"Human Nature"

[carl0z]

I was up late watching TV, when I stumbled upon a move called "Human Nature". On completion, I had very little knowledge of what in the name of god happened in this movie. Charlie Kaufman, who wrote this movie, also made "Being John Malkovich" and "Adaptation". Both movies were......well, bizzare.

Has anyone seen "Human Nature" and understood it?

[GSRIDER]

Yes. However I don't think I can explain it well myself.

So here is some other guy explaining. I will say that I thought it was going to be funnier.. I thought it was good but was content only seeing it one time.

Spoilers herein.

I've been watching a lot of movies and this movie is kind of like a snack in between the really hard hitting movies. As that, it's really entertaining, at times insightful, and fun to watch. Some people may have gone into watching this expecting a straight comedy, and perhaps that is the reason they were disappointed. The movie is satiric, and only at certain times is the comedy blatant and obvious (some people call this gross-out humor). I found the idea of Arquette's character Lila having hair all over her body as a bit uncouth, but the filmmakers are trying to make a point about the superficialities that is part of being human.

Acknowledging the title, I expected a mock of what we humans hold dear as our essence, and I got just that. The movie should not be discredited because the philosophical aspect of nature versus nurture is on the light side. I think Human Nature has some good insights that everyone can walk away with. As humans in a civilized society, we have to conform to the norm and follow rules. We have to restrain our hormonal pressures for sex and the like. Isn't it argued by some that the sole purpose of life is to reproduce? That idea is a bit crude and cold, and most of us don't like to think of it like that.

We used to be in touch with nature when we were first born, but after being indoctrinated into societal culture and behavior, we lost our nature. This dehumanization of our essence is essentially what we hold to be human, as ironic as that is. Man is a rational animal as Aristotle said. Would we be rational if weren't taught to be? Are we at all times rational in this civilized society? Aren't people still fighting over trivial things? Are we any smarter now than we were two thousand years ago? Although not explicitly in the movie, these sorts of thoughts is what the movie is essentially bringing up.

One of the funniest scenes in the movie was when Puff (Rhys Ifans) is shown a slide of a naked woman on a projector and he instinctively lunges at the picture trying to 'get some.' I am reminded of a similar scene, with different ends, in Clockwork Orange. Nathan (Tim Robbins) has to shock him several times before he learns to contain his sexual urges. I found all of the scenes trying to teach Puff to be a sophisticated person hilarious, including the scene where he whispers to a manakin from a fake balcony watching a non-existent opera. Miranda Otto playing the assistant of Nathan, Gabrielle, was funny with her fake French accent and mannerisms.

Nathan's parents were equally funny teaching their adopted six-year old son Wayne table manners. At one point, Nathan says, "Mother please tell Wayne not to hit on my girlfriend." I liked when Puff's father goes berserk and ape-like when he sees the newspaper headlines saying "Kennedy Assassinated." I found it interesting to see Nathan sitting in what we assume is purgatory telling his story and asking if he is going to heaven or hell, or if he would have to tell his tale again. *SPOILER - The ending is hilarious when Puff gets together with Gabrielle after pretending to go back to nature. /*SPOILER

Overall, this is a good movie. Human Nature is funny, original, and has a message to give to the viewers. The film manages to pack all of this in 96 minutes, good for those of you with short attention spans. Forget Charlie Kaufman wrote the screenplay because that will create expectations too big for this movie to handle. This is a sleeper that everyone should check out.

[Dang]

I found this movie on DVD for $4.99. I loved it. Charlie Kaufman writes great movies.