The “touchstone” movie responsible for Chris Pine’s terrible directorial debut
There are many forces that drive us towards the maddening task of directing a movie. It could be pure inspiration, love for cinema, self-preservation or an unhealthy need to prove ourselves after being unpopular in high school or the last to be picked in PE class.
But for many, it’s a desire that sparks from a single frame within a film: a cinematic moment that bowls us over and catalyses the desire to create something ourselves. You long to make a project that will induce a similar feeling, knowing that it’s possible to feel something you cannot describe from a single scene, whether it be the end drumming sequence in Whiplash that had your eyes glued to the screen or the ending to The Umbrellas of Cherbourg, which left your heart on the floor.
However, when inspiration strikes in such a deep and profound way, it’s rare for it to manifest in a bad way, something that happened after Chris Pine made his directorial debut and ended up creating something so awful that it couldn’t have been further from the film it was modelled after.
Hal Ashby was always a master of cinema, with the New Hollywood director rising up through the ranks after directing Harold and Maude and becoming known for his naturalistic and often satirical stories that poked holes in attitudes towards class, wealth and gender. But perhaps one of his most commercial and explicitly comedic films is Being There, starring Peter Sellers as a man who has lived in one house his entire life before suddenly being thrown into the real world, with no knowledge of reality besides the bits he has seen on television.
It’s one of those rare films that manages to toe the line between sincerity, darkness and humour, making for a moving story about what life is truly about and the simple power that can be found through finding joy in the smallest of things.
For Pine, it was a seminal influence on his 2023 project Poolman, which is a semi-Chinatown-inspired film about a pool man in Los Angeles who uncovers a crisis that threatens the tranquility of his beloved neighbourhood. However, while it sounds like a fun concept, it was executed so poorly that it’s hard to believe that Pine is familiar with Ashby’s work, and that while you can admire your heroes, it certainly doesn’t mean you can replicate their genius.
When discussing his love for the movie, Pine said, “Peter Sellers is one of my favourite actors, and Being There was certainly a touchstone for me with Poolman. It’s this incredible needle they were able to thread, telling this very simple story about a simple man that expanded into something spiritual and quite moving. When Chauncey walks on water at the end, I found myself crying at that moment. It was really the emotional experience of watching that film that made me want to try to make my own film.”
It might have spurred his love to move behind the camera, but perhaps he was best-placed in front of it, and should not return to the spot that Ashby used to occupy.
