Human Nature is a 2001 comedy drama film written by Charlie Kaufman and directed by Michel Gondry in his directorial debut. The film stars Tim Robbins, Patricia Arquette, Rhys Ifans, Miranda Otto, and Rosie Perez. It tells the story of three peopleāa writer with hypertrichosis, a man who was raised as an ape away from civilization, and a psychologist who attempts to socialize the ape-man into a civilized member of society and tame his more animal instincts. It was a box-office bomb and received negative to mixed reviews.
Theatrical release poster
Charles Stuart Kaufman is an American screenwriter, film director, and novelist. He wrote the films Being John Malkovich (1999), Adaptation (2002), and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004). He both wrote and directed the films Synecdoche, New York (2008), Anomalisa (2015), and I'm Thinking of Ending Things (2020). In 2020, Kaufman released his first novel, Antkind.
Kaufman at the 2015 Fantastic Fest
Kaufman (left) and Duke Johnson accepting the Grand Jury Prize for Anomalisa at the Venice Film Festival in 2015.