Frequently Bought Together
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Product details
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
22 of 22 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
Men raised as apes. Mannered mice. Women with bad body hair days. Don't expect anything halfway normal in the ironically-titled "Human Nature," the first collaboration between the brilliant Michel Gondry and even more brilliant Charlie Kaufman. Forget style above substance -- this is a thinking man's comedy, quirky and utterly hilarious.
It opens with a dead man, a convicted woman, and a genteel simian-man all speaking of their pasts: Lila (Patricia Arquette) became horribly hirsute when she was a teen -- by twenty, she was "Queen Kong" in a sideshow. Miserable, she retreated to the woods and became a reknowned nature writer. During electrolysis treatment some years later, a nurse offers to set her up with a desperate guy: Nathan Bronfman (Tim Robbins), a manners-obsessed scientist who is teaching them to white mice.
One day in the woods, Lila and Nathan come across a feral young man they call Puff (Rhys Ifans) -- as explained early on, Puff's father thought he was an ape, and raised his son accordingly. Now Puff is being taught the ways of humanity, as Lila tries to preserve the more primitive things about human beings -- and a warped love triangle results.
Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman recently collaborated on the wonderful, poignant "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," so it's not surprising that their first joint film was also excellent. It's the sort of film that can't be easily pegged as one thing or another -- part comedy, part satire, part blinking question mark. Is it human nature to be naked and free, to be civilized and uptight, or does it lie somewhere in the middle? Are we just animals in clothes, or do humans have something more... or less? "Human Nature" doesn't answer all these questions, but it does make you think about them.
Michel Gondry's quirky style -- he directed some of Bjork's best music videos -- suits this equally quirky movie. He keeps the movie jumping quickly from scene to scene, moving fast enough that you never get bored. And he seems like a kind of directorial minimalist (the afterlife is a white room with a white table and white mist). At other times, he takes slapstick to new heights, lightening up the cerebral tone of the comedy.
The surreal flashbacks and oddball comedy (like Ifans wearing a shock collar) give "Human Nature" cinematic style. But the characters are what really fill up the screen -- Arquette does an excellent job as the tormented Lila, particularly during a beautiful musical number in the woods. Rhys Ifans is even better, whether it's as an uncivilized ape-man, or as an eloquent, rather dapper ape-man.
Dorky scientists, civilized simians and hairy women sound like an idiotic basis for a movie, but Kaufman and Gondry transform it into a smart, strange comedy. Definitely not to be missed.
It opens with a dead man, a convicted woman, and a genteel simian-man all speaking of their pasts: Lila (Patricia Arquette) became horribly hirsute when she was a teen -- by twenty, she was "Queen Kong" in a sideshow. Miserable, she retreated to the woods and became a reknowned nature writer. During electrolysis treatment some years later, a nurse offers to set her up with a desperate guy: Nathan Bronfman (Tim Robbins), a manners-obsessed scientist who is teaching them to white mice.
One day in the woods, Lila and Nathan come across a feral young man they call Puff (Rhys Ifans) -- as explained early on, Puff's father thought he was an ape, and raised his son accordingly. Now Puff is being taught the ways of humanity, as Lila tries to preserve the more primitive things about human beings -- and a warped love triangle results.
Michel Gondry and Charlie Kaufman recently collaborated on the wonderful, poignant "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind," so it's not surprising that their first joint film was also excellent. It's the sort of film that can't be easily pegged as one thing or another -- part comedy, part satire, part blinking question mark. Is it human nature to be naked and free, to be civilized and uptight, or does it lie somewhere in the middle? Are we just animals in clothes, or do humans have something more... or less? "Human Nature" doesn't answer all these questions, but it does make you think about them.
Michel Gondry's quirky style -- he directed some of Bjork's best music videos -- suits this equally quirky movie. He keeps the movie jumping quickly from scene to scene, moving fast enough that you never get bored. And he seems like a kind of directorial minimalist (the afterlife is a white room with a white table and white mist). At other times, he takes slapstick to new heights, lightening up the cerebral tone of the comedy.
The surreal flashbacks and oddball comedy (like Ifans wearing a shock collar) give "Human Nature" cinematic style. But the characters are what really fill up the screen -- Arquette does an excellent job as the tormented Lila, particularly during a beautiful musical number in the woods. Rhys Ifans is even better, whether it's as an uncivilized ape-man, or as an eloquent, rather dapper ape-man.
Dorky scientists, civilized simians and hairy women sound like an idiotic basis for a movie, but Kaufman and Gondry transform it into a smart, strange comedy. Definitely not to be missed.
6 of 6 people found the following review helpful
Format:DVD
This is a good idea for a film. It is open minded, fun and experimental. It does have its flaws, which I feel could have been saved by redrafting the script just that one more time before shooting.
As it stands, the script does not completely follow a logical path. It turns a few corners and they feel a tad contived ... the ending especially.. If you properly think about the ending, it doesnot really make much sense, as it requires those two characters to have planned this.
nevertheless, very enjoyable .. with some memorable scenes.
As it stands, the script does not completely follow a logical path. It turns a few corners and they feel a tad contived ... the ending especially.. If you properly think about the ending, it doesnot really make much sense, as it requires those two characters to have planned this.
nevertheless, very enjoyable .. with some memorable scenes.
Format:DVD|Amazon Verified Purchase
its not funny at all...dont bother with it...wasted an hour and some watching a big disappointment...and im a big tim robbins fan
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Weak
I was looking forward to this film, being a fan of Michel Gondry, but was sorely disappointed. This is a half-finished Charlie Kaufman idea, padded out into a film by Gondry. Read more
Published on 26 April 2008 by E. J. Dark
Excellent light hearted film!!
i watched this film last night. at first i thought it was going to some weird film about nature and animals. Read more
Published on 2 Sep 2004 by Jekyll
Wonderful
The most spectacular film of the year!
Published on 15 July 2003
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
Listmania!
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
