Being There (1979)

Directed by Hal Ashby
Written by Jerzy Kosinski based on his novel and Robert C. Jones (Uncredited)
Starring Peter Sellers, Shirley MacLaine, Melvyn Douglas and Jack Warden

A simple, sheltered gardener becomes an unlikely trusted advisor to a powerful businessman and an insider in Washington politics. With his literal dissection of everything said to him, his innocent and honest answers are taken as wise musings of the economic climate.

An elegant and subtle comedy, "Being There" is touching, yet slightly terrifying. While I'm sure the situations of this film would never happen in real life, the idea of an illiterate man with no formal education taking the political and financial world by storm raises some serious questions (i.e. Are all Politicians stupid? Answer: Yes.)

Peter Sellers is brilliant as the quiet, simple man of few words. He brings a humanity to his character that is sadly lost even in today's depictions of people with mental illness. As usual, he is hilarious. But this character, despite having the mind of a child, had a maturity to it that truly shows Sellers' depth.

In a modern world where comedies are loud and in your face 99% of the time, it is refreshing to watch the classics that are so widely regarded, yet simple and understated. It is remarkable that a film about "the village idiot", as the trailer describes,  could have such deep, meaningful themes of life and death. It is a rare, beautiful comedy.

My Rating: 8/10

The Trouble With Harry (1955)

Directed by Alfred Hitchcock
Written by John Michael Hayes, based on the novel by Jack Trevor Story
Starring John Forsythe, Shirley MacLaine, Edmund Gwenn and Mildred Natwick

The trouble with Harry is that he's dead, and everyone seems to have a different idea of what needs to be done with his body.

In this rare, dark comedy from the incomparable Alfred Hitchcock, murder is not the punchline, but rather the set up to many ludicrous situations. In 1950s Vermont, the citizens of this small town seem to be more concerned with being proper and polite than they do with a dead body. Perhaps a satire of the unachievable expectations of manners in the 50s. But I was born in 1989, so what the hell do I know?

The film itself isn't filled with jokes or slapstick situations. It is the sheer macabre nature of this story that makes it's own humor. Hitchcock's dark sense of comedy is so apparent that I could just imagine him sitting bend the camera, grinning from ear to ear.

The age of this movie will turn many away and as much as I urge people to give this and any other classic movie a shot, I understand completely. Older films are not always for everyone due to the way films have changed overtime. The evolution of humor alone has created such a gap in what people of different generations find funny.

"The Trouble With Harry" is dry, dark and ridiculous. If anything, I would say that you will most likely never see another film quite like it. It speaks about death so nonchalantly that it's no surprise that the writer of the novel and the director were both British. So painfully British.

My Rating: 7/10