Peter Sellers last and arguably his greatest performance. He died, aged 54, in 1980, the year the film was released. This is one of the best films I've seen in a long time. I taped it some time ago from television and recently saw it for the third time and it keeps fascinating me. The film has a beautiful dream-like atmosphere - dark, moody, absolutely mesmerizing! Many of the proceedings might be a little improbable but it shouldn't be viewed to rationally.
The plot is quite simple with Sellers playing the main character, Chance (or "Chauncey") Gardener, who becomes homeless, when the master of the house he lived in and for whom he maintained the garden, dies. He is a grown man with the mind of a small child who lead a cocoon-like existence during his whole life, isolated from the outside world. His sole interests are gardening and television, which he frequently expresses with "I like to watch". After a small accident with a limo, he winds up staying at the mansion of a rich tycoon (Melvyn Douglas) and his wife (Shirley Maclaine), who are close to the president. He befriends the couple and slowly becomes acquainted with the higher circles in Washington.
Because of his slowly mannered way of speaking, his politeness, neatness and impeccable dressing, he is somehow mistaken for some lost professor. In a hilarious meeting, when he first meets the president, he's asked for his opinion on the weak state of the nation's economy. Off course, he doesn't know anything about the subject, so he starts reflecting his visions upon gardening, "Spring and summer, fall and winter, it's all a cycle and everything starts to grow again", which are conceived as brilliant metaphors for explaining economic cycles. Chauncey Gardener is so disarming with his simplified views of life, he is celebrated as some kind of genius. His response to he question "What newspapers do you read?" is "I only watch TV", which instantly turns him into a hero for admitting he gets his information solely from television and in the eyes of the general public makes him the most honest man linked to The White House in a long time.
The reputation of this film has risen steadily over the last years and rightfully so. Jerzy Kosinski's novel is transferred to the screen into a dark (literally down-lit) and sombre comedy by director Hal Ashby, who managed to make an expertly paced film, consistent in tone and mood. The film boasts great performances by veteran Melvyn Douglas and Shirley Maclaine, who even does a masturbation scene! But it's Peter Sellers who enters the pantheon of the all-time legendary performances with a simply magnificent portrayal of Chance Gardener. For long this was his pet project and for over nine years he tried to get it filmed. When it was finally green-lighted, he painstakingly researched and prepared for the role. The voice in particular demanded his attention as he listened to his own voice on a tape recorder and endlessly compared one sound to another. Forget about comparing his role to Tom Hanks with "Forrest Gump", the other mindless observer of American society. It doesn't even come close. Tom Hanks got the Oscar but Peter Sellers gives his character an unmatched complexity in a far superior film, that if anyone should get the Oscar, he should (he was nominated, though).
Even after repeated viewings, it not only holds up, it reveals something new and adds a new layer. A rare achievement. In a few weeks time, I'm in North-Carolina and hopefully will manage to make a visit to Asheville and get a chance to visit the Biltmore Estate (the estate of the Vanderbilts), where most of the film was shot. A beautiful movie, something to behold.
Camera Obscura --- 10/10
