Oregon Festival of American Music
Now Hear This Series
z Bill Frisell
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& Kenny Wollesen
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May 6th
7:30pm
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Lila (Patricia
Arquette) and
Nathan (Tim
Robbins) explore
the animal within
in "Human
Nature."
Courtesy
Movie shows
animal instincts
‘Human Nature’ shows the
pursuit of normality through
humor, heavy ideas and the line
between animal and human
Movie review
Aaron Shakra
Pulse Reporter
It is odd how the film “Human Na
ture” can be likened to a chameleon
—yet oddly fitting. At the core, that’s
what this film is all about: The line
between animal and civilization in
the human creature.
This sounds heavy for a film that’s
about a human who thinks he’s an
ape, a woman with full body hair and
a man on a quest to teach table man
ners to mice. Starring Tim Robbins,
Patricia Arquette and Rhys Ifans, a
film like this could only come from
Charlie Kaufman, the writer behind
“Being John Malkovich,” “Adapta
tion” and, most recently, “Confes
sions of a Dangerous Mind.”
“Human Nature” arrived in the
aters in 2002, and is directed by
Michel Gondry. The Kaufman/Gondry
team will next collaborate on “Eternal
Sunshine of the Spotless Mind,” star
ring Jim Carrey and Kate Winslet,
which is set for release later this year.
If the title “Human Nature” sounds
unfamiliar, it’s because the movie
quickly left theaters after an un-ambi
tious box office run and middling re
ception from movie critics. This fate is
unfortunate, given the film’s edgy ideas.
Robbins portrays Nathan Bronf
man, a scientific researcher who meets
Lila Jute. Lila has to shave her body
just to show herself in public, and she
secretly undergoes electrolysis while
dating Brofman. Then, of course,
there’s Puff (Ifans), the man who be
lieves himself to be an ape. Puff is in
troduced into the civilized world
through inhumane techniques; Brof
man is essentially willing to do what
ever it takes to make Puff a well-man
nered human being, including keeping
him caged up in his laboratory.
There are potential moments of
discomfort for the typical viewer.
Heavy ideas are disguised in a whim
sical coating. At one point, the issue of
conformity literally becomes a song
and dance number, in a scene where a
nude, hairy Patricia Arquette runs
through the woods. There are some
eye wincing moments aiming directly
at the human being’s predilection to
the twisted pursuit of normality. This
is especially noticeable in scenes be
tween Lila and Nathan — who also
becomes involved with his (apparent
ly) French-speaking assistant. Lila ba
sically conforms herself to Nathan’s
ideas in order to remain with him.
Sex is also a prevalent theme here
— or rather, sexual instinct. Puff,
with his animalistic background, is
led by desire, whereas Nathan is only
beginning to come to grips with these
feelings. A wicked love triangle is
forged between the three main char
acters. As Nathan is caught cheating,
Lila eventually decides to go through
with having the rest of her body hair
speedily removed. Only then, does
Nathan come around to wanting her.
And there are moments of humor
here—however, it has the dual effect of
being perceived as either deadly serious
or deadly funny. When Nathan releases
Puff from captivity into the “civilized”
world, he warns him, “Remember —
when in doubt, don’t ever do what you
really want to do.” The scene leaves the
viewer asking, “Is this funny? Or some
kind of sad truth?” Kaufman’s ideas are
just presented, not blatantly slanted, in
order to make viewers think one way or
the other. Through his characters, we
see ourselves and our experiences,
which are both sad and beautiful.
Contact the Pulse reporter
at aaronshakra@dailyemerald.com.
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