The Human Stain (2003)

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.

Director:

Robert Benton

Writers:

Philip Roth (novel), Nicholas Meyer (screenplay)

Stars:

Anthony Hopkins, Nicole Kidman, Ed Harris

3 wins & 5 nominations.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Anthony Hopkins	...	Coleman Silk
Nicole Kidman	...	Faunia Farley
Ed Harris	...	Lester Farley
Gary Sinise	...	Nathan Zuckerman
Wentworth Miller	...	Young Coleman Silk
Jacinda Barrett	...	Steena Paulsson
Harry Lennix	...	Mr. Silk
Clark Gregg	...	Nelson Primus
Anna Deavere Smith	...	Mrs. Silk
Lizan Mitchell	...	Ernestine
Kerry Washington	...	Ellie
Phyllis Newman	...	Iris Silk
Margo Martindale	...	Psychologist
Ron Canada	...	Herb Keble
Mili Avital	...	Young Iris

Storyline

This is the story of Coleman Silk (Sir Anthony Hopkins), a classics professor with a terrible secret that is about to shatter his life in a small New England town. When his affair with young troubled janitor Faunia Farley (Nicole Kidman) is uncovered, the secret Silk had harbored for over fifty years from his wife, his children, and colleague, writer Nathan Zuckerman (Gary Sinise), fast explodes in a conflagration of devastating consequences. It is Zuckerman who stumbles upon Silk's secret and sets out to reconstruct the unknown biography of this eminent, upright man, esteemed as an educator for nearly all of his life, and to understand how this ingeniously contrived life became unravelled.

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Plot Keywords:

blonde | voyeur | female removes her clothes | black panties | lust | 

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Taglines:

How far would you go to escape the past?

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Genres:

Drama | Romance | Thriller

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Motion Picture Rating (MPAA)

Rated R for language and sexuality/nudity

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second collaboration between Nicole Kidman and Director Robert Benton. The first being Billy Bathgate (1991).

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Goofs

When Coleman is looking in the dictionary for the definition of the word "Spooks" he turns to nearly the beginning of the book that couldn't possibly be the letter "S"

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Quotes

Nathan Zuckerman: I'm writing a book... it's called 'The Human Stain'.

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Connections

Referenced in WatchMojo: Top 10 Misleading Movie Titles of Popular Films (2016)

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Soundtracks

Honeysuckle Rose
(1929)
Music by Fats Waller (as Thomas 'Fats' Waller)
Lyrics by Andy Razaf
Performed by Jess Stacy
Courtesy of Soundies Inc.
By Arrangement with De Pugh Music

User Reviews

Totally wrong casting!!!

I love Roth's novel. I love Nicole Kidman. Above all I love Anthony Hopkins... and I think that both actors did a very good job indeed... But the casting of this film is absolutely wrong!

1)sir Hopkins: He's one of the greatest actors of our time, but this fair-skinned, blue-eyed gentleman with a charming Welsh accent is pretty unbelievable as an afro-American from New Jersey...maybe I haven't much imagination but I simply can't figure him as Coleman! Plus, there's very little resemblance with the guy who plays the young Coleman.

2)miss Kidman: You need the greatest suspension of disbelief to watch Nicole playing this sort of white trash, outcast janitor...

3)Gary Sinise: TOO YOUNG. Nathan Zuckerman is meant to be in his 70s, Sinise is in his 40s and the age gap with Coleman is too wide. In this way the very poetic "Cheek to cheek" scene lost much of his meaning. Read that scene in the book and you'll understand what I'm saying!

Only Ed Harris seems to fit better.

Just my two cents!

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

Germany Ireland USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 December 2003 (Germany)

Also Known As:

The Human Stain

Filming Locations:

Québec, Canada

Box Office

Budget:

$30,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$1,034,195, 2 November 2003

Gross USA:

$5,381,908

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$22,954,068

Company Credits

Production Co:

Miramax, Lakeshore Entertainment, Stone Village Pictures

Technical Specs

Runtime:

106 min

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1