The Human Stain, the Film by Robert Benton Movie Review

The Human Stain, the Film by Robert Benton - Movie Review Example   The film introduces Nathan Zuckerman, who leads a lonely life in New 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 lost 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 are behind Coleman’s problem began to interfere into their relationship. When Lester (say, Faunia's ex-husband) enters, the plot thickens because he unveils Faunia's past. Lester reveals Faunia’s role in the accident which killed their children. Later, the viewers come to know that Coleman’s ancestry is rooted African American community and he was pretending as a Jew. Discussion: The discussion is divided into five sections, namely: human life, racism, identity crisis (Hopkins’s 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 front 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 Faunia’s identity and the reason behind the psychological problems faced by him in his personal domain. So, one can easily identify that the main theme of th e 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 â€Å"Similarly, the passing story of The Human Stain (Robert Benton, 2003) would hold no interest without the inevitable â€Å"reveal†Ã¢â‚¬  (114). From a different angle of view, Coleman’s pretension as a Jew is to veil his real identity as an African American. At the same time, his mask (as a white Jew) did not help him to claim himself as the member of mainstream society. So, Coleman’s attempt can be considered as a futile attempt to escape from racism. C. Identity crisis (Hopkins’s ide ntity) The main characters, including the protagonist, face the problem of identity crisis and related problems in their personal lives. For instance, Nathan’s idle life is an attempt to escape from identity crisis. On the other side, Coleman’s relationship with Faunia is an attempt to escape from mechanical life.  Ã‚