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Human Nature

  • 20012001
  • RR
  • 1h 36m
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
18K
YOUR RATING
Human Nature (2001)
Trailer
Play trailer2:13
1 Video
81 Photos
  • Comedy
  • Drama
A woman is in love with a man in love with another woman, and all three have designs on a young man raised as an ape.A woman is in love with a man in love with another woman, and all three have designs on a young man raised as an ape.A woman is in love with a man in love with another woman, and all three have designs on a young man raised as an ape.
IMDb RATING
6.4/10
18K
YOUR RATING
  • Director
    • Michel Gondry
  • Writer
    • Charlie Kaufman
  • Stars
    • Tim Robbins
    • Patricia Arquette
    • Rhys Ifans
Top credits
  • Director
    • Michel Gondry
  • Writer
    • Charlie Kaufman
  • Stars
    • Tim Robbins
    • Patricia Arquette
    • Rhys Ifans
  • See production, box office & company info
    • 83User reviews
    • 81Critic reviews
    • 56Metascore
  • See more at IMDbPro
    • Awards
      • 2 wins & 2 nominations

    Videos1

    Human Nature
    Trailer 2:13
    Human Nature

    Photos81

    Patricia Arquette in Human Nature (2001)
    Rhys Ifans in Human Nature (2001)
    Patricia Arquette and Tim Robbins in Human Nature (2001)
    Miranda Otto and Rhys Ifans in Human Nature (2001)
    Tim Robbins in Human Nature (2001)
    Patricia Arquette and Michel Gondry at an event for Human Nature (2001)
    Patricia Arquette and Michel Gondry at an event for Human Nature (2001)
    Michel Gondry at an event for Human Nature (2001)
    Michel Gondry at an event for Human Nature (2001)
    Patricia Arquette, Miranda Otto, Michel Gondry, and Rhys Ifans at an event for Human Nature (2001)
    Miranda Otto at an event for Human Nature (2001)
    Miranda Otto at an event for Human Nature (2001)

    Top cast

    Edit
    Tim Robbins
    Tim Robbins
    • Dr. Nathan Bronfman
    Patricia Arquette
    Patricia Arquette
    • Lila Jute
    Rhys Ifans
    Rhys Ifans
    • Puff
    Ken Magee
    • Police Detective
    Sy Richardson
    Sy Richardson
    • Police Detective
    David Warshofsky
    David Warshofsky
    • Police Detective
    Hilary Duff
    Hilary Duff
    • Young Lila Jute
    Stanley DeSantis
    Stanley DeSantis
    • Doctor
    • (as Stanley Desantis)
    Peter Dinklage
    Peter Dinklage
    • Frank
    Toby Huss
    Toby Huss
    • Puff's Father
    Bobby Harwell
    • Congressman
    Daryl Anderson
    Daryl Anderson
    • Congressman
    Bobby Pyle
    • Young Puff
    Chase MacKenzie Bebak
    • Young Nathan
    • (as Chase Bebak)
    Mary Kay Place
    Mary Kay Place
    • Nathan's Mother
    Robert Forster
    Robert Forster
    • Nathan's Father
    Rosie Perez
    Rosie Perez
    • Louise
    Miguel Sandoval
    Miguel Sandoval
    • Wendall the Therapist
    • Director
      • Michel Gondry
    • Writer
      • Charlie Kaufman
    • All cast & crew
    • See more cast details at IMDbPro

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    Storyline

    Edit

    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      Many of the scenes in the forest are allusions to or recreations of scenes in the Björk music video "Human Behavior", also directed by Michel Gondry.
    • Goofs
      Puff was raised by a madman who never taught him basic language skills or anything about human life. So how does he know the story of being stolen from his mother's apartment?
    • Quotes

      Nathan Bronfman: What is love anyway? From my new vantage point, I realize that love is nothing more than a messy conglomeration of need, desperation, fear of death and insecurity about penis size.

    • Connections
      Featured in Some Sort of Soap Operish Theatre-Film (2006)
    • Soundtracks
      Hair Everywhere
      (2001)

      Music and Orchestrations by Jean-Michel Bernard

      Lyrics by Charlie Kaufman

      Performed by Patricia Arquette

    User reviews83

    Review
    Top review
    A must-see for Americans
    There are many different kinds of movies. This is one of a rare species: a film with a message. Other people might hear different morals when watching it, or none at all, which is okay, too. But to me, Charlie Kaufman wants to tell us "deprive an adolescent of his right to a natural sexual development and you create a violent outburst".

    Director Michel Gondry presents you a satire. The comedic element comes from grotesque, which is a relief after the all too juvenile teen movies that pathetically try to generate laughter by gross embarrassment and over-emphasized sounds of rearward body functions.

    Instead of telling the story of average parents struggling to deal with their teenage son, you will find a) a woman with excessive body hair (in my view representing all your everyday discontent with your true self), and b) a man with an obsessive compulsion to demand perfect table manners (which of course stands for the misuse of parental power to force his unfounded views onto his "son")

    The adolescent in this film being troubled by his sexual awakening is not the usual cool, hip, handsome high-school kid that all the real cool, hip,... okay-looking high-school-kids don't want to identify with anyway. It's Puff (Rhys Ifans), a young man who was raised by a deranged father to believe that he is an ape. This brings him in a situation not totally unlike that of a (human) teenager: somehow like the other humans, but being told that he's all weird and that everything he knows is suddenly wrong and bad. Eager to learn and please, he tries his best to conform, but to "control", that is, to ignore and deny his sexual curiosity, is just asking too much and he is forced to resort to deception.

    It always amazes me how we Americans keep wondering why we have about 200x more shooting deaths than (other) civilized countries. One reason can be seen in the ratings for this particular film. Europe: around 12 (France: PG), USA: R, for it's hard to spot nudity. This is ironic confirmation of what the film is trying to draw attention to: by demonizing Puff's sexuality and using violence to suppress it, both Nathan and Lila become guilty of creating violence in turn.

    For viewers who find this to be what this movie is about, I strongly recommend Michael Moore's Bowling for Columbine (Title 0310793 here on IMDB.com) only it is not so funny, because it's a documentary.
    helpful•14
    15
    • FairyMail
    • Mar 5, 2003

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • September 12, 2001 (France)
    • Countries of origin
      • France
      • United States
    • Languages
      • English
      • French
    • Also known as
      • İçgüdü
    • Filming locations
      • California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Fine Line Features
      • StudioCanal
      • Good Machine
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Box office

    Edit
    • Gross US & Canada
      • $705,308
    • Opening weekend US & Canada
      • $297,340
      • Apr 14, 2002
    • Gross worldwide
      • $1,574,660
    See detailed box office info on IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      1 hour 36 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Dolby Digital
    • Aspect ratio
      • 1.85 : 1

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