...it's like TV Tropes, but LINKED DATA!

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

128 statements
24 feature instances
15 referencing feature instances

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	type	TVTItem
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	label	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	page	TheLifeAndDeathOfPeterSellers
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	comment	Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_1'); })A 2004 Biopic of British comic actor Peter Sellers co-produced by HBO and BBC Films, released theatrically in most of the world but presented as a Made-for-TV Movie in North America.The film, adapted from a biography by Roger Lewis of the same title, chronicles Sellers' life and career from The '50s and his breakout success on The Goon Show up through the production and release of his pet project Being There at the turn of The '80s (his death came soon after that). However, it focuses mostly on The '60s: He lets an obsession with Sophia Loren destroy his first marriage, finds international critical and commercial success with his collaborations with Stanley Kubrick and Blake Edwards but not without on-set turmoil, experiences an octuple heart attack shortly after marrying starlet Britt Ekland, and proceeds to let that marriage disintegrate as well.Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_2'); })This film is also a tricky example of Postmodernism. It is actually presented as a Show Within a Show that Sellers himself (as played by Geoffrey Rush) is directing and playing all the roles in. Most of the time, the other people "appear" to be played by an All-Star Cast, but from time to time the framework is returned to and said person is revealed to "actually" be played by Sellers...who, remaining in character, lets the viewer in on "their" opinion of him. The viewer is left to wonder if he's trying to draw us into the truth, distance us from it, or both.This was the first produced screenplay for writers Christopher Markus and Stephen McFeely, who have since co-written The Chronicles of Narnia film adaptations and several entries in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (the Captain America films and Thor: The Dark World, to be specific).Advertisement:propertag.cmd.push(function() { proper_display('tvtropes_mobile_ad_3'); })
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	fetched	2020-03-12T21:46:20Z
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	parsed	2020-06-24T04:48:59Z
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	isPartOf	DBTropes
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_101ff175	type	Anger Montage
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_101ff175	comment	Anger Montage: Intercut with the Costume-Test Montage, Peter destroys most of his old home movies and film memorabilia near the end of the film.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_101ff175	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_101ff175	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_101ff175
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1320d787	type	Playing Sick
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1320d787	comment	Playing Sick: Peter doesn't want to play his planned fourth role (Major Kong) in Dr. Strangelove, and his son suggests he do this to get out of it. Peter proceeds to arrive on set in a leg cast, walking on crutches... (In truth, he got out of the role by playing up an actual ankle injury he sustained on the set when he fell out of the prop cockpit.)
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1320d787	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1320d787	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1320d787
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_133938ca	type	Costume-Test Montage
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_133938ca	comment	Costume-Test Montage: As Peter prepares to shoot Being There; also a Writer's Block Montage of sorts as he's alone in his Swiss home at the time, isn't happy with any of them, and it reflects his larger problem of how to approach the character of Chance.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_133938ca	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_133938ca	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_133938ca
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1869b4b1	type	UnreliableNarrator
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1869b4b1	comment	Unreliable Narrator: The movie often switches to many of the other people in Sellers' life as being played by Sellers himself, where they will offer commentary on Sellers as they saw him. It is left to the viewer to determine whether these are accurate depictions of what they thought about Sellers or simply what Sellers believed / wanted them to think about him.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1869b4b1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1869b4b1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1869b4b1
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1b65dfad	type	The Cameo
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1b65dfad	comment	The Cameo: Heidi Klum as Ursula Andress in the Casino Royale sequence.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1b65dfad	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1b65dfad	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1b65dfad
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1ec3eb0a	type	Take Our Word for It
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1ec3eb0a	comment	Take Our Word for It: Audiences in-story react with glee to Sellers' film performances, but the viewer usually doesn't get to see exactly why. There are quick clips of Rush-as-Sellers in films like I'm All Right, Jack and The Mouse That Roared, but he isn't doing anything particularly funny in them. The filmmakers apparently assumed the viewer was familiar with Sellers' work going in and would be able to fill in the blanks.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1ec3eb0a	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1ec3eb0a	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1ec3eb0a
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1fd2efc9	type	Byronic Hero
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1fd2efc9	comment	Byronic Hero: The portrayal of Peter Sellers in this film is firmly in passionate-but-troubled-and-troubling territory, ultimately presenting him as a Villain Protagonist in his own life.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1fd2efc9	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1fd2efc9	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_1fd2efc9
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_4e3d253b	type	Downer Ending
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_4e3d253b	comment	Downer Ending: Peter gets his dream project made and it is a huge success, but he's alienated so many people close to him that he's virtually alone in the world and dies less than a year after the film's release. The text epilogue notes that his children didn't get much in his will, and that the only thing found in his wallet when he died was a picture of his first wife.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_4e3d253b	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_4e3d253b	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_4e3d253b
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_4eddbc06	type	Animated Credits Opening
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_4eddbc06	comment	Animated Credits Opening: As per many of Sellers' actual films, the first stretch of the opening credits is one of these, set to "What's New Pussycat?" and featuring loads and loads of animated Peter Sellers gadding about. Also an example of...
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_4eddbc06	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_4eddbc06	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_4eddbc06
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_51782ae8	type	Loads and Loads of Roles
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_51782ae8	comment	Loads and Loads of Roles: Geoffrey Rush plays Peter Sellers, Sellers' characters, and in the movie's framework, other people in his life. Basically, he's apparently playing everybody.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_51782ae8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_51782ae8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_51782ae8
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_590eb583	type	Domestic Abuse
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_590eb583	comment	Domestic Abuse: After Peg dies, Peter and Britt wind up in a physical fight that he starts. Even before that, he's tough on his first wife and children, i.e. smashing up his son Michael's toy cars after he accidentally ruins a new sports car with touch-up paint.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_590eb583	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_590eb583	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_590eb583
