2020. 1. 23. 22:07ㆍ카테고리 없음
Desde El Jardin Jerzy Kosinski - Free download as Word Doc (.doc), PDF File (.pdf), Text File (.txt) or read online for free. Search Search. Close suggestions.
Contents. Plot The middle-aged and simple-minded Chance lives in the townhouse of an old, wealthy man in He has spent his whole life tending the garden and has never left the property. Other than gardening, his knowledge is derived entirely from what he sees on television.
When his benefactor dies, Chance naively tells the lawyers that he has no claim against the estate and is ordered to move out. Chance wanders aimlessly, discovering the outside world for the first time.
Passing by a TV shop, he sees himself captured by a camera in the shop window. Entranced, he steps backward off the sidewalk and is struck by a chauffeured car owned by Ben Rand, an elderly business mogul.
In the car is Rand's much younger wife, Eve, who mishears 'Chance, the gardener', in reply to the question who he is, as 'Chauncey Gardiner'. Eve brings Chance to their home to recover.
He is wearing expensive tailored clothes from the 1920s and '30s, which his benefactor had allowed him to take from the attic, and his manners are old-fashioned and courtly. When Ben Rand meets him, he takes 'Chauncey' for an upper-class, highly educated businessman who has fallen on hard times.
Rand admires him, finding him direct, wise and insightful. Rand is also a confidant and adviser to the President of the United States, whom he introduces to 'Chauncey'. In a discussion about the economy, Chance takes his cue from the words 'stimulate growth' and talks about the changing seasons of the garden. The President misinterprets this as optimistic political advice and quotes “Chauncey Gardiner” in a speech. Chance now rises to national public prominence, attends important dinners, develops a close connection with the Soviet ambassador and appears on a television talk show. During the latter, Chance goes into detail about what a serious gardener should do and is misunderstood as giving his opinion about what would be his presidential policy, given the chance. Though he has now risen to the top of Washington society, the and some 16 other agencies are unable to find any background information about him.
During this time Rand's physician, Dr. Allenby, becomes increasingly suspicious that Chance is not a wise political expert and that the mystery of his identity may have a more mundane explanation. Allenby considers confiding this to Rand but, realizing how happy Chance is making him during his final days, he decides not to. The dying Rand encourages Eve to become close to 'Chauncey'. She is already attracted to him and makes a sexual advance. Chance has no interest in or knowledge of sex, but mimics a kissing scene from the 1968 film, which happens to be on the TV. When the scene ends, Chauncey stops suddenly and Eve is confused.
She asks what he likes, meaning sexually; he replies 'I like to watch,' meaning television. She is momentarily taken aback, but decides she is willing to masturbate for his voyeuristic pleasure, thereby not noticing that he has turned back to the TV and is now imitating a yoga exercise on a different channel. Chance is present at Rand's death and shows genuine sadness at his passing. Questioned by Dr Allenby, he admits that he 'loves Eve very much', and also that he is just a gardener. When he leaves to inform Eve of Ben's death, Allenby says to himself, 'I understand', but it is left to the viewer to work out exactly what that means. At Rand's funeral, while the President delivers a speech, the pall-bearers hold a whispered discussion over potential replacements for the President in the next term of office and unanimously agree on Chauncey Gardiner as successor.
Oblivious to all this, Chance wanders off through Rand's wintry estate. He straightens out a pine flattened by a fallen branch and then walks off across the surface of a lake. He pauses, dips his umbrella deep into the water under his feet (confirming for the viewer that it is not just a skim of water on the ground), then continues on, while the President is heard quoting Rand: 'Life is a state of mind.'
. as Chance the gardener (Chauncey Gardiner). as Eve Rand. as Ben Rand. as Dr. Robert Allenby.
as The President. as Soviet Ambassador Vladimir Skrapinov. as Ambassador Gaufridi. as Thomas Franklin. as Sally Hayes.
as Louise. as Johanna. as Colson. as The First Lady. Arthur Rosenberg as Morton Hull. as Gary Burns.
as Kaufman. as Courtney. as Karpatov. as Ron Steigler. as Lolo (boy on corner). Hoyt Clark Harris, Jr. As Secret Service agent Riff Filming Principal filming occurred at the, the largest private home in America, located in.
Melvyn Douglas's granddaughter, visited the set and met Peter Sellers, who is her favorite actor. She has since credited the film for inspiring her to pursue a career in acting. According to Illeana, Sellers and Douglas had known each other since the 1940s, when they first met in during. They often reminisced about their war days while on the set.
