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Being There - The Criterion Collection
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Blu-ray
RRP: £27.99
£21.99
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4 instalments of £5.49 with clearpay Learn more
In one of his most finely tuned performances, PETER SELLERS (The Pink Panther) plays the pure-hearted Chance, a gardener forced out of moneyed seclusion and into the urban wilds of Washington, D.C., after the death of his employer. Shocked to discover that the real world doesn't respond to the click of a remote, Chance stumbles haplessly into celebrity after being taken under the wing of a tycoon (Oscar winner MELVYN DOUGLAS), who mistakes his new protégé's mumbling about horticulture for sagacious pronouncements on life and politics, and whose wife (The Apartment's SHIRLEY MACLAINE) targets Chance as the object of her desire. Adapted from a novel by JERZY KOSINSKI, this hilarious, deeply melancholy satire marks the culmination a remarkable string of films by HAL ASHBY (Harold and Maude) in the 1970s, and serves as a carefully modulated examination of the ideals, anxieties, and media-fuelled delusions that shaped American culture during that decade.
Special Edition Features
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with members of the production team
- Excerpts from a 1980 American Film Institute seminar with director Hal Ashby Author Jerzy Kosinksi in a 1979 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show
- Appearances from 1980 by actor Peter Sellers on NBC's Today and The Don Lane Show
- Promo reel featuring Sellers and Ashby
- Trailer and TV spots
- Deleted scene, outtakes, and an alternate ending
- PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Harris
- CRITERION COLLECTION
- 130 Mins Approx
- Hal Ashby
- 12
- Peter Sellers
- Melvyn Douglas
- Shirley MacLaine
- 2020
- English
- 1
- B
- CRITERION COLLECTION
Frequently Bought Together
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Total Price: £66.98
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Being There - The Criterion Collection
-
Blu-ray
RRP: £27.99
£21.99
Save: £6.00
In stock
-
4 instalments of £5.49 with clearpay Learn more
Delivery & Returns
In one of his most finely tuned performances, PETER SELLERS (The Pink Panther) plays the pure-hearted Chance, a gardener forced out of moneyed seclusion and into the urban wilds of Washington, D.C., after the death of his employer. Shocked to discover that the real world doesn't respond to the click of a remote, Chance stumbles haplessly into celebrity after being taken under the wing of a tycoon (Oscar winner MELVYN DOUGLAS), who mistakes his new protégé's mumbling about horticulture for sagacious pronouncements on life and politics, and whose wife (The Apartment's SHIRLEY MACLAINE) targets Chance as the object of her desire. Adapted from a novel by JERZY KOSINSKI, this hilarious, deeply melancholy satire marks the culmination a remarkable string of films by HAL ASHBY (Harold and Maude) in the 1970s, and serves as a carefully modulated examination of the ideals, anxieties, and media-fuelled delusions that shaped American culture during that decade.
Special Edition Features
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with members of the production team
- Excerpts from a 1980 American Film Institute seminar with director Hal Ashby Author Jerzy Kosinksi in a 1979 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show
- Appearances from 1980 by actor Peter Sellers on NBC's Today and The Don Lane Show
- Promo reel featuring Sellers and Ashby
- Trailer and TV spots
- Deleted scene, outtakes, and an alternate ending
- PLUS: An essay by critic Mark Harris
- CRITERION COLLECTION
- 130 Mins Approx
- Hal Ashby
- 12
- Peter Sellers
- Melvyn Douglas
- Shirley MacLaine
- 2020
- English
- 1
- B
- CRITERION COLLECTION
Frequently Bought Together
+
Total Price: £66.98
Add both to basket
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Customer Reviews
Top Customer Reviews
Customer reviews are independent and do not represent the views of Zavvi.
A Beautiful Satire - Another Triumph for the Criterion Collection
It is unusual to describe a satire as beautiful, but this is what we have in "Being There." Peter Sellers seems born to play the central role, but there is not a weak or "off" performance in the entire cast. Sensitively directed by Hal Ashby who clearly had a firm grasp of the material he was putting up on screen. As we have come to expect from the Criterion collection, the presentation of this film and supplementary materials is of a very high standard.
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I love this film.
This film is amazing. Peter Sellers is incredible as Chancy Gardiner , how he didn't win the oscar I'll never know. This release looks great for its age and the audio and the extras are brilliant. A must buy for all film collector's. Also the film arrived in perfect condition and quite quickly too.
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