The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

A film about an actor's life. Peter starts on radio. He does voices, invents characters, and becomes known through a comedy programme. His mother is at the centre of his life. Peg adores her son and interferes in every decision; he does nothing without her approval. He moves into film. He begins with small parts and draws attention by playing several characters at once in one picture. Then the large work comes. He works with Kubrick and his career reaches its height. At home it is another matter. He gives no time to his wife and children, has fits of rage, and leaves the house. From there the film is a story of collapse and return. A heart attack, several marriages, a run of failed films and one last project. What the narrative is interested in is not fame but emptiness: its argument is that Sellers had no personality outside the characters he played and that he knew it himself. A choice of form sets the film apart. In some scenes Geoffrey Rush takes on the appearance of other people in Sellers's life; he plays his mother, his wife, his director, and speaks in their voices. That makes both the method and the argument visible. Everyone passes through the inside of his head. The production was made for television and shown on HBO. The family was unhappy with it and said the portrayal was unfair. Geoffrey Rush, Charlize Theron, Emily Watson and John Lithgow are in the cast. Stephen Hopkins directed. Who it is for: anyone who likes biographical films and narratives that play with form. Who it is not for: anyone expecting a balanced portrait; the narrative shows Sellers almost entirely negatively and repeats a single argument.