If you've given me an E and I haven't thanked you, I apologise - trying to catch up. Really apprecia...
If you've given me an E and I haven't thanked you, I apologise - trying to catch up. Really appreciate all ratings.
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Having just paid my TV licence, I've become much more aware of the time I spend watching the BBC channels recently. Frankly, it's not a whole lot. But occasionally they do have some excellent programmes on, one of which was this film, albeit hidden away rather late on a Saturday night on BBC 2. The mention of Peter Sellers' name transports me instantly back to my childhood and evenings in with my mum watching The Pink Panther. I've never known a great deal about his private life, however, so the opportunity to watch this film, starring Geoffrey Rush, one of the best actors of our time in my opinion was much welcomed.
The story The film starts at the beginning of Sellers' television career, when he moved from radio to The Goons. At the time, Peter is married to his first wife, Anne, with whom he has two children. It is immediately obvious that Peter has some kind of mental health issue; his mood swings are great, his behaviour erratic and his family, although devoted to him, struggle to cope. His relationship with his mother, Peg, is also brought under the microscope.
A bizarre infatuation with Sophia Loren, who, Sellers is convinced, will leave her husband to set up home with him, leads to a break-up with Anne. The rise in his film career unfortunately does not match his family life. His next conquest is Britt Ekland,
who eventually becomes his second wife and the mother of his third child. At this point, his erratic behaviour is increasingly obvious and Peter seems to struggle with reality and the characters that he plays. Will he ever be able to settle into his own skin? Or is he destined to be overtaken by his characters?
The characters/actors Without a doubt, Geoffrey Rush is the highlight of this film. To be honest, I wouldn't have expected anything else - I have never yet seen Rush in a role that he hasn't performed brilliantly. He did look like Peter Sellers, but it was the way that he imitated Sellers' most famous roles, notably Inspector Closeau, that really impressed me. This must have been a very difficult role to play; Sellers clearly had a huge number of issues in his life, but Rush managed to portray him sympathetically. I was left thinking that I had seen a film about one of the best actors of our lifetime performed by one of the best actors of our lifetime.
Emily Watson as Anne Sellers was also superb. I really felt for her as I watched her try to cope with the difficulties in her marriage - namely looking after three children, one of whom was an adult. When the final straw comes for Anne, Watson gives a fabulous performance as a woman who realises that, despite her love for her husband, she has nothing left to give and that for her sanity and that of her children, her marriage with Peter is over. I am not very familiar with Emily Watson's career, but I will certainly look out for her from now on.
Charlize Theron is not bad as Britt Ekland. She certainly looks the part. At times, I wasn't completely convinced by her performance and her accent was a bit off the mark at times. This is definitely not one of her better roles; but then, I think all that was needed of her in this film was to look like Britt Ekland and that she does very well.
Sellers' mother, Peg, is played by Miriam Margolyes. Peg Sellers played a very important part in her son's life; to the extent that their relationship was almost too close. It was Peg that persuaded Peter to chase his career as a film star when he was all but ready to give it. Her support for him is obvious at every turn, but there is something unhealthy in the way that she seems to be pushing him to carry out her own dreams. Margolyes did a fantastic job in the role. I alternated between fury at her apparent inability to see how her 'support' was affecting her son and sympathy when she finally realises that her son is not well.
There are a number of other performances worth mentioning. John Lithgow as Blake Edwards, the director of the Pink Panther films with whom Sellers had a 'difficult' relationship, was excellent. I would have liked to see more of Sellers' father, played by Peter Vaughan, who unfortunately didn't seem to get a look in with either his son or wife. Stephen Fry gave a lacklustre performance in a bit role that seemed a bit of a waste of his time and talent. There were other well-known names thrown into the mix, including Stanley Tucci and Alison Steadman.
Conclusion As a biopic, I think this film is well worth watching. I knew very little about Peter Sellers' private life, although I knew it was not exactly perfect, and so was very interested to find out more about him and how the characters that he played came to life. Geoffrey Rush's performance is outstanding. I also liked the way that his life was intertwined with the films that he made, which were clearly of great importance to his own behaviour.
It wasn't perfect though. Two things annoyed me a little. One is that the film seemed to end far too quickly. When Sellers split up from Britt Ekland, who was the second out of four wives, this was very near the end of the film and we never got to know of his third and fourth wives. We also find out very little about his death, except that he did, which we are told in the form of subtitles right at the end of the film. This seems strange, considering the film is entitled The Life and Death of Peter Sellers.
The other issue that annoyed me was that Sellers is portrayed as being a man without a personality, rather like the last role he played in the film Being There. To me, at least, it is clear that he had mental health issues and to portray him as personality-less seems rather harsh. The emphasis of the film is quite critical of his behaviour. It is true that he clearly upset many people. At the same time, I don't think he was entirely in control of the way that he behaved; in which case he deserves more understanding than this film seems to want to give him.
Despite this, this was still a good film and if have any interest in Peter Sellers, is a must-see.
I watched the film on TV, but the DVD is available from play.com for £5.99.
How helpful would this review be to a person making a buying decision? Rating guidelines
Production Year: 2003 - Drama - Director: Michael Winterbottom - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over - Starring: Tim Robbins, Samantha Morton, Om Puri, Jeanne Balibar
Production Year: 2004 - Drama - Director: Nick Cassavetes - Original Language: English - Classification: 15 years and over, 12 years and over - Starring: Rachel McAdams, Ryan Gosling, Gena Rowlands
An excellent review, making me sorry that I missed this. It is so odd the way that we can justify our outragious TV licence on occasion by the screening of one outstanding programme. Richard.
hannahmc3 05.10.2006 20:04
Great review, really interesting!x
Tadders 05.10.2006 11:24
I didn't think this was the sort of film which would appeal to me, but it does sound like an interesting story. It's hard to believe mental illness can go unnoticed for so long, but it would be interesting to learn a bit more about his life and I love Miriam Margoyles in everything she does. x
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