Book To Film - BEING THERE

When his long-time employer dies, an innocent, sheltered gardener is evicted from the only home he’s ever known.
About this Event

September 13 Being There (Hal Ashby USA 1979 130 mins)
When his long-time employer dies, an innocent, sheltered gardener is evicted from the only home he’s ever known. Now lost in a world he doesn’t understand (except for what he’s picked up from television), the bewildered gardener finds himself, through a series of misunderstandings, hailed as a brilliant political analyst. Jerzy Kosinski adapted his own satirical novel (with uncredited help from Robert C. Jones) for director Hal Ashby.

After a long apprenticeship in the cutting rooms with William Wyler and George Stevens, Ashby had won an Academy Award as editor of Norman Jewison’s In the Heat of the Night (1967), so by the time the 70s rolled around he felt ready to direct. Just after completing his third feature (The Last Detail with Jack Nicholson) in 1973, Ashby was approached by Peter Sellers about collaborating on an adaptation of Kosinski’s novel. Ashby liked the story and the prospect of working with Sellers but for a variety of reasons the project lay dormant for five years.

By the time Ashby and Sellers finally collaborated, the result was a triumph. Janet Maslin of the New York Times "hailed the film as “a stately, beautifully acted satire with a premise that's funny but fragile". Sellers delivered a sublime performance, supported by a strong cast featuring Shirley Maclaine and Melvyn Douglas, who won the Oscar for Best Supporting Actor. Somehow the frustrating five-year delay had been beneficial for the filming and almost everything had gone right. Two different endings were filmed, however, one of which displeased Maclaine. And Sellers, who died just seven months after the film’s release, felt that a post-credit sequence had robbed him of an Oscar. Despite this, the film is a fitting memorial to an extraordinary screen talent.

This session will be presented by John Newman and Michael O’Rourke who will host a discussion after the screening.

Jerzy Kosinski’s Being There is available in paperback, Kindle and Audiobook.

Doors/Bar 1.00pm Film 2.00pm