Being There

Having lived his life as the gardener on a millionaire's estate, Chance (Peter Sellers) knows of the real world only what he has seen on TV. When his benefactor dies, Chance walks aimlessly into the streets of Washington D.C., where he is struck by a car owned by wealthy Eve Rand (Shirley MacLaine). ...more

Perhaps the most potent film satire of the television age and postmodern politics, Being There, released in 1979, foreshadowed a generation of films that critiqued the shallowness of mass culture. But none did so with as much economy as this profoundly simple fable. No one could have played the lead role of the moronic gardener with more nuanced efficacy than Peter Sellers. When his plain-speaking character, who has done nothing all his life except watch TV, is thrust into political notoriety, ...more