts.

...As for the film I'd certainly like to give it a shot because I love Peter Sellers. Is his performance nuanced? Does the film treat him only as an object to laugh at?

While much of the humor derives from Chance's naivete, his low affect, and his unfamiliarity with expected social interactions, Sellers' portrayal gives the character a quiet strength and the suggestion of emotion that could easily be absent if the role was interpreted differently. Chance is definitely an oddity, a "blank slate", which is what is required for the story to progress, but the character is allowed his dignity.

[cdnchris]

As for the film I'd certainly like to give it a shot because I love Peter Sellers. Is his performance nuanced? Does the film treat him only as an object to laugh at?

I'm not entirely sure if the character would be considered autistic, but this article I just found probably gives a good assessment, better than I could give because I admittedly have never watched the film for how it presents him. It states how the character is used more for making its satirical points and works in the context of the film, but because of that "it ignores the lived experience of the person with mental limitations."

As an aside, I've always loved how people get his name confused: he introduces himself as "Chance the gardener," but everyone always takes it as (what my dad calls "the most WASP-y name imaginable") Chauncey Gardiner.

[calculus entrophy]

I may suffer a flame filled response from the quorum, but I believe after watching this film hundreds of times, that Chance is exactly what his name is. A force, a mirror, a camera, but not so much as a character. He quickly adapts to any individual he encounters. He appears to have taken great pains to ensure that his reactions in any situation do not divulge his true character/identity. And yet, he is honest on a level. He has an almost Hulot way of moving the story along without wanting to be noticed too much.

It may be that whether one is disappointed by Being There depends on whether they are watching Sellers too closely to "see" the story. As a devotee of this film really think that it (the story) won't "be there", rather, its inferred somewhere in-between the characters.

In the end,(won't spoil it), you are challenged - was he ever really "being there"? Or perhaps, was he always "being there"?

[Big Ben]

As for the film I'd certainly like to give it a shot because I love Peter Sellers. Is his performance nuanced? Does the film treat him only as an object to laugh at?

I'm not entirely sure if the character would be considered autistic, but this article I just found probably gives a good assessment, better than I could give because I admittedly have never watched the film for how it presents him. It states how the character is used more for making its satirical points and works in the context of the film, but because of that "it ignores the lived experience of the person with mental limitations."

Thanks for this. I'll definitely give the film a shot. I think it might be helpful to view the film as both a satire and how it presents him.

[Roscoe]

As an aside, I've always loved how people get his name confused: he introduces himself as "Chance the gardener," but everyone always takes it as (what my dad calls "the most WASP-y name imaginable") Chauncey Gardiner.

Chance the Gardener becomes Chauncey Gardiner in Eve Rand's limousine -- Eve offers him a drink, he accepts, she pours him what seems to be brandy or whiskey, he takes a swallow as she asks his name, not being used to the alcohol he starts to cough and mangles his name, which Eve mishears as Chauncey Gardiner. He never corrects anyone about it, and never introduces himself by name again. I always liked the way he brightens at the end when the Doctor calls him by his proper name at long last.

[Rayon Vert]

I can understand the criticism that it's conceit is extended farther than logic should allow, but I believe the film largely overcomes this flaw by maintaining an earnest and gentle approach. Ashby, as he did with Harold and Maude, will play up the humor (although with this film, that approach still qualifies as "deadpan") while the emotional and philosophical aspects are treated dryly.

I think more specifically what I couldn't believe was how the characters responding to Chance's words read the things they did in what he was saying. I don't remember specifics, but this time around it felt completely unfounded that they reached the conclusions they did based on the words he uttered (something faulty with the writing at that point), so that the basic premiss of the film didn't work for me. It seemed to require an inordinate amount of suspension of disbelief in the viewer for it to work. But I still enjoyed a lot of other types of scenes, like MacLaine's orgasm.

[colinr0380]

As an aside, I've always loved how people get his name confused: he introduces himself as "Chance the gardener," but everyone always takes it as (what my dad calls "the most WASP-y name imaginable") Chauncey Gardiner.

Chance the Gardener becomes Chauncey Gardiner in Eve Rand's limousine -- Eve offers him a drink, he accepts, she pours him what seems to be brandy or whiskey, he takes a swallow as she asks his name, not being used to the alcohol he starts to cough and mangles his name, which Eve mishears as Chauncey Gardiner. He never corrects anyone about it, and never introduces himself by name again. I always liked the way he brightens at the end when the Doctor calls him by his proper name at long last.

And don't forget the Russian ambassador gentleman at the function calls him "Gardenia" at one point, presumably thinking he is named similarly to the flower! (Although it might just be the accent that makes it sound that way!)

[Lowry_Sam]

Is his performance nuanced? Does the film treat him only as an object to laugh at?

As someone on the autistic spectrum myself, I would say it's my favorite portrayal of someone who is (possibly) autistic (if he is in fact a real human). The reason for this is not because I consider it to be the most accurate portrayal & in fact one could interpret it as a bit over-the-top. However the way that it is done is to emphasize the behavior of others, not as a commentary on Chauncey/Chance himself. The way that Ashby did this gets the audience to sympathize (to a certain extent) with Chancey (and therefore the plight of someone who is autistic) is precisely through the exaggerated nature of the character. Whereas for more "sympathetic" portrayals (ie. like Rain Man & Forrest Gump), I find to be a bit more preachy/insincere because they did veer into the tv-disease-movie-of-the-week syndrome a bit too much (though I did enjoy Rain Man overall, but couldn't stand Forrest Gump).

