Being There [Deluxe Edition] [WS] [Blu-ray]

MOVIE DESCRIPTION:

Having lived his life as the gardener on a millionaire's estate, Chance (Peter Sellers) knows of the real world only what he has seen on TV. When his benefactor dies, Chance walks aimlessly into the streets of Washington D.C., where he is struck by a car owned by wealthy Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine). Identifying himself, the confused man mutters "Chance...gardener," which Eve takes to be "Chauncey Gardiner." Eve takes him to her home to convalesce, and because Chance is so well-dressed and well-groomed, and because he speaks in such a cultured tone, everyone in her orbit assumes that "Chauncey Gardiner" must be a man of profound intelligence. No matter what he says, it is interpreted as a pearl of wisdom and insight. He rises to the top of Washington society, where his simplistic responses to the most difficult questions (responses usually related to his gardening experience) are highly prized by the town's movers and shakers. In fact, there is serious consideration given to running Chance as a presidential candidate. Both a modern fable and a political satire, Being There was based on the novel by Jerzy Kosinski and costars Melvyn Douglas, who won a Best Supporting Actor Oscar as Eve's aging power-broker husband. ~ Hal Erickson, Rovi

DVD FEATURES:

• Number of Discs: 1
• Screen: Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV
• Aspect Ratio: 1.85:1 (Theatre Wide Screen)
• Audio: Dolby Digital Stereo
• Features:
  • New featurette Memories from Being There
  • Two Recently Discovered Scenes
  • Alternate Ending
  • Gag Reel
  • Theatrical Trailer

AWARDS

• Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences

•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 1979 (Melvyn Douglas)
•     Nominated Best Actor - 1979 (Peter Sellers)

• British Academy of Film and Television Arts

•     Won Best Screenplay - 1980 (Jerzy Kosinski)

• Hollywood Foreign Press Association

•     Won Best Performance by an Actor in a Motion Picture - Musical or Comed - 1979 (Peter Sellers)
•     Won Best Performance by an Actor in a Supporting Role in a Motion Pictu - 1979 (Melvyn Douglas)
•     Nominated Best Director - 1979 (Hal Ashby)
•     Nominated Best Performance by an Actress in a Motion Picture - Musical or Com - 1979 (Shirley MacLaine)
•     Nominated Best Picture - Musical or Comedy - 1979
•     Nominated Best Screenplay - 1979 (Jerzy Kosinski, Robert Jones)

• Los Angeles Film Critics Association

•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 1979 (Melvyn Douglas)

• National Board of Review

•     Won Best Actor - 1979 (Peter Sellers)
•     Nominated Best Picture - 1979

• New York Film Critics Circle

•     Won Best Supporting Actor - 1979 (Melvyn Douglas)

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:

• Cast:

  
       Peter Sellers - Chance the Gardener
       Shirley MacLaine - Eve Rand
       Melvyn Douglas - Benjamin Rand
       Jack Warden - President Bobby
       Richard Basehart - Vladimir Skrapinov
       Richard Dysart - Dr. Robert Allenby
       Ruth Attaway - Louise
       David Clennon - Thomas Franklin
       Fran Brill - Sally Hayes
       Denise Du Barry - Johanna Franklin
       Alfredine Brown - Old Woman

• Director:

  Hal Ashby

• Producer:

  Andrew Braunsberg, Charles B. Mulvehill, Jack Schwartzman

• Book Author:

  Jerzy Kosinski

• Screenwriter:

  Jerzy Kosinski, Robert Jones

• Cinematographer:

  Caleb Deschanel

• Composer (Music Score):

  Johnny Mandel

• Editor:

  Don Zimmerman

• Production Designer:

  Michael Haller

• Art Director:

  James L. Schoppe

• Associate Producer:

  Charles B. Mulvehill

• Executive Producer:

  Jack Schwartzman

• Set Designer:

  Robert R. Benton

• Costume Designer:

  May Routh

• Sound/Sound Designer:

  Jeff Wexler

• Makeup:

  Charles Schram, Frank Westmore

• First Assistant Director:

  David Shamroy Hamburger

• Production Manager:

  Charles B. Mulvehill

REVIEW:

• Perhaps the most potent film satire of the television age and postmodern politics, Being There, released in 1979, foreshadowed a generation of films that critiqued the shallowness of mass culture. But none did so with as much economy as this profoundly simple fable. No one could have played the lead role of the moronic gardener with more nuanced efficacy than Peter Sellers. When his plain-speaking character, who has done nothing all his life except watch TV, is thrust into political notoriety, Sellers displays an uncanny adeptness for mimicking the rote movements and empty phrases of a latter-day political leader. Directed expertly by the politically astute Hal Ashby, the story was adapted by screenwriter Jerzy Kosinski from his own novel. It won an Oscar nomination for Sellers and a best supporting Oscar for Melvyn Douglas; and it marked the last great part for Sellers and the end of a run of major 1970s efforts from Ashby. ~ Michael Betzold, Rovi