The Human Stain, the Film by Robert Benton Movie Review

The Human Stain, the Film by Robert Benton - Movie Review ExampleThe film introduces Nathan Zuckerman, who leads a l ily life in unsanded England due to his divorce and illness. Then Coleman Silk (protagonist), who is a professor expelled from his profession, is introduced by the director. He was expelled from his profession due to racist remarks. This incident affected his family life and he wooly-minded his wife. So he decided to write a book with the help of Nathan Zuckerman. When Coleman met Faunia Farley (divorced woman), his decision to write a book on the problems faced by him becomes unimportant. The individuals who argon behind Colemans problem began to interfere into their relationship. When Lester (say, Faunias ex-husband) enters, the plot thickens because he unveils Faunias past. Lester reveals Faunias role in the accident which killed their children. Later, the viewers come to know that Colemans telephone line is rooted African American community and he was pretending as a Jew. Discussion The discussion is divided into five sections, namely human life, racism, indistinguishability crisis (Hopkinss identity), complexity of characters and individual freedom of the director. A. Human life In the film, the director tries his level best to unveil the secrets of human life and its complexity. For instance, the main characters in the film (Nathan, Coleman, Faunia and Lester) possess dual lives. Their real lives are hidden in their past and they are not ready to unveil the same in strawman of the viewers. For instance, Nathan does not like to reveal the secrets of his life and decides to keep aloof from the mainstream society. On the other side, Coleman decides to escape from the mainstream society and to hide his identity as an African American. Faunia does not like to reveal her past and her life with her husband. Within this context, Lester uncovers Faunias identity and the reason behind the psychological problems faced by him in his personal domain. So, one can easily identify that the main idea of the film is human life and the secret behind the same. B. Racism Racism is not the main theme of the film but it is inherent within the same. For instance, Coleman makes use of his fake identity to escape from racism. He very well knew that his real identity as an African American may create problems in his profession. So, he decided to pretend himself as a Jew. But this did not help him much because he became a victim of his own comments on racism. Foster opines that Similarly, the passing story of The Human Stain (Robert Benton, 2003) would hold no interest without the inevitable reveal (114). From a contrasting angle of view, Colemans pretension as a Jew is to veil his real identity as an African American. At the same time, his mask (as a etiolate Jew) did not help him to claim himself as the member of mainstream society. So, Colemans attempt can be considered as a futile attempt to escape from racism. C. identicalness crisis (Hopkinss identity) The main characters, including the protagonist, face the problem of identity crisis and related problems in their personal lives. For instance, Nathans idle life is an attempt to escape from identity crisis. On the other side, Colemans relationship with Faunia is an attempt to escape from mechanical life.