Human Nature

Synopsis: A philosophical burlesque, "Human Nature" follows the ups and downs of an obsessive scientist, a female naturalist, and the man they discover, born and raised in the wild. As scientist Nathan (Tim Robbins) trains the wild man (Rhys Ifans) in the ways of the world - starting with table manners - Nathan's lover Lila (Patricia Arquette) fights to preserve the man's simian past, which represents a freedom enviable to most.
Genre: Comedy, Drama
Production: Fine Line Features
  2 wins & 2 nominations.
 
IMDB:
6.4
Metacritic:
56
Rotten Tomatoes:
49%
R
Year:
2001
96 min
$651,165
Website
1,097 Views


FADE IN:

EXT. FOREST - DAY

Bird's-eye view. We circle lazily above the forest.

Through a break in the trees, we catch an occasional glimpse

of a prostrate form on the ground. As the circling camera

gets closer we see that the form is a human body.

CUT TO:

EXTREME CLOSE-UP OF LILA TALKING TO THE CAMERA

LILA:

I'm not sorry.

A bead of sweat trickles down her cheek. Then: a blinding

flash of light obliterates her face.

CUT TO:

EXTREME CLOSE-UP OF PUFF TALKING TO THE CAMERA

PUFF:

I am sorry.

A tear wells in Puff's eye and runs down his face. Another

blinding flash of light.

CUT TO:

EXTREME CLOSE-UP OF NATHAN TALKING TO THE CAMERA

NATHAN:

I don't even know what sorry means

anymore.

As Nathan speaks, a trickle of blood drips down his face

from his out-of-frame forehead. Another blinding flash of

light.

CUT TO:

EXT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT

It's a frenetic hand-held shot as Lila is pulled from a police

car and dragged into the precinct house. Cameras flash.

Reporters shout questions. Lila attempts to shield her face

from view, but she is handcuffed and can only manage to hunch

her shoulders.

CUT TO:

INT. POLICE STATION - NIGHT

A ratty interrogation room. Institutional green walls.

Beat-up file cabinets. Dark. A bit of fluorescent light spills

in through the frosted glass door. Lila, thirties, sits at

the end of a long table. A reel-to-reel tape recorder whirs

in front of her. She is smoking. Three fat, mean-looking

cops sit in shadows at the other end of the table. One of

the cops eyes her lasciviously. Lila's hand shakes as she

brings the cigarette to her mouth.

LILA:

I'm not sorry. So I spend the rest

of my life in jail. So what? I've

been in jail my whole life anyway. A

jail of blood and tissue and coursing

hormones...

One of the cops sighs and massages the bridge of his nose.

It's going to be a long night.

LILA:

...a jail called the human body.

The lascivious cop smiles lasciviously at Lila's reference

to "human body."

LILA:

My soul held prisoner in this reeking,

stench-ridden bag of bones and

entrails. A bag of feces and piss

and fibroid cysts in my tits and

precancerous moles on my sun-damaged

back...

The lascivious cop gags, then vomits on the floor. Lila drags

on her cigarette, calmer now.

LILA:

At least now I'll be able to blame

the state, not God, for my

incarceration.

CUT TO:

INT. AUDITORIUM - DAY

Puff, thirties, dirty, scraggly hair and beard but in a crisp

business suit, testifies before a congressional committee.

The auditorium is filled with reporters and spectators. Puff

sits in front of a microphone, counsel at his side. He pours

himself a glass of water, drinks, clears his throat, then

speaks:
stentorian, confident.

PUFF:

I am sorry, gentlemen, sorry for all

of us. Your's is a complicated, sad

world.

This is a revelation to the assembled crowd. People whisper

to each other.

PUFF:

And I never knew that. I was living

a life of simplicity, of purity,

when I was ripped out of my Eden and

immersed in this harshness. Some

would argue that the life I was living

was not a human life at all. And,

gentlemen, I don't have any clever

retort. I am not a philosopher. The

only thing I know is that I am sorry,

sorry for my expulsion from Eden,

sorry for my Lila rotting in her

jail cell, and sorry for Nathan...

rotting in his grave.

Rate this script:5.0 / 2 votes

Charlie Kaufman

Charles Stuart "Charlie" Kaufman (born November 19, 1958) is an American screenwriter, producer, director, and lyricist. He wrote the films Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). He made his directorial debut with Synecdoche, New York (2008), which was also well-received; film critic Roger Ebert named it "the best movie of the decade" in 2009. It was followed by Anomalisa (2015). more…

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