The human stain bears all the scars and stretch marks of a work that has tried to condense the necessarily literary elements of an esteemed novel into a feature film format. A light comedy about a man, his obsession with cleanliness, and his epic battle with a stain he cant get rid off. Enter your location to see which movie theaters are playing the human stain near you. The human stain 2000 is a novel by philip roth that was published on may 5, 2000. The human stain summary and study guide supersummary. With anthony hopkins, nicole kidman, ed harris, gary sinise. Philip roths ambitious and literary novel is awkwardly adapted for the screen. Its first person narrator is 65yearold author nathan zuckerman, who appeared in several earlier roth novels, and who also figures in both american pastoral 1997 and i married a communist 1998, two books that form a loose trilogy with the human stain. When his affair with a young troubled janitor kidman is uncovered, the secret silk had harbored for over fifty years from his wife, his children and colleague, writer nathan zuckerman, fast explodes in a conflagration of. Coleman silk is a classics professor, a man who was once well respected in his small community before an accusation took from him the identity he spent fifty years creating. Anthony hopkins and nicole kidman star in the human stain, a romantic drama about a man and his demons. The human stain phillip roth summary it is 1998, the year in which america is whipped into a frenzy of prurience by the impeachment of a president, and in a small new england town, an aging classics professor, coleman silk, is forced to retire when his colleagues decree that he is a. Its screenplay, by nicholas meyer, is based on the novel of the same name by philip roth.
Kidman and the rest of the cast give perfect performances that augment a very interesting plot. The human stain 2003 r anthony hopkins is a professor in the middle of a racial controversy whos passing as a white jew and nicole kidman is the sorrowful, downonherluck janitor with whom he becomes involved in bentons watereddown adaptation of philip roths 2000 novel. The human stain 2003 rotten tomatoes movie trailers. Ive not read the book but, to me, this was a very satisfying film, with some. The storyteller of the human stain is nathan zuckerman, an essayist, who recounts to the tale of a progression of occasions happening to his neighbor in country new britain in the late spring of 1998. Hopkins plays a lightskinned africanamerican professor who has spent his entire life telling people he is jewish. Not many movies probe into matters of identity or adaptation. Everything you need to know about the human stain movie 2003. The human stain phillip roth summary it is 1998, the year in which america is whipped into a frenzy of prurience by the impeachment of a president, and in a small new england town, an aging classics professor, coleman silk, is forced to retire when his colleagues decree that he is a racist. Coleman silk anthony hopkins is a professor who has revitalized athena, a small new england college.
The human stain, directed by robert benton from a screenplay by. As well expressed in the title of the book, everybody conceals a human stain, and sometimes its just up to the historical period to determine if its a small or a big one. Released october 31st, 2003, the human stain stars anthony hopkins, nicole kidman, ed harris, gary sinise the r movie has a runtime of about 1 hr 46 min, and received a score of 57 out of 100. Yes, we have to suspend disbelief over the casting, but thats easier since we can believe the stories of these people. When a disgraced former college dean has a romance with a mysterious younger woman haunted by her dark, twisted past, he is forced to confront a shocking fact. The human stain is a film about an elderly retired middleclass university professor called coleman played by anthony hopkins who begins a relationship with a troubled woman played by nicole kidman who leads a whitetrash existence, and the effects it has on both of them. This is the story of coleman silk sir anthony hopkins, a classics professor with a. It is 1998, the year in which america is whipped into a frenzy of prurience by the impeachment of a president, and in a small new england town, an aging classics professor, coleman silk, is forced to retire when his colleagues decree that he is a racist. The human stain philip roth, 2000 knopf doubleday 384 pp. Set in a small new england college town, this drama follows the story of a respected classics professor with a terrible secret. Secrets of the skin, and of the heart the new york. The human stain nude scenes 17 images and 5 videos including appearances from jacinda barrett nicole kidman. I have always thought of it as a new way of looking at the holocaust.
In the turbulent summer of 1998 while the country reacts with prurient. The human stain has been directed by robert benton with a sure feel for the human values involved. Chapter 1 summary the first line of chapter 1, everybody knows, outlines the plot. Human stain doesnt quite wash philip roth adaptation a nice effort but ultimately. If you like the human stain you are looking for sincere, serious and emotional movies about with tennis, haunted by the past, older man younger woman relationship, dishonesty, loss of child, hidden identity and self destructing themes of drama, romance and thriller genre shot in germany or france. The human stain box office mojo the human stain, rotten tomatoes a.