The best double bill for Being There also just finally got released on blu-ray (but unfortunately not on Criterion): Man Facing Southeast is the portrayal of someone is (possibly) alien (but displays autistic like traits) & becomes a mirror to those he encounters.

[colinr0380]

Man Facing Southeast of course being the original Argentinian film that got a US remake a number of years later as K-PAX.

[xoconostle]

I saw this film while in high school and was generally put off by it. My impression at the time was that critics who raved about its quality and how it was the crowning achievement of Sellers' career were being hyperbolic because of their love of Sellers without regard for the film's flaws. My memory is that the great actor's performance here, while understated and clearly a labor of love for the artist, was tediously contrived. Some scenes ruined by embarrassing overreacting of Shirley MacLaine. (Clearly, other esteemed forum-ties disagree.) Unfortunate soundtrack use of the even-then outdated-sounding Deodato treatment of "Also Sprach Zarathustra." However, these are impressions from long ago, of a very opinionated teenage lad. That stated, I look forward to giving the film another Chance. But given my frustrated inability to love Ashby's work other than "The Last Detail," we'll see.

[flyonthewall2983]

I have a fondness for Eumir Deodato's version of "Zarathustra" that predated even me knowing about this movie. Finally seeing it when I did recently, it's a wonderful use of the piece. An irony for me, is that the bass player on it is none other than Stanley Clarke.

[Rupert Pupkin]

I have a fondness for Eumir Deodato's version of "Zarathustra" that predated even me knowing about this movie. Finally seeing it when I did recently, it's a wonderful use of the piece. An irony for me, is that the bass player on it is none other than Stanley Clarke.

me too- I was thinking that it sounds like it's one of those jazzy Lalo Shiffrin soundtrack which would have met Booker T. and the M.G's... I like the clever (funny but not that...) clin d'œil to 2001 : A Space Oddity (H.A.L.... Ashby?) : "Chauncey's first day on earth"... (there's also Stridulum (aka The Visitor) disco-space revisitation of Also Sprach Zarathustra (although it's not credited)
I also love a lot the intense scene where Peter Stellers is in the car next to Shirley MacLaine. There's this animated video-clip on TV (nice soul pop song : which title is it ?) and - well I don't know - but suddenly when they are arriving in the dark in this big castle this gives me the feeling of one of my all-time favorite movie "Phantom Of The Paradise" (I'm sure that there's no storm, but with the TV screen flashing, there is a kind of strange atmosphere in this scene which I really like - I don't know if this is because of her clothes, but Shirley has a kind of Phoenix-look at the beginning of this movie)

One of my other favorite Hal Ashby movie is "The Last Detail".

I didn't see this movie since a very long time, so this will be a sure Criterion for me... I've just realized with how many great director of photography Hal Ashby worked (M.Chapman for the Last Details, years before Taxi Driver), I was re-reading the booklet of "Harold And Maud" and John A. Alonzo's interview who did Brian de Palma's Scarface...

[oh yeah]

There's this animated video-clip on TV (nice soul pop song : which title is it ?)

It's "Basketball Jones," which actually was originally screened before The Last Detail in cinemas. It was also featured in Altman's California Split, but later Columbia wouldn't pay the royalties so the music had to be cut for the DVD release (just one of several music-royalty issues plaguing the DVD of that film -- which for that reason and others would be one of the most welcome remaining Altmans to get Criterion treatment).

One of my other favorite Hal Ashby movie is "The Last Detail".

[...] I've just realized with how many great director of photography Hal Ashby worked (M.Chapman for the Last Details, years before Taxi Driver), I was re-reading the booklet of "Harold And Maud" and John A. Alonzo's interview who did Brian de Palma's Scarface...

The Last Detail is my second-favorite Ashby behind this one. If the film were just composed of Nicholson's palling around, it could become something abrasive, but I like how the whole movie's suffused with a certain melancholy. Yes, Ashby always chose great DPs (and had a great eye himself). Chapman, beyond being a great cinematographer, got his start as Gordon Willis's camera operator, and the two worked on a string of great, formally inventive New York films: Ashby's overlooked debut The Landlord, Little Murders, and Klute most notably. It makes sense that Chapman came up under Willis because he uses similar techniques. I also think the use of dissolves in The Last Detail is one of the most beautiful in cinema.

[Rupert Pupkin]

thanks for the info about the clip on TV (oh, I see there's my favorite pianist on this song - Nicky Hopkins- (Billy Preston, Tom Scott, George Harrison... no wonder why I've been hooked by that song!)
Randy Quaid is amazing in "The Last Detail". Besides Nancy Allen's cameo, I also love Carol Kane's scene (I also love her in Dog Day Afternoon).
M.Chapman's work on P.Kaufman's "Invasion Of The Body Snatchers" is also stunning...

[Kat]

thought better of making a political jest and so deleted this.

[CSM126]

We already have Chauncey 2016 and it sucks.

[Kat]

We already have Chauncey 2016 and it sucks.

maybe - I feel what you say -- but Chauncey is a very beneficent being.

(edit - Chauncey Gardener that is.)

[jbeall]

Currently streaming on HBO Go for folks who are interested.

[Mooney]

I have a buddy who is a bit of a fan of Hal Ashby and he's scoured youtube looking for any video of Hal talking. Said that he's never heard of Hal's voice. Anybody know of any interview he's done?

This would be a great birthday present for my friend.

[vidussoni]

I have a buddy who is a bit of a fan of Hal Ashby and he's scoured youtube looking for any video of Hal talking. Said that he's never heard of Hal's voice. Anybody know of any interview he's done?

This would be a great birthday present for my friend.

He gave a very short speech when he won an Oscar.