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

Actors: Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans, Tim Robbins, Ken Magee

Production: Fine Line Features

2 wins & 2 nominations.


IMDB:: 6.4
Metacritic:: 56
Rotten Tomatoes:: 49%

Collection Edit Watch PDF Buy

: R
Year:: 2001
: 96 min
: $651,165
: Website
: 403 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...
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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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