Being There

After enjoying the film ‘Harold and Maude’ so much, I promised myself to see more films by Hal Ashby. Nearly 2 years later, and I managed to see my second Ashby film ‘Being There’. 

‘Being there’ stars the comical Peter Sellers, who works as a gardener in a big house. When the owner of the house dies, Seller’s character ‘Chaucy’ is forced to leave and find a new place to stay/work. We relise, Chaucy is a bit strange and socially awkward at this point, but it is not clear just how much so.

Chaucy Gardener is a man of few words. He is completely content with a quiet fondness for everything and everyone. It is the simple pleasures that occupy this kind mans life. I don’t want to give anything away, but I think this film is very clever and hints throughout at Chacy’s role. The woman Eve who tempts him in the bedroom and the way he is connected to nature. Innocence is definitely a key theme in this film and it is beautifully communicated!

I love slow films that inhabit a placid pace throughout and this film defiantly had this composition. 

(It was actually my third Ashby film as I recently found out he directed the film ‘shampoo’ that Id seen many years ago. Sadly, ‘Shampoo’ proved to be a great disappointment actually, which was surprising considering it stared the brilliant Goldie Hawn!)