Saturday, January 23, 2010

'Being There' movie

I found this clip of the first 8.5 minutes of a drama that was very influential in my young life when I was 27, and that to this day I consider a wonderfully evocative yet minimalist film. It was the last movie that Peter Sellers before he died shortfully thereafter, and I feel is Shirley MacLaine at her very best.
By my early 30s I saw it had been a catalyst for my life focus of the fine arts being eclipsed by the gardening I had done since I grew a blue hyacinth bulb when I was 4, and that its melancholy, piano-based soundtrack helped to push me away from "enjoying" melancholy music and art. If you have not seen this charming, deliciously subtle, romantic comedy that I feel eloquently addresses many aspects of the human condition, treat yourself and rent it for a quiet night when you can get lost in it, with the phone turned off.

Shirley MacLaine's character, Eve, masturbating in an elegant bedroom, with Peter Seller's character, Chauncey Gardener, as he as always gazes at a TV, oblivious to her needs, is a quietly hilarious gem of movie-making.

John

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kt7-Ra9Gbbo

a nice short montage of brief extracts of stellar scenes from this gem:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BwZzRB461bY&NR=1

No comments:

Post a Comment