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  Directed by
  Starring
  Specs
  • Widescreen 1.85:1
  • 16:9 Enhanced
  Languages
  • English: Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround
  • English: Dolby Digital Stereo
  Subtitles
  • None
  Extras
  • Theatrical trailer
  • Featurette
  • 5 Interviews

Human Nature

Magna/Magna . R4 . COLOR . 92 mins . MA15+ . PAL

  Feature
Contract

Humanity really falls into two major categories. There’s a principle of science that says people are either Pollyannas or Cassandras. Pollyannas think that regardless of what troubles come, humanity will always find a way to survive it. Cassandras believe that there’s a glass ceiling and that sooner or later, humanity is going to crash headlong into it. Personally I’m midway between the two, but if pushed I’d tip toward Pollyanna. Charlie Kaufman, brilliant writer of some of our favourite films (Being John Malkovich and Adaptation), must fall squarely within Cassandra territory I think.

The very magnanimousness of humanity is on trial herein. Kaufman portrays humans in a very familiar light and one that doesn’t just shine on the characters (as if we, the viewers, are removed from them) but onto ourselves as we watch events unfolding in the film. The belief that we are the smartest things on earth and therefore know best is dealt with very bluntly. Nature is ours to use at our will and not the other way around. Everything should evolve to the quality of intellect humans have (even as we destroy both the natural world and the world we have built). Our offensive vanity is dragged beneath the scrutinous eye of the microscope and, ugly as we are, we sadly see ourselves all too clearly.

This complex, yet easily followed storyline, sees a narrative by three people. Firstly, there’s Lila (Patricia Arquette), the girl born with an unfortunate hair problem that covers her body. Secondly, there is Puff (Rhys Ifans), a man raised as an ape who was ‘civilised’ and thirdly, the doctor (Tim Robbins) who civilised him, speaking from beyond the grave. As each tale sallies forth, they converge and intertwine irretrievably until all the storylines are one, although each narrator is unaware of the others. Lila is in prison for a reason we don’t know just yet. She tells her life story of dealing with her condition and how she abandoned humanity and entered the wild to live naturally. After deciding she needed a man, she re-entered society and met Dr Bronfman (Robbins). Obsessed with teaching good manners to mice, Dr Bronfman and she stumbled across the yet to be named Puff as they were walking in the woods. Deciding he could teach manners to this apeman, they took him back to the lab and the instruction began. In the course of events that follow, many changes occur between each of them and include Gabrielle (Miranda Otto), Bronfman’s flirtatious assistant.

"Remember - when in doubt, don’t ever do what you really want to do..."

This is a genuinely intelligent story written cleverly, with a bevy of references to the human condition from various poets, songwriters and authors. Ifans is both hilarious and despondent in the role of Puff (the very name itself is a joke. First we bestow humanity and then we give that as a name?). Miranda Otto is having a blast playing Gabrielle and that much is obvious from her joyful portrayal of Bronfman’s French assistant. Arquette and Robbins are also excellent in their unusual roles and together the four tell the story in the best way it could be told: From a liar, an outsider, an obsessive and a misfit. Because after all, we’re all one of those four today and another one tomorrow.

  Video
Contract

Released in 2001, the picture quality is just great. I’ve read some people criticising the nudity in this feature, but it is all done tastefully and is entirely necessary to the plot. There is not one single gratuitous frame within the whole movie and none of it was offensive to me. I honestly don’t know what the hullabaloo is about. Perhaps anyone that offended by nudity is someone the film’s point was aimed at (yet probably won’t reach...)

Colour levels are natural and well saturated and blacks and shadow detail are fine. Lighting is great throughout, particularly where coloured lighting has been used to convey a mood or a character’s feelings. Presented in 1.85:1 and 16:9 enhanced, the film looks as good as it no doubt did on the big screen. Finally, those flesh tones and the wonderful hair makeup tones are all even and quite convincing in their natural looking state.

  Audio
Contract

Dolby Digital 5.1 or Dolby 2.0 stereo is offered here and both sound just fine. There aren’t huge requirements of the audio with the majority of the film being spoken in English (or grunts). Dialogue is all well spoken and easily understood, even with Tim Robbins’ usual murmuring coming in clearly. The limited sound effects are all sweet and there was really only one stock sound effect I could detect in the laboratory shock box. This doesn’t matter, because its hilarious use is well worth it.

The music is also great in this film, with some nice lyrical moments coming through very cleanly and resonantly. Graeme Revell (of all people) did the score for this film and it does sound superb. Always placed well and never dominating, the music is a very nice accompaniment to the action on screen and is also a credit to the music supervisor Tracy McKnight.

  Extras
Contract

A rather thin haul from the jungle to you, but nevertheless mostly interesting inclusions. I do recommend watching them after the film, as all include some spoilers of one sort or another. Also, the chapters in the film are only ten, whilst the case claims them at 18. Dunno how they managed that error, but anyway...

The first of three sees us with the six minute featurette. This is more like a long TV spot as it contains soundbite interviews and footage from the film and that’s about it. It plays in 4:3 with unenhanced film footage interspersed. Second up is the trailer which runs for a minute ten in 1.85:1 without enhancement. This is almost a complete and very funny scene from the film that will be much funnier for you seeing it in the original context, so be aware, as I said.

Finally a bunch of interviews with our four main players and the first time director Michel Gondry. Guess where they got the soundbites for the featurette from? Yup. There are even repeats of the same bits they used in that. Oh well. They run in a text question per chapter style and vary in length from six to eight questions each. It’s not a huge haul, as I said, and the fact that some repeat is a bit disappointing.

  Overall  
Contract

This film is a lot of fun and pokes a dirty finger at some of our more bizarre traits as humans. Normal becomes normal when it is so common as to not raise an eyebrow anymore - remember that and all will be well. There are some clever images that seem almost camera fodder, running behind the main focus yet still having a unique (if brief) point of their own. An example: People watching a news event occurring live on the TV news, even as it happens right outside their own windows. This seems to say a lot about humans just in that image alone and the whole film is interlaced with these little quirks of humanity. These just serve to exhibit the amazing writing capabilities of Charlie Kaufman (in case we didn’t know already).

Any fan of intelligent plot or caustic satire is bound to enjoy this, but there’s still plenty in it for people just after a very funny movie with a genuine point to make. Kaufman’s writing is poignant and so layered that stripping away one joke just finds more hiding beneath. This is a great and unusual film and can comfortably take its place beside Kaufman’s other modern classics.


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      And I quote...
    "The boy band of last century is nowhere to be seen in this biting satire on the human condition by the incredible Charlie Kaufman."
    - Jules Faber
      Review Equipment
    • DVD Player:
          Nintaus DVD-N9901
    • TV:
          Sony 51cm
    • Receiver:
          Diamond
    • Speakers:
          Diamond
    • Surrounds:
          No Name
    • Audio Cables:
          Standard Optical
    • Video Cables:
          Standard Component RCA
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