Being There

A gardener (Peter Sellers) for a wealthy man in New York has never left the house in which he works since he was a child. Everything he knows about the world he has absorbed through television, which he watches obsessively. When the owner dies, he is forced to leave and go out on his own. He encounters a wealthy woman (Shirley Maclaine) who takes him under her wing.

Such a melancholy film, both in visual style, acting and tone. The premise is ripe for comedy - the idea that a man completely naive to the world who only knows about gardening could be mistaken for some sort of sage who spouts nothing but wisdom is quite amusing at first. And yet the film repeats the joke until it’s stale, seemingly on purpose.

Being There doesn’t seem to want to make you laugh. It’s a gentle anti-comedy that builds a framework of blistering political satire and leaves it all on the table in favour of a tragic character piece.

It’s a weird tone to strike but by and large it does work, and the final few scenes do a wonderful job in re-contextualising the whole film for the audience and leaving you with a lasting powerful image.

Looooove Shirley Maclaine in this, who handles an incredibly awkward and (for the time) off-colour scene with wit and aplomb.