Just about every frame in the upcoming feature Human Nature exemplifies the range of talent and imagination of the film’s director, Michel Gondry, who helms spots and music videos out of bicoastal/international Partizan. Take this scene for example: Two white lab mice enter a cage where a miniature dining table and two chairs are set. The mice actually take their seats, and look over their choice of cutlery. One of the rodents picks up the correct salad fork and begins munching on tiny pieces of lettuce. The other mouse, a little slower on the uptake, selects the wrong fork. Punished with a swift shock, he then chooses the proper fork and begins eating. Meanwhile, a repressed behaviorist (Tim Robbins) and his sexy French research assistant (Miranda Otto) beam with pride. The conditioning experiment appears to be working.
It could be said that the scene—the whole film, in fact—is a bit bizarre. The characters are eccentric, which leads to moments of mildly twisted humor. The tone vacillates between dramatic, slapstick, and everything in between. The images are unusual, thanks in part to seamless visual effects that were incorporated into the live action. And the film’s premise—Would people be happier if they lived like wild animals, stripped of all the trappings, responsibilities and pursuits of modern society?—is dense and thought provoking. Like all of Gondry’s work, Human Nature is not your typical viewing experience.
In the film, Patricia Arquette stars as an abnormally hirsute author who, fearing social rejection, goes off to live in the wilderness. But after a time, and several electrolysis treatments, she returns to civilization. Soon after, she meets and falls for scientist Robbins. Their relationship progresses nicely, and Arquette manages to keep her excessive body hair a secret. Then one day the couple discovers a wild man (Rhys Ifans) in the woods. Inspired, Robbins sets about turning the ape-like fellow into a modern-day Renaissance man. But Robbins’ designs contradict Arquette’s primary belief system, and further stir up her own insecurities. Rosie Perez, Robert Forster and Mary Kay Place also star.
Written by Charlie Kaufman (Being John Malkovich), and produced by Malkovich director Spike Jonze (who helms spots via bicoastal Morton Jankel Zander), Human Nature is Gondry’s first feature film. It debuted at the Cannes Film Festival last year and also screened at the 2002 Sundance Film Festival. Fine Line will release the movie in April.
"I wanted something different, and this was the most original idea [I came across]," Gondry says of the film. "So I begged [Charlie and Spike] to let me direct it."
What surprised Gondry most in making the movie has been the public’s reaction. "I’ve learned that you live with a film forever," he observes. "A commercial or a [music] promo, people like it or not; but with a film, for some reason, it seems they have to give their opinion. That can be exciting or hurtful. I didn’t realize everyone would judge it."
He also speaks of the challenges inherent in the post process. Editor Russell Icke, of The Whitehouse, London, with whom Gondry frequently collaborates, cut the film. "We got into a very dark place during editing," the director explains. "A film doesn’t play out the same way that it reads [in the script], so sometimes a scene has to be removed, which can be really depressing."
Then there was the festival circuit hoopla—not exactly the kind of thing the soft-spoken helmer relishes. "I’m not a very public person, so I was uncomfortable, especially at Cannes," notes Gondry. "I didn’t have the right clothes to go to my own party."
But don’t get him wrong. For all that, Gondry enjoyed the feature experience and is eager to tackle another film. "Making a movie—I achieved a dream," he says, adding, "It was easier than I thought it would be to work with the actors. They respected me as a director even though it was my first film. That was a little surprising."
During production, the director learned quickly the power of semantics. "As soon as I would say ‘Cut,’ everyone—hair and makeup artists—would rush to the actors and break their concentration," he points out. "But if I just said, ‘Let’s re-do it,’ without stopping camera, the crew left the actors alone and that allowed them to keep going."
Gondry plans to re-team with Kaufman later this year on The Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which stars Jim Carrey as a guy who decides to erase a former lover from his memory. But at this juncture, Gondry admits to feeling caught in a state of limbo: "After a long break for Human Nature, I’ve been doing videos again, which is exciting," he says. "I feel I can try things with a real freedom, because I don’t have to convince twenty different producers of my idea. It’s strange though, this in-between stage, where the movie is finished, but I don’t know what will happen [when it’s released]."
Gondry has kept busy, meeting with potential actors for Eternal Sunshine, and directing videos for the Chemical Brothers’ "Star Guitar," the White Stripes’ "Fell in Love with a Girl" and Radiohead’s "Knives Out." As well, he helmed an ad for Gatorade’s Propel, out of agency Element 79 Partners, Chicago.
The Chemical Brothers clip looks like a simple, single-camera view through the window of a moving train. "The concept was to create a mundane view from a window," Gondry explains. "I love everything that’s normal, and that subtle change of landscape and culture you witness riding on a train."
By contrast, in the White Stripe video, about 200 Legos per frame were used to create a crudely animated graphic environment. "I like to do things that I haven’t seen before," Gondry says. "I didn’t become a director to be part of a prestigious club. I became a director because I wanted to have access to experimental material, to try out ideas I had. An idea can come from anywhere. To me, an idea is when you take two elements, put them together and something clicks. Some I have carried with me for years, and when I get the opportunity to try them, it’s really exciting."