Was Ashby's first choice for the role of Ben Rand. Was also considered for the role, but he turned it down because of the masturbation scene.
According to MacLaine, '(Peter) believed he was Chauncey. He never had lunch with me. He was Chauncey Gardiner the whole shoot, but believing he was having a love affair with me.'
The making of the film is portrayed in, a biographical film of Sellers' life. Music Incidental music is used very sparingly. What little original music is used was composed by, and primarily features two recurrent piano themes based on ' No.
The other major piece of music used is the jazz/funk arrangement of the opening fanfare from. Mandel was also assisted by his late cousin and fellow composer with the orchestration of the film. Reception The film opened to positive reviews, and gave Sellers a hit after many of his previous films outside of the Pink Panther series had flopped. Film critic awarded a full grade of 4 out of 4 stars in his original print review and mentions the final scene in his 2005 book The Great Movies II (p. 52), stating that his film students once suggested that Chance may be walking on a submerged.
Ebert writes, 'The movie presents us with an image, and while you may discuss the meaning of the image, it is not permitted to devise explanations for it. Since Ashby does not show a pier, there is no pier—a movie is exactly what it shows us, and nothing more.' Also gave the film a perfect grade of 4 stars, calling it 'one of those rare films, a work of such electric comedy that you are more likely to watch it in amazement than to break down and laugh.' Of called the film 'a stately, beautifully acted satire with a premise that's funny but fragile.' Called it 'an unusually fine film' that 'represents Peter Sellers' most smashing work since the mid-1960s.' Of the called it 'a gentle, exquisitely funny film,' adding, 'Sellers hasn't been so terrific—or had such terrific material—in years.'
The film holds a score of 96% on based on 49 reviews, with an average grade of 8.5 out of 10. The critical consensus reads: 'Smart, sophisticated, and refreshingly subtle, Being There soars behind sensitive direction from Hal Ashby and a stellar Peter Sellers performance.'
Sellers won the for for his performance. He was nominated for the as well at the, but lost to for. Won his second for, and a for. The credits at the film's end roll over an, known as the 'Rafael outtake.' Sellers was later displeased that the outtake ran because he believed it took away from Chauncey's mystique.
He also believed the outtake was what prevented him from winning the Oscar. An alternative credit sequence has waves on a television set as they would appear on an 'unoccupied' channel.
The film is recognized by in:. 2000: – #26 Home media A 30th Anniversary Edition was released on and in February 2009. Issued the film on DVD and Blu-ray in March 2017. See also.
Kaufman, Debra (March 1, 2014). Retrieved November 22, 2018.
Beach, Christopher (2009). Detroit, Michigan:, p. Retrieved June 6, 2013. Mike Barnes (December 16, 2015). Retrieved December 16, 2015. Henion, Leigh Ann (March 2011). Retrieved May 12, 2015.
^ Vigil, Delfin (February 15, 2009). Retrieved September 6, 2015. Dawson, Nick (2009). University Press of Kentucky. Mell, Eila (2005). Dawson, Nick (2009).
University Press of Kentucky. ' on. Stoehr, Ingo Roland (2001). Boydell & Brewer.
August 20, 1996. Retrieved March 25, 2015. Jablon, Robert (August 18, 1996). Retrieved March 25, 2015. Oliver, Myrna (August 20, 1996). Retrieved March 25, 2015. Sarasota Herald-Tribune.
August 22, 1996. Retrieved March 25, 2015.
August 21, 1996. Retrieved March 25, 2015. Retrieved November 24, 2018. (2006), Random House, Inc., p. 52,. Ebert, Roger (May 25, 1997).
Archived from on December 12, 2010. Retrieved December 12, 2010.
(February 8, 1980). 'Sellers builds on perfection in 'Being There'. Section 3, p. Maslin, Janet (December 20, 1979). 'Film: Ashby-Kosinksi 'Being There '.: C20.
'Being There'.: 19. December 19, 1979. (December 20, 1979). 'A Kosinski Novel Comes to Life'. Retrieved November 24, 2018.
Flint, Peter B. (August 5, 1981). Retrieved May 12, 2015. Reid, Joe (February 24, 2014). Retrieved May 12, 2015.
