Being There – Criterion Collection

Summary

“I like to watch TV.”
Being There is a notable film for being the creative swan song of two wonderful talents, Hal Ashby and Peter Sellers. Sellers would go on to one more role before his early death by heart attack, and Ashby would never direct a film of this caliber before his death by pancreatic cancer in 1988. Neither man would live to see their sixtieth year. It is fitting that one of the running themes of the film is death and the brevity of life. Being There was celebrated upon its release and received Academy Award nominations for both Peter Sellers and Melvyn Douglas. Melvyn Douglas won his Oscar, and sadly Peter Sellers did not win for his performance. Dustin Hoffman won that year for Kramer vs. Kramer, which also beat Apocalypse Now for Best Picture. Obviously, the Academy was not casting the best votes that year. The Criterion Collection have brought the film to Blu-ray for a second time after a pretty decent Blu-ray release by Warner Bros. The new release is really wonderful.

Based on the Jerzy Kosinski novel of the same name, Being There tells the story of Chance the gardener. Chance is a simpleton. He does not know how to read or write or how to communicate well with others. The only thing that Chance knows how to do correctly is gardening. His only companion is television. Upon waking one day, Chance finds out from Louise, an African-American maid, that “the old man has died.” This presents a problem for Chance, because he has never been outside the walls of the house. Confused, Chance waits around the house for Louise to feed him, not understanding that the old man’s demise would be the end of all routine in his life. After a comedic scene involving a couple lawyers who come to the house to tie up affairs of the estate, Chance heads out onto the streets of 1970s Washington D.C. with a suitcase full of the old man’s suits. As luck would have it, those suits have come back into fashion, giving Chance an air of distinction. Due to a small accident, Chance is brought into contact with Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine,) the wife of an ailing Wall Street tycoon. Chance is brought back to their home and meets her husband Benjamin Rand (Melvyn Douglas.) This is where the movie hits its stride, as the simple expressions said by Chance are taken by those who encounter him to be profound ruminations on life and business. This leads to wonderful satire as Chance moves up in the world of politics as a sort of soothsayer despite a fundamental lack of understanding of anything around him.

Being There is easy to recommend for Peter Seller’s performance alone. Sellers is absolutely incredible in the role. The film uses silence to its benefit, which means that Sellers finds ways to show you exactly what the character is thinking through his facial expressions. It is truly amazing to watch Sellers in a role that relies so much on nuance. It is certainly his best dramatic role since his fantastic turn in Kubrick’s Lolita.The supporting cast is top notch as well. Shirley MacLaine is great in her role and allows herself to be truly ridiculous in a very funny love making scene. Melvyn Douglas is magnificent as the ailing king maker Benjamin Rand. Totally convincing and totally deserving of his supporting actor Oscar. Jack Warden is very funny as the President of the United States, and Richard Dysart is perfectly cast as Dr. Robert Allen. There is not a bad performance in the film, but Sellers is absolutely incredible. 

Being There has a fantastic script. There are so many layers to the actions on screen. Watching the film, it is hard to decide if you should be laughing or frowning or both. I think that every person will take away something different from Being There, and it rewards repeat viewings. The Criterion release has done a great service to fans of the film through their inclusion of special features that give proper credit to writer Robert C. Jones for writing the final scripts that were the actual shooting scripts. I have read Jerzy Kosinski’s book and it is enjoyable, but even the author agreed that the movie was better than the novel. Given this information, it is truly appalling that Kosinski went to arbitration with the writer’s guild to make sure that Robert C. Jones did not receive a writing credit on the film. This had a permanent impact in the career of Jones who had won the Oscar a year earlier for his writing on Coming Home.

The direction by Hal Ashby is exceptional. The two films from the director that always stuck with me the most were this film and Harold and Maude, which are both thematically similar. In both films death is dealt with in such a peaceful and beautiful way. Ashby shot both of those films in beautiful rich brown and gray tones of fall and winter. Whenever it begins to look like fall outside, I often think of these movies. I think it is safe to say that those films also exerted some influence on some of Wes Anderson’s best films.

