It’s fascinating to listen to Ted’s boss accuse Ted of letting his family distract from his job, a scene eerily reminiscent of the language used today to keep women from receiving pay equity or positions of power. The film proves how much of a mind warp gender politics can be; an argument that advances work over family is twisted and re-used to harm people regardless of gender, across whole generations.
Read MoreThe movie is a subtle, but damning representation of modern politics. We’re invited to wonder how many of our leaders and public intellectuals are really know-nothings who were lucky enough to stumble into recognition and respect. At the time Ashby (perhaps best known for Harold and Maude) was working on Being There, the political climate in the United States was nowhere near as charged as it is today.
Read MoreIt’s a rare movie that gets the distinction of “aging well”. Too often, a movie made with a particular fervor about some kind of social issue or piece of technology risks seeming jokey or out-of-touch when you watch it again many years later. So when you come across an older film that feels just as relevant today as it did when it came out, you get a special thrill; the effect can even intensify if the film actually predicted something that would happen long after it released. It’s enough to make you briefly forget about the spiralling doom of Hollywood blockbusters to eventually all occupy a single cinematic universe.
Read MoreBeyond the visceral, in-the-moment thrills of gangster movies - the shootouts, the acidic dialogue, the displays of power - one of the most compelling things the genre can offer is a meditation on trust. When a low-level thug aspires to lead his own crew, which of his friends can he count on to get him there? Once he becomes the boss, do the guys he leaned on in the past hold true? And what about at home - in the world of organized crime, can a gangster ever rely on the people he loves?
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