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Human Nature | Year: 2001 Classification: Comedy Directed: - Michel Gondry Actors/Actresses: - Rhys Ifans as Puff - Tim Robbins as Nathan Bronfman - Patricia Arquette as Lila Jute - Miranda Otto as Gabrielle - Robert Forster Human Nature Is Funny and Strange; So Is This Movie Remember "Being John Malkovich"? Charlie Kaufman, who wrote that strange movie, is the writer of "Human Nature," a strange but very intelligent film. This time the task of director is handed to Michel Gondry from France, famous for his music video clips made for Bjork ("Human Behavior" and others). But don't be put off by his profile because Gondry wisely avoids any flashy techiniques you might associate his MTV profile with. In fact, his fashion often seems very orthodox. "Human Nature," Kaufman's newest produced film, deals with four persons trapped in a maze of love, or sexual desire (call it human nature) ... so to speak. As is the case with "Being John Malkovich," Kaufman's style easily defies our ready-made concept of movies, so I just tell you what you see. Tim Robbins (one of his best turn) is a scientist who spends his time trying to teach proper table manners to white mice. A nature writer Patricia Arquette, hairiest woman in the movie history, falls in love with him. Meanwhile, somewhere in the forest, a grown-up man (Rhys Ifans of "Notting Hill"), who believes that he is an ape, is found, and the Tim immediately got interested. He contemplates: "Let's educate him as a human." Well, after naming him "Puff," with a help of an electric collar and some nude photos, Dr. Robbins tries to 'cure' Puff of his nasty, die-hard habits of showing 'human nature' or sexual desire, explicitly in the public. While the experiment proceeds, love relations got complicated as a famale assistant Gabrielle (played by wonderful Miranda Otto, seen in "Thin Red Line" and "What Lies Beneath," with too obvious French accent) is involved. The love triangle gets more confused after eventual inclusion of Puff, who slowly starts to change himself from an ape-like man with long beard -- Rhys Ifans at first looks like "It's" man of Monty Python shows -- and ... guess the rest of it for yourself. Anyway, Kaufman's creative power does not belong to the traditional sense of storytelling, and we know it. Just like "Being John Malkovich," "Human Nature" is full of brilliant ideas, but the whole touch of the film is less outlandish than the other. Actually, you may say some scenes are direct parody of methods used in classic Hollywood films, and some scenes, especailly opening ten minutes, even remind you of films such as "American Beauty" and "A Life Less Ordinary." By saying that, I do not mean the lack of originality; rather, the director Gondry is cleverly challenging us with unique skills shown in these film, deftly using them to his purpose. And the most amusing thing about "Human Nature" is its ever-changing relationships of love between four characters, among which Puff's sadly too human nature plays the most prominent role. The process of Puff's "education" contains funny, but very poignant moments, and what we laughed at loud in "American Pie" (my favorite) we see in a completely different light. At same time, the film mocks American values v Interesting from beginning to end Everyone should see this film. It's human/social commentary. Kaufmann has such a wonderful, deep, intelligent sense of humor. Very entertaining. Interesting from beginning to end. And I'm always amazed at how perfect the casting is for Kaufman's movies. Human is as Human Does This is, as usual, an amazing script by Kaufman. I wouldn't rank it as high as Eternal Sunshine...but I would rank it above Confessions of a Dangerous Mind. If you want to see a film that operates as a piece of art, this film is for you. Kaufman's quirky characters are wonderful Great Film! Buy Human Nature at Amazon.com Buy posters at Allposters.com Jamster - the latest ringtones for your phone!  Search with Walhello on the Internet on Human Nature Search with the Priority Search Engine on Human Nature This page in other languages: Suomeksi | Nederlands | Deutsch
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