Being There (1979)

Directed by

Hal Ashby

Genre

comedy drama

Country

United States

Runtime

2h 10m

Rated

PG

Rating

7.6 of 10 from 1,137 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A simple-minded gardener who has only known life inside his employer's estate is thrust into the outside world after the man dies. His literal remarks are mistaken for profound wisdom by Washington elites who think he is a political genius.

satiricalslow-paceddeadpanwryunsettlingthought-provokingironic

What happens

Being There is a 1979 American satirical comedy-drama film starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, and Melvyn Douglas. Directed by Hal Ashby, it is based on the 1970 novel Being There by Jerzy Kosiński, and adapted for the screen by Kosiński and the uncredited Robert C. Jones. Jack Warden, Richard Dysart, and Richard Basehart are featured in support. The film concerns a simple-minded and heavily sheltered gardener who explores the outside world after his wealthy employer dies and is mistaken for a brilliant political pundit. Douglas won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor and Sellers was nominated for Best Actor. The screenplay won the British Academy Film Award for Best Screenplay and the Writers Guild of America Award for Best Comedy Adapted from Another Medium. It was also nominated for the Golden Globe Award for Best Screenplay. In 2015, the Library of Congress selected Being There for preservation in the National Film Registry, finding it "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant". It has since developed a strong cult following and is a favorite among many filmmakers. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

Trailer

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