Overall – Being There is an excellent film that is as funny as it is melancholy. Its satire is very sharp and the performances are wonderful. The slower pace may throw some viewers off, but the film gets even better on repeat viewings. Highly recommended.

Video

Warner Bros. originally released the film on Blu-ray a few years back, and the results were pretty good if not exceptional. Criterion has now provided the film in 1.85:1 aspect ratio (as opposed to 1.78:1) and has taken their transfer from a new 4K scan. The following text appears inside the provided booklet:

“This new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a Lasergraphics Director film scanner from the 35mm original camera negative at Motion Picture Imaging in Burbank, California, and color graded under the supervision of cinematographer Caleb Deschanel. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, and warps were manually removed using MTI Film’s DRS, while Digital Vision’s Phoenix was used for jitter, flicker, small dirt, grain, and noise management.”

The new 4K transfer by Criterion is remarkable. Fine detail is fantastic. Clarity is greatly improved over the prior Warner release. The warm tones and coloring look very appealing on the release. Caleb Deschanel’s cinematography really shines in this presentation. This is the best the film has ever looked for certain and another great looking transfer from Criterion. 

Audio

Criterion has provided a brand new lossless LPCM Mono track, replacing Warner’s Dolby True HD 2.0 track from the prior release. Here is what the booklet say:

“The monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm original magnetic track. Clicks, thumps, hiss, hum, and crackle were manually removed using Pro Tools HD and iZotope RX.”

I can’t remember offhand what the soundtrack sounded like on the Warner disc, but this LPCM Mono track sounds very nice. It has more immersion than one might expect from a mono track. The beautiful piano led compositions by Johnny Mandel really shine. A great track.

Supplements:

• Trailer and TV Spots

• Promo Reel – an entertaining archival promo piece for Being There featuring director Hal Ashby and Peter Seller. 
• Deleted Scenes and Outtakes
• The Making of Being There – this 2017 Criterion produced documentary features interviews with producer Andrew Braunsberg, screenwriter/editor Robert C. Jones, cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, and editor Don Zimmerman. This is a really wonderful piece that talks extensively about how the film came to be made and gives a solid discussion of how Hal Ashby worked. Most importantly, this piece discusses how writer Robert C. Jones was not allowed to have a writing credit on the film by the insistence of Jerzy Kosinski despite having written the manuscript which was used for the film. I am so thankful that Criterion would make this story better known, because it is a true injustice. Don’t skip this piece!
• Hal Ashby at the AFI – this is an excellent audio-only interview with the late director where he discusses a lot about filmmaking, the tragedy of Bob Jones losing his writing credit on Being There, and dealing with the studios.
• Jerzy Kosinski and Dick Cavett – in this archival episode of The Dick Cavett Show, writer Jerzy Kosinski discusses his unconventional youth in Poland under Soviet rule where he was rendered mute for years possibly due to the extreme duress he suffered during the war. This of course informed his book The Painted Bird. Dick Cavett asks very insightful questions and the interview is very well done. Kosinski also discusses adapting Being There.
• Peter Sellers – two archival interviews of Peter Sellers are included.
• 1. Today – this interview by Gene Shalit for NBC’s Today show is the more entertaining of the two. Sellers shows off his incredible ability to change his voice to portray characters.
• 2. The Don Lane Show – Sellers has a lively conversation as he was preparing for his final film.

Overall scores:

Video – 5/5 

Audio – 4.5/5

Supplements – 4.5/5

Overall – 5/5

Being There continues to thrill and perplex movie goers. It is both a wonderful satire and a grand treatment on mortality. It is a perfect finale for the exceptional Peter Sellers, easily one of my favorite actors of all time. Hal Ashby was an amazing director and this was his last truly great film. With every viewing the film grows in my estimation. I am thankful to Criterion for setting the record straight regarding the horrible way that Robert C. Jones was treated regarding his writing credit. The new 4K scan looks great and the special features are well worth your time. Highly recommended.