Review

by Joanne P

unforgettable

Many fine scenes, some unforgettable lines ("I like to watch.") and an interesting final walk. Unwinding slowly, almost solemnly, from its early scenes, Being There begins as a study in pathos that seems out of step with the film's reputation as containing probably the greatest performance by one of Britain's most famous comic actors: Peter Sellers. Here, Sellers plays the hero, "Chance", as contained and autistic: an apparent simpleton who is evicted from the house in which he has evidently lived his entire life and where he has only been exposed to contemporary culture by channel-surfing television. Hungry, seemingly incapable of looking after himself, Chance comes by accident into the house of a millionaire, where his rambling and literal references to the garden for which he has cared are mistaken for the oblique comments of a political sage.