Search - Human Nature on DVD

MPAA Rating: R Content Advisory: Nudity, Not For Children, Adult Humor, Profanity, Sexual Situations Movie Release: 2001 DVD Release: 12/10/2002 Format: DVD - Enhanced Wide Screen Letterbox for 16x9 TV,Pan and Scan - Closed Captioned Audio Tracks: English, French Subtitles: English SwapaDVD Credits: 1 Number of Discs: 1 Run Time: 1 hrs 36 mins Studio: New Line Home Video Members Wishing: 4 Genres: Comedy Drama, Satire, Comedy of Manners, Fantasy Comedy

Video director Michel Gondry and scriptwriter Charles Kaufman -- who shot to fame after penning Being John Malkovich -- collaborate on this bizarre fable about human behavior in and out of society. The film opens by quickly introducing the three leads -- Lila (Patricia Arquette) who is locked away in prison; Puff (Rhys Ifans) who is testifying before Congress; and Nathan Bronfman (Tim Robbins) who is sitting in a glowing white afterlife waiting room with a bullet hole in his head. Rewinding to the beginning of the story, the film shows Lila as a girl about to enter womanhood. Unfortunately, puberty goes horribly awry and she starts to grow thick hair all over her body. After performing as Queen Kong in a circus freak show, she chucks it all and goes to live in the forest, where she becomes the best-selling author of a misanthropic hard-line ecological tome. At age 30, her itch for male companionship becomes overwhelming and she ventures back into the city. She is helped by electrolysis guru Louise (Rosie Perez), who not only makes Lila presentable to society, but introduces her to Nathan, a 35-year-old virgin who, as a scientist, has devoted his life to teaching table etiquette to lab mice. While showing Nathan the joys of the wild outdoors, Lila and her new beau discover an extremely hirsute feral man whom they dub Puff. Placing him a cage in his lab, Nathan sets out to teach Puff the ways of polite society while dreaming of fame and fortune. The first task is to curb Puff's enormous sexual appetite -- any time he catches sight of a female, Puff either tries to hump her or masturbates vigorously. Nathan yokes him with an electric collar that shocks him any time he acts unseemly. Unfortunately, the humans on the other side of the cage can't quite control their libidos either: Nathan succumbs to the incessant double entendres of his saucy French assistant Gabrielle (Miranda Otto) while Lila finds an animalistic lust for Nathan's science experiment. This film was screened at the 2001 Cannes Film Festival. ~ Jonathan Crow, All Movie Guide

Tim Robbins - Nathan Bronfman
Patricia Arquette - Lila Jute
Rhys Ifans - Puff
Miranda Otto - Gabrielle
Robert Forster - Nathan's Father

Michel Gondry's Human Nature, scripted by Being John Malkovich scribe Charlie Kaufman, comes to DVD with a pair of transfers. The widescreen anamorphic transfer preserves the original theatrical aspect ratio of 1.85:1, and is preferable to the standard full-frame image. Closed-captioned English soundtracks are rendered in Dolby Digital 5.1 and Dolby Digital Surround, while a French soundtrack has been recorded in Dolby Digital Surround. English subtitles are accessible. Supplemental materials include the theatrical trailer. Those with a DVD-ROM drive can access the original website. ~ Perry Seibert, All Movie Guide