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_5c219298	type	Phony Psychic
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_5c219298	comment	Phony Psychic: Stephen Fry shows up as one of these; the first thing he tells Peter Sellers is nobody should wear green because it's bad luck. Later we see him on the phone wearing the exact same green sweater he advised Peter Sellers not to wear.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_5c219298	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_5c219298	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_5c219298
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_7f8fd503	type	Lonely at the Top
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_7f8fd503	comment	Lonely at the Top: Peter, at the end.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_7f8fd503	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_7f8fd503	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_7f8fd503
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_87168895	type	Madness Montage
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_87168895	comment	Madness Montage: After Britt leaves him, Peter has a (partially animated) one that doubles as a Time-Compression Montage for the next several years, as he falls into substance abuse and his career goes into decline.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_87168895	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_87168895	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_87168895
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_898ff050	type	Villain Protagonist
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_898ff050	comment	Villain Protagonist: Peter Sellers ends up coming off as this between the Byronic Hero portrayal, the Historical Villain Upgrade exaggerating some of his worse tendencies, and the fact that the healthier relationships he had in his life (in particular with his fellow Goons) are neglected/downplayed. Arguably justified in that he was a domestic abuser among other things, so a portrayal that put more/equal emphasis on his positive aspects would have run the risk of downplaying the damage he did to himself and especially others, and as Society Marches On it is much less forgiving of such portrayals of real-life figures.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_898ff050	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_898ff050	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_898ff050
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_aedf28fe	type	Falling-in-Love Montage
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_aedf28fe	comment	Falling-in-Love Montage: For Peter and Britt.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_aedf28fe	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_aedf28fe	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_aedf28fe
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_b6de94d1	type	Executive Meddling
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_b6de94d1	comment	Executive Meddling: In-universe in a Deleted Scene that appears on the DVD: the film's producer and director argue about whether Peter can be made sympathetic and whether they need to go into detail on his third marriage and/or his career downturn in The '70s. The answer to all three turns out to be no. Keep in mind that they're both being played by (Rush-as-)Sellers.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_b6de94d1	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_b6de94d1	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_b6de94d1
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_be272a3	type	Time-Compression Montage
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_be272a3	comment	Time-Compression Montage: One charts his rise to U.K. film stardom (and has the Take Our Word for It clips mentioned above) and his family moving from an apartment to a mansion.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_be272a3	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_be272a3	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_be272a3
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_c76b215e	type	Bait-and-Switch Credits
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_c76b215e	comment	Bait-and-Switch Credits: It's light and funny to deliberately contrast with the mostly-miserable story of a mostly-miserable person that follows.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_c76b215e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_c76b215e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_c76b215e
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_d295a79e	type	Just Here for Godzilla
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_d295a79e	comment	Just Here for Godzilla: In-universe. At the premiere of The Pink Panther Strikes Again, Peter claims to the crowd that people only go to see the Pink Panther films to watch him, as their director/producer/writer is a hack. (This incident is completely fictional.)
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_d295a79e	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_d295a79e	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_d295a79e
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_e150c4c7	type	Manchild
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_e150c4c7	comment	Manchild: Deconstructed with Peter — due to his mother indulging him all of his life and encouraging him to look out for number one, he's grown up to be incredibly selfish and demanding, and prone to throwing violent tantrums.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_e150c4c7	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_e150c4c7	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_e150c4c7
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_e16217f8	type	Historical Villain Upgrade
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_e16217f8	comment	Historical Villain Upgrade: Both Peter Sellers and his mother get this, hitting a low point with the latter by having her hide the fact that his father is dying from him so that he only gets to see him briefly before he expires. In real life, Sellers was quite aware of the illness and was not with him when he actually died — he was at a Judy Garland concert, and regretted going when he found out what happened.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_e16217f8	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_e16217f8	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_e16217f8
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_f8394279	type	Happier Home Movie
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_f8394279	comment	Happier Home Movie: Near the end, Peter is alone in Switzerland watching home movies of him with his fellow Goons and his first wife and their children, and is so absorbed in this that he lets a phone call from his now-adult son go to the answering machine.
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_f8394279	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_f8394279	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_f8394279
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_name	type	ItemName
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_name	comment
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_name	featureApplicability	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_name	featureConfidence	1.0
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_name
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers / int_name	itemName	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.

The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	Bait-and-Switch Credits / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	Biopic / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	Burn Baby Burn / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	Loads and Loads of Roles / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	Postmodernism / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	Redubbing / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	Starring a Star as a Star / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	Tarot Troubles / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The '60s / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The '70s / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The '80s / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Cameo / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The '80s / int_3cb47b0f
The Life and Death of Peter Sellers	hasFeature	The Joy of X / int_3cb47b0f
The Life And Death Of Peter Sellers	seeAlso	The Life and Death of Peter Sellers

Copyright of DBTropes.org wrapper 2009-2013 DFKI Knowledge Management. Imprint. - Thanks to Bakken&Baeck for hosting. Contact.
Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.