Kim, Wook (November 26, 2012). Retrieved May 12, 2015. Dawson, Nick (2009). University Press of Kentucky. Retrieved July 17, 2016. Wilkins, Budd (29 March 2017). Retrieved 23 June 2017.
Bibliography. Beech, Christopher (2009). The Films of Hal Ashby.
Detroit: Wayne State University Press. Finkelstein, Joanne (2007). Pp. 9, 98–99.
Nichols, Peter M.; A. Scott; Vincent Canby (2004). The New York Times Guide to the Best 1,000 Movies Ever Made. New York: Macmillan. Sikov, Ed (2002). Strangelove: A Biography of Peter Sellers.
New York: Hyperion. Tichi, Cecelia (1991). Electronic Hearth: Creating an American Television Culture. New York: Oxford University Press.
After watching the film several times over the years - but before reading the book - I concluded that Being There was a prime candidate for one of the rare instances in which the cinematic version of a story was superior to the literature it was based on. The story is so simple and so much of it is communicated by expressions, gestures, and tone of voice that it seemed unlikely that the written word would be up to the task. Instead, finally reading this thin but ambitious effort showed me again that good writing trumps good cinema almost every time. To be sure, the film is good cinema. And the talented duo of Peter Sellers and Shirley McLean are so convincing in their silver screen roles that it is hard to imagine the characters they portray looking and sounding any different than the way they were played in the film (my effort to disassociate them from the story wasn't helped by the fact that my edition of the book has Mr.
Sellers larger than life on its cover). Yet the book takes the story to another level. Chance, the main character, is still a fortunate simpleton, But in the book author Jerzy Kosinski can reveal what is happening in his head, the swirling and disconcerting mystery that even the most obvious events seem to someone like him. These passages add an unexpected depth and darkness to the story, which is without most of the comic relief so prominent in the film. The end result is a book that isn't the wry comedy with precision timing I expected after knowing the film so well but rather a biting and trenchant satire about the culture of modern media, politics, and business, and of the gullible nature of a people far too eager to follow anyone they think may be willing to lead. BEING THERE is an absolute gem, a book worth reading at least once a decade to take a sounding of the world around you.
In the childlike, tabula rasa of a simple-minded gardener named Chance, Kosinski has created a complex character who is both sponge and mirror. Out of 'Chance, the gardener' comes Chauncey Gardiner, a man whose entire existence in the home and employment of the Old Man has been framed by what he has seen and absorbed from television and learned from his simple gardening job. Unable to read or write, his every action is refracted through the lens of his television 'experience.'
Jerzy Kosinski Wikipedia
Yet when Chance is unexpectedly released to the world at large as a result of the Old Man's (arguably his father's) death, he becomes a walking mirror, silenting reflecting back at everyone he meets that which they most want to hear and believe about him, and about themselves. More than Woody Allen's Zelig or Winston Groom's (and Tom Hanks's) Forrest Gump, Chance is the perfect empty vessel, the ultimate 'other' whom we can each mold into exactly what we most want him to be. A 'chance' coincidence lands an impeccably-dressed Chauncey in the hands of an aging but wealthy and influential financier named Benjamin Rand and his wife, EE, and their social and political connections soon put Chauncey in contact with the President, foreign ambassadors, television and the press. Gardiner's answers to questions draw upon his gardening knowledge, making them sound like profound parables and metaphors with unusually direct aptness and an almost Biblical depth of meaning. His listeners of course hear what they want to hear, and soon Chauncey Gardiner is a national celebrity and rising star in the world of commerce and even politics.
Reading BEING THERE today, it seems hard to believe that Jerzy Kosinski wrote this wickedly funny short parable back in 1970. He was remarkably, albeit sadly, prescient. Consider the American situation today: vicarious thrill-seeking (Fear Factor, The Survivor) and ersatz depictions of reality (The Apprentice, The Loser, The Bachelor, The Contender) fill our television screens, we elevate the most brainless, talentless, or shameless people (Paris Hilton, Jessica Simpson, William Hung, Loreena Bobbit, Michael Jackson, Scott Peterson) to celebrity status, we look to pop cult advisors for guidance in our personal and cultural lives (Dr.
