Being There (1979) review

*contains spoilers

This was one of my favorite films when I was in high school but then there was a period of time when I didn't like it as much, mostly because of the last parts of the story - I'll get to that later in this review. I rewatched it last night and I'm a fan again. I'm glad that Criterion has added it to their collection.

Peter Sellers plays a simple-minded man named "Chance" who has lived his entire life in a wealthy house where he gardens and watches television. It is never explained why he wasn't allowed to leave the house or if he is even related to the owner, an old man who dies in the beginning of the film. It's possible that Chance is the illegitimate son of the old man. Chance can't read or write and his only education is from what he's learned on television.

After the old man dies Chance is forced to leave the house and after walking around Washington DC for a day his fate is altered when a limo backs into his leg. The scene is funny because he is standing outside a store watching himself as a video camera is displaying his image for the first time on television. He is so taken aback that he walks backwards into the street and the accident happens. It's almost like the television has a part in his destiny.

The rest of the film is a series of fortuitous events where wealthy, powerful people mistake Chance's childlike comments for intelligent metaphors about life, politics and the economy. By not saying much Chance is perceived as a wise and sophisticated person.

Some people may not enjoy the movie because it takes its time, it's unclear on what it's trying to say and it's funny but doesn't really try to be funny. There's also an odd scene where Shirley MacLaine is masturbating (it's not graphic) on the floor because she wants to seduce Chance and he tells her that "he likes to watch" so she thinks that he is turned on by voyeurism but he is really just talking about his fondness for watching television.

It's similar to Hal Ashby's earlier film "Harold and Maude" where it doesn't have a complicated story but instead it's a unique, slow-paced, thoughtful movie about life. There's a similar theme about the seasons of life and having a metaphor of plants growing and then eventually dying. "Harold and Maude" has a scene that is somewhat similar to the masturbation scene where Harold is running his hand along (and then trying to fit his head in) a vulva-like wooden sculpture that is in Maude's home.

This movie is trying to say a lot of different things. The idea of a white man succeeding because of his skin color is talked about by Louise, the black maid who took care of Chance when he was younger. She is the only character who knows that Chance is actually a simpleton. The control that media and television have on audiences is another part of the movie. Chance becomes a celebrity after appearing on a late night talk show to discuss politics after the president quotes him. There are television sets in most of the movies scenes and Chance mimics the actions he sees, like kissing and shaking hands.

Then there is the esoteric ending of the film where Chance walks on water at the funeral of Benjamin Rand, the tycoon who took in Chance after his leg accident. The phrase "life is a state of mind" is spoken by the president off screen as we see Chance standing on water. I was always confused about what this last scene is trying to say. I looked online and someone had three theories about this.

1. Chance is walking on water because he doesn't realize that he cannot.

2. He isn't actually walking on water - it's just some kind of sandbar that he's standing on.

3. He is some kind of Christ figure.

I like the first explanation the best. I don't buy that he is walking on some kind of platform or sandbar and the idea that he's Jesus seems too ridiculous to me, even though he does speak in parables like Jesus did. Chance is not smart enough to deliberately speak in parables though - he can't even read or write.