Walking on Water

                                                   Adaptation


Lots of great comments this week on Being There. The students really seemed engaged by the film and novella, and by such questions as what the title means and what the film's final scene of Chance walking on water adds to the story. I think they were surprised to hear that the idea for the story may have been inspired by the early political career of Ronald Reagan. And I think they were amused by the outtakes that director Hal Ashby slapped onto the very end of the movie. Wish we had more time for discussion, but our film for the night, All About Eve, runs two hours and 38 minutes. At Camp Burnett, we like to stay on schedule.

TV Alert

Adaptation

This Sunday, June 24, at 9 pm, TV Land will present a program showing the American Film Institute's Life Achievement Award presentation to Shirley MacLaine. We're interested in this because Shirley MacLaine plays Eve in Being There.  [This is not an assignment, just a suggestion.]

Being There Again

Adaptation
My class had so many different interpretations of the ending of Being There, when Chance (Peter Sellers) walks on water. Everything from a basic Christian take on it (he's like Jesus) to a sort of willpower reading, as in the movie's final line, "Life is a state of mind." An especially ingenious student suggested that just as the entire movie presents the illusion for many characters that Chance is a brilliant man, so the ending presents the illusion for the viewer that Chance can walk on water, although the character is only walking on a sandbar or something. Also some wide-ranging ideas about what the title means.  A really fascinating class session. I have to say I learned a lot.

Walking on Water

Adaptation

We saw Being There this week, which, I think, still holds up. Shirley MacLaine looks younger in it every year. Was her waist ever really that thin? Anyway, next week we'll discuss the meaning of the famous final scene (before the hilarious outtakes), in which Peter Seller's character walks on water. Should be interesting.