Themes: Class Differences, Parenthood, Innocence Lost
Main Cast: Robin Williams, John Turturro, Anna Galiena, Vincent D'Onofrio, Hector Elizondo
Release Year: 1993
Country: UK/US
Run Time: 125 minutes
MPAA Rating: PG13
Plot
Five fables, each set in a different historical era, make up this quirky comedy from director Bill Forsyth. Each tale features Robin Williams as a basically decent but troubled average man named Hector. Beginning with the Bronze Age, where Hector struggles for survival against barbarians, the film proceeds through Roman times, the Middle Ages, and the 16th century, concluding in the present day, where Hector is a divorced father attempting to reconcile with his children. The film clearly intends to draw parallels between these stories in order to illustrate the universal nature of human experience, though the segments themselves vary widely in tone, from broadly comic to philosophically reflective. Additionally, some may find the film's attempts at creating a fantasy atmosphere rather cloying, while others may be charmed by the project's determined oddness and whimsicality. ~ Judd Blaise, All Movie Guide
Lorraine Bracco - Anna; Lindsay Crouse - Janet; Kelly Hunter - Deirdre; Helen Miller - Betsy; Charles Miller - Tom; William H. Macy - Boris; Grace Mahlaba - Thalia; Theresa Russell - The Storyteller; Jonathan Hyde; Lizzy McInnerny; Sharon Howard-Field; Susie Figgis
Credit
Keith Pain - Art Director, Andrew Precht - Art Director, Steve Norris - Associate Producer, Sharon Howard-Field - Casting, Susie Figgis - Casting, Sandy Powell - Costume Designer, Jonathan Benson - First Assistant Director, Bill Forsyth - Director, Michael Ellis - Editor, Michael Gibbs - Composer (Music Score), Nelson Stoll - Musical Direction/Supervision, Louis Kramer - Musical Direction/Supervision, Norman Garwood - Production Designer, Michael Coulter - Cinematographer, Robert F. Colesberry - Producer, David Puttnam - Producer, Bill Forsyth - Screenwriter
The film portrays the experience of a single human soul, portrayed by Williams, through various incarnations. Williams is the only common actor throughout the stories that span man's history on Earth.
An attempt on director-screenwriter Bill Forsyth's part to depict by visual means the ordinariness of life throