Alex Deleon
Not in the 2004 BFI Film Festival but on commercial release here in London, is a biopic, the subject of which is obvious, and which will undoubtedly arouse curiosity around the world. This biting "docu-drama" is directed by newcomer Stephen Hopkins and stars Australian Geoffrey Rush in the title role of a not very savoury Sellers. The picture has opened to "mixed reviews" - a nice way of saying that most local critics hate it, nor has it been a particularly strong box-office draw. Nevertheless, like it or not, this is a compelling study of the career of the major figure of late twentieth century screen comedy and, into the bargain, a searing dissection of his private life.It is always a bit hard to accept a fictionalised portrayal of a personality whose physical image is still so much alive in the collective film going consciousness. Sellers died a mere 24 years ago, but it seems like much less, since many of his pictures are still frequently revived - notably the "Pink Panther" series, "Dr. Strangelove" and Kubrick's "Lolita". Geoffrey Rush who, with horn rimmed glasses has a passable resemblance to Sellers, but more important, has the same jittery, openly schizophrenic personality, was without a doubt the right actor for the job and delivers a telling, if not exactly uncanny, portrayal. Devoted Sellers fans, of which there are many, may find the extremely unflattering revelations of his private life, especially the grisly manner in which he treated his family - wife (poor Emily Watson - she got a better deal in "Breaking The Waves"), children and mother - distasteful if not downright insulting. This may, in fact, account for the picture's relatively weak box-office performance so far. People just don't want to know that their favorite comedian was such a creep.The film, though star studded (John Lithgow as Blake Edwards, Charlize Theron as Britt Ekland, Christopher Fry as Sellers' spiritual adviser) has certain weaknesses - a tendency to telegraph some of its punches - but, overall it must go down as one of the more incisive studies in recent memory of the treatment of genius by the Hollywood establishment ~ and vice-versa. The point is made, over and over, that Sellers was in private life an empty shell of a man, which made him a horrible husband, disgusting father, and wimpy womaniser, but is precisely why he was so perfectly able to so fully inhabit the skins of the wild variety of characters he portrayed. One of many outstanding sequences in the film is when Sellers goes completely ga-ga over Sophia Loren during her visit to England in 1960 to do a film with him called "The Millionairess". Firmly convinced that he can win her away from her much older husband, Carlo Ponti, he flips and flops all over the place, finally making a complete ass of himself as she walks out on him in a secluded restaurant. The actress who plays Loren, Sonia Aquino, is even more busty, statuesque, and flourishing than the real Loren was, even at that time - m-mm - can't wait to see more of her! His successful courtship of Swedish beauty, Britt Ekland (via South African beauty, Theron) with the great line, "Hurry up and say 'yes' - I only have the band for another half hour" - is another high point of the film and also ends with a walkout and a divorce when his flimsy false-front machoism once again fails him. The real strong point of the film is the reconstruction of key scenes and characters from many of Sellers' landmark films: The hot-line sequence to the Kremlin in "Strangelove", various Clouseau extracts from the "Pink Panther" films, the famous Hindoo accent bit, and the representation of his tempestuous primadonna bickerings with famous directors such as Blake Edwards and Stanley Kubrick. One of the weak points of the film was the miscasting of a sombre John Cassavetes look- alike to portray the flamboyant Kubrick. This actor (Stanley Tucci) proclaims to the camera that the secret of direction is 'total control' - which Kubrick certainly exerted. The trouble is that Mr. Tucci appears to be more controlled than controlling. In fact, he seems to be playing in a different picture altogether. The only thing Stanley Tucci has in common with Stanley Kubrick is the first name. Lithgow, while emanating immense largesse, is less than convincing as a theoretically commanding Blake Edwards. One of the most painful scenes in the film is where Sellers ruthlessly denounces Edwards as a "totally no-talent director" before an enthusiastic crowd at the premiere of one of their most successful films. Talk about ingratitude ... I can scarcely imagine that the real Blake Edwards didn't tell him to just go F-himself on that occasion ...In any case, from the late fifties until his final film, "Being There", 1970, for which he received a Best Actor Oscar nomination, Peter Sellers was the most versatile, the most ubiquitous, and the most acclaimed screen comedian of his time - a true celebrity, if something of a schlemiel in his disastrous private life. Director Stephen Hopkins has captured an amazing amount of this and of real film history in a film of normal running time, which is, in itself, an accomplishment worthy of noteAlex, Muswell Hill, London, October 21, 2008
