Being There [1979] [Criterion] (DVD)
Hal Ashby

Synopsis
In one of his most finely tuned performances, Peter Sellers plays the pure-hearted, childlike Chance, a gardener who is forced into the wilds of Washington, D.C., when his wealthy guardian dies. Shocked to discover that the real world doesn’t respond to the click of a remote, Chance stumbles into celebrity after being taken under the wing of a tycoon (Melvyn Douglas, in an Oscar-winning performance), who mistakes his protégé’s horticultural mumblings for sagacious pronouncements on life and politics, and whose wife (Shirley MacLaine) targets Chance as the object of her desire. Adapted from a novel by Jerzy Kosinski, this satire, both deeply melancholy and hilarious, is the culmination of Hal Ashby’s remarkable string of films in the 1970s, and a carefully modulated examination of the ideals, anxieties, and media-fueled delusions that shaped American culture during that decade.
Special Features:
- New, restored 4K digital transfer, supervised by cinematographer Caleb Deschanel
- 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 Kosinski in a 1979 appearance on The Dick Cavett Show
- Appearances from 1980 by actor Peter Sellers on NBC’s Today and on The Don Lane Show
- Promo reel featuring Sellers and Ashby
- Trailer and TV spots
- Deleted scene, outtakes, and alternate ending
- An essay by critic Mark Harris
Product Details
- Format: Color, Widescreen,
- Language: English,
- Subtitles: English,
- Aspect Ratio: 1.85.1
- Number of Discs: 2
- Rating: PG
- Label: Criterion Collection
- Release Date: 03/21/2017
- Run Time: 130 minutes
- Catalogue #: 864
- Region: 1,