The human stain has a revelation in store about silks private life that in movie terms becomes a convulsive twist, a space mountain looptheloop of irony on whose rails the films supposed. The human stain, houghton mifflin harcourt, 2000 376 pages. The human stain is a 2003 drama film directed by robert benton. The human stain, published in 2000, is a novel by american novelist philip roth. Also sign me up for fanmail to get updates on all things movies. Roths extraordinary recent productivity the prizewinning sabbaths theater, 1995, and american pastoral, 1997 continues apace with this impressively replete and very moving chronicle of an academic scandal and its impact on both the aging professor at its center and his friendalter ego novelist nathan zuckerman. The human stain is a novel of identity that revolves around the love affair of two people who could not be more opposite. The book is an angry expose of americas struggles with issues of race, age, and sexuality, but the film falls. The human stain is a flawed but engrossing story about the way that people try to escape their pasts. Nathan decides to write a book about the whole thing. His young ego, played by wentworth miller, looks a.
And this isnt a movie like the crying game, which is really about its secret. The human stain film wikimili, the best wikipedia reader. In this collection, debra shostak shows us the significance of these novels by bringing together an insightful collection of original essays. There have been many strange castings in movie history, but letting a character of african american descent, who is supposed to be lightskinned enough to pass as white, be played by blueeyed sir anthony hopkins, whose african roots, according to widely accepted ethnological theories, date some 40,000 years back, takes the cake. The human stain 2003 stream and watch online moviefone. Its also about the way that carefully constructed new personas, no matter how scrubbed and burnished, cant erase the stain of the original. Philip roths historical works american pastoral, the human stain, and the plot against america stand as perhaps the most notable in his oeuvre. Most movie characters are like greek gods and comic book heroes. This movie is based around the life of a classics professor coleman, who is currently living in a small new england town. One day, his carefully constructed life threatens to unravel due to an incident with his students. The story of coleman silk hopkins, a distinguished professor at a prestigious new england college whose professional life. Roths human stain in a long writing career, philip roth has progressively deepened his themes and his understanding of human character as well as his skill at the novelists craft. The american novel since 1945 engl 291 in this lecture on the human stain, professor hungerford traces the ways that roths novel conforms to and pushes beyond the genre she calls the identity plot. The human stain contains a significant secret about one of the characters.
The human stain, distributed in 2000, is a novel by american writer philip roth. He is accused of making a racist epithet, and quits. Pdf the human stain book the american trilogy free. The first edition of the novel was published in 2000, and was written by philip roth. It was in the summer of 1998 that my neighbor coleman silkwho, before retiring two years earlier, had been a classics professor at nearby athena college for some twentyodd years as. For your reference, we provided these the human stain quotes with page numbers using the following version of the book. During a class discussion he calls two missing students spooks. After a clunky beginning, in which crusty nathan zuckerman is carrying on about the orgy of sanctimoniousness surrounding clintons monica misadventures, his new n. The sites consensus is that though the acting is fine, the leads are miscast, and the story is less powerful on screen than on the page. The human stain on dvd july 20, 2004 starring anthony hopkins, nicole kidman, gary sinise, wentworth miller.
The human stain cast and crew cast photos and info. Yes, the movie skips a lot between then and now, too. The opening scene shows a car driven off the icy road. The human stain is essentially the story of two peoples pasts and the events that still deeply. I dont like to reveal significant details of the plot, so i prefer to leave to the reader the pleasure to discover coleman silks human stain the protagonist, of course. The book was published in multiple languages including english, consists of 384 pages and is available in paperback format. His novel, the human stain is both entertaining and thoughtprovoking. The human stain filme wikipedia, a enciclopedia livre. When a disgraced former college dean has a romance with a mysterious younger woman haunted by her dark, twisted past, he is forced to confront a shocking fact about his own life that he has kept secret for fifty years.
Based on the philip roth novel, the human stain is a film directed by robert benton in 2003. Free download or read online the human stain pdf epub the american trilogy series book. Anthony hopkins is a college professor forced to resign from his position over a ridiculous, overblown charge of racism. The narrator of the human stain is nathan zuckerman, a writer, who tells the story of a series of events happening to his neighbor in rural new england in the summer of 1998. The human stain was shot on location in quebec, canada and at williams college, williamstown, ma. The film, which moves backward and forward in time, is narrated in voiceover by nathan zuckerman, played by gary sinise. The human stain is the story of coleman silk hopkins, a classics professor with a terrible secret that is about to shatter his life in a small new england town. The human stain 2003 movie mistakes, goofs and bloopers. Anthony hopkins at an event for the human stain 2003 ed harris and gary. The film stars anthony hopkins, nicole kidman, gary sinise and ed harris. Author philip roth used the zuckerman character in several of his other novels including one titled zuckerman unbound, and zuckerman is generally acknowledged to be a stand.