Ruth, Oprah, Martha Stewart), and we elect (twice!) a President infamous for his intellectual dullness, lack of curiosity, ignorance of facts, disdain for newspapers and reading, and utter incapacity to string three spontaneous sentences together to express a meaningful original thought. If you don't believe BEING THERE remains a dead-on satire of American life and political culture, refer to Ron Suskind's discussion with a senior official in the Bush Administration (New York Times, 10/17/04) who asserted that guys like him (Suskind), opponents of this Administration, live 'in what we call the rea. As most folks probably recall, 'Being There' was a Peter Sellers film some twenty years ago with the memorable line 'I like to watch'.
The film was well done, both funny and sad in equal measures. Most folks probably don't realize the film was based on book by the late Jerzy Kosinski, written some ten years earlier. I decided to see how the book compares with the film. I'm delighted to say it fairs very well indeed.
'Being There' is a short novel about an illiterate, dim-witted man who had done literally nothing in life but garden. During his life he has engaged in limited social intercourse, and none of the other sort of intercourse. But his life completely changes when his guardian dies. Thrust into the world, the rich and beautiful people he meet view him as deep thinker. Interpreting his gardening statements as profound metaphores. He becomes an overnight sensation. Taken as a story by itself 'Being There' is just ordinary.
The prose is adequate as are the characterizations. But 'Being There' is a scathing satire on how the most undeserving become stars in America. Clearly one can become a celeb without an ounce of intelligence or talent. Bottom line: if you enjoyed the film you'll really enjoy the book. I first became aware of this book as the basis for the remarkable film starring Peter Sellers and Melvyn Douglas. Kosinski?s book, however, is just as remarkable in its own right. The hero of the book is Chance, a mentally retarded adult who works as the gardener at the home of a wealthy retired New York lawyer.
During the whole of his adult life, Chance has never left the house and garden; his only contact with the outside world is through television, which he watches obsessively. His life changes, however, when his employer dies, the house is sold and he is forced to leave. Chance is slightly injured when he is hit by a car belonging to Elizabeth Eve (?EE?), the wife of Benjamin Rand, a rich and influential Wall Street financier and a friend of the President. EE, mishearing?Chance the gardener?
As?Chauncey Gardiner? And mistakenly believing Chance to be a successful businessman, invites him to stay with her and her husband at their home. A series of misunderstandings leads all concerned to believe that Chance is not only a businessman but also an economic prophet.
He is invited to speak on national television where he talks about the only thing he understands, gardening. A series of platitudes about the changing of the seasons in the garden is taken to be an extended metaphor forecasting an upturn in the economy, and his supposed optimism strikes a chord with the viewing public. The book ends with the elderly, terminally ill, Rand about to name Chance as his heir and successor, and the President about to nominate him as his vice-presidential running-mate. The book is short, a novella rather than a novel, of around 100 pages.
The style is direct, simple and like a fable. It has been interpreted as a satire on the role of television in the modern age or on the American political system. Those elements are certainly present and were emphasised more in the film than in the book.
(In Britain the film was widely taken to be a direct attack on the Reagan administration, even though it was actually made during the Carter years but not released here until after the presidential election). The significance of the book, however, is a deeper one. In the film, Peter Sellers portrayed Chance as a lonely, pitiable character in late middle age, young only by comparison with his aged employer and the ageing Rand. It is an affecting performance, but subtly different from the Chance of Kosinski?s book. Kosinski?s Chance is relatively young, good-looking and emotionally detached from his surroundings.
This detachment allows others to treat him as what in German would be called a Wunschbild, that is to say a picture of one?s wishes, a blank canvas onto which one can paint one?s own desires. Each of the other characters sees in the supposed Chauncey Gardiner whatever he or she wishes to see. Rand, who has no children with EE and who is estranged from the children of his first marriage, sees him as a potential successor to his business empire and almost as an adopt.
A brilliant and terse novel about the precarious nature of power and influence, and about the folly of mass communication in a plastic culture. The main character is named 'Chance,' and that says it all: He's a semiretarded gardener who is fortunately graced with terrific grooming habits, a good set of fine clothes, and a careful pattern of speech.
He ends up-totally obliviously-as an advisor to the President of the United States and possibly the next candidate! This book is not only intelligent-it's funny. If only it weren't so darn plausible.The movie made from this book (also called 'Being There') is as good as the book! It stars Peter Sellers, who is phenomenal.FYI Jerzy Kosinski, the author, also wrote 'The Painted Bird,' a haunting and violent chronicle of the author's own experience as an accidentally abandoned child during World War Two. It is also noteworthy for its fatalistic emphasis on chance and randomness, on the ultimate meaninglessness and precariousness of personal attachments and identity.