Ali Catterall
As everybody knows, Peter Sellers was mad as a bag of "minkeys". He once phoned a friend because he didn't know where he was (he was at home). In standard muckraking fashion, this hugely entertaining biopic approaches its subject with a transparent mix of sympathy and barely disguised salacity, like a Harley Street shrink with a hotline to Piers Morgan.Thus, among other horrors, we find Sellers (Rush, in a powerhouse performance) calmly announcing to his wife and children that he's having an affair with a certain Italian co-star. "Do you still love me, daddy?" asks sad little Sarah Sellers. "Of course I do, darling," comes the tender reply. "Just not as much as I love Sophia Loren!" The 1994 biography by Roger Lewis is the basis for this image of the comic genius as monstrous and selfish, and that's where the filmmakers have taken their cues from. Sellers, as his friends have been quick to point out, had his good days too but hey, who cares when extreme dysfunction can be this (horribly) funny? Rush, the essence (and likeness, achieved through hours in make-up) of the man, is wonderfully supported by a glamorous roster of British and Stateside talent, including Fry as 'psychic-to-the-stars' Maurice Woodruff, who'd take baksheesh from directors looking to influence Sellers' career choices, via uncommonly succinct messages from the Other Side (or "Hollywood", as it's better known). Thus we find Woodruff advising his client that the initials "BE" hold much store for his future happiness (he immediately married a surprised Britt Ekland - Blake Edwards lost out that time).There's much to admire here; from the Pink Panther-style titles (a franchise, incidentally, he initially rejected, then grew to loathe: "Sounds like a bloody strip joint for poofters", he'd tell his agent, miffed at being offered Peter Ustinov's cast-offs), to many well-staged, clever in-jokes, revolving around his films and directors, like Stanley Kubrick (a laconic Tucci).If there's a gripe, the story only takes off after the 'Goon Show', the radio programme where Sellers did some of his best work. As Bluebottle would undoubtedly say: "You rotten swines, you!"
Chrysanthepop
'The Life and Death of Peter Sellers' is quite an insightful film about the life of the great Sellers. It does not document every single fact about his life (I doubt any biopic can within a two or three hour time limit) and there are some discrepancies (e.g. time frame) but it does show the price he paid to achieve his state of greatness. In a way the man was obsessed with becoming a big star but at the same time he wanted to do his own thing. He wanted to be a star on his own term, doing his own thing but he failed to balance his work and personal life and this had a severe toll on his family. He became a self-centred bastard, cruel to everyone who was close to him yet he longed for their contact, especially Peg and Anne, and missed his children. Stephen Hopkins does a remarkable job by putting the story together on screen infusing it with intensity and humour. Geoffrey Rush does a phenomenal job playing Sellers (that too so accurately) and bringing him to life on screen. In addition, there is a strong physical resemblance and the way he captures Sellers's various characters and body language is particularly notable. Of the supporting cast, Emily Watson, Charlize Theron and Miriam Margolyes are excellent while John Lithgow and Stanley Tucci are quite adequate.'The Life and Death of Peter Sellers' is a well-crafted movie and an effective (although not 100% accurate) portrayal of the tragic life of a great comedian and a great actor. The numerous references and imitations done so wonderfully by Rush serve as a wonderful tribute. But, I felt that two hours was not enough to explain the enigma of this man. We don't see anything about his life before movies. All we know is that he was a 'radio actor' and thus we never really get to the root of his unstable tortured personality.
