HBO's "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" premieres tonight

[Bush_Eats_Beef]

http://www.salon.com/ent/tv/review/2004/12/03/sellers/index.html

The mystery behind Inspector Clouseau
Geoffrey Rush brilliantly embodies the grandiose visions and callous self-involvement of a comic genius in HBO's "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers."

By Heather Havrilesky



Dec. 3, 2004 | "The main character is a man with no self, no discernible personality. I find myself thinking about this man a great deal, about how marvelous his life must be! He has no future, no past, no responsibilities. He's simple, boring, an absolute plank. People expect nothing from him, and then love it when they get just that." -- Geoffrey Rush as Peter Sellers, discussing Chance from "Being There," in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers"

The riddle of narcissism is this: While narcissists live for admiration and adoration, while they depend on companionship and hate to be alone, while they can pull others into the grandiose worlds they create with their imaginations, they tend to want to escape all expectations and responsibilities in life, seeking out an external numbness to match the numbness they feel for others.

This is the essential conflict director Stephen Hopkins brings to life so brilliantly in "The Life and Death of Peter Sellers" (Sunday at 9 p.m.; HBO). Like many narcissists, Sellers was an intensely charming man, brimming over with mercurial wit and affectionate embellishments and flights of grandiosity, and it's all embodied with agility and grace by Geoffrey Rush. But when his mood sank or the pressure of entertaining endlessly was too much to bear, Sellers' essential emptiness and lack of empathy for others became painfully evident.

The resulting roller-coaster ride is as thrilling as it is horrifying. Without any guiding beliefs or concerns for others, the narcissist is a wildly unpredictable presence, shifting from rapture to despair without warning. Somehow, Hopkins manages to capture this bewildering state without turning Sellers into either a monster or a genius worthy of our unconditional love in spite of every misstep. Hopkins fearlessly takes on the strange lightness and absurdity of even the most disastrously callous moments, an odd mood that's familiar to anyone who's been close to a narcissist. When Sellers discovers that his son has painted a racing stripe on his luxury car, he marches upstairs and smashes his son's train set to bits. Later, when Sellers decides, in a deluded state, that he'll be leaving his wife and children for Sophia Loren, he announces his plans to all three of them. When his daughter asks doesn't he love them anymore, he answers, calmly, that he simply loves Sophia Loren more (his affections, naturally, are not returned). These are the words of a man who has less of a grasp of (or concern for) the feelings of others than a small child.

[girl gone mad]

1. Count me out.

It looks like a good movie, but I don't really want to know about what a bad guy Sellers was.

[Mabus]

2. I've been looking forward to it

the extended commercials that HBO has played show a pretty complex and disturbed man. I admire that he was able to channel a lot of that angst into his acting.

Twelve more minutes.

[CBHagman]

3. I'm getting increasingly intrigued by t his.

I thought Peter Sellers was a genius (and I can even remember where I was when I heard he'd died). When a biography of him came out a few years ago, a co-worker of mine explained a little bit of what a miserable man Sellers was (I must get to that bio someday...).

Anyway, as one who doesn't get HBO, I guess I'll have to wait for the DVD or video.

Then again, as much as I admire actor Geoffrey Rush's talent, I think Sellers is pretty much irreplaceable. It might be hard to watch attempts to recreate him on screen...

On edit: During the Reagan era, "Being There" was a little too close to reality for my comfort. Now that we're saddled with Bush and Schwarzenegger, the film seems even more prescient...

[Mabus]

4. Geoffrey Rush was spectacular

as Sellers. The rest was the cast was too. It was a brutal treatment of Sellers but somehow it made me appreciate him even more. He had a lot of demons he had to overcome but damn if he didn't get the job done. It is also amazing how his movies often reflected his own personal life and its turmoils. It's almost like he was using acting/his roles as a sort of therapy to deal with his own life and come to a better understanding of himself.

I highly recommend this movie.

[NoSheep]

5. He has been my hero for so long because of his creative

genius. I was so sad after I saw the movie. I had heard very little about his private, professional life. I only knew of his movies. He must have been tortured. He certainly was cruel to many people. Reminds me of my father. I'm very curious about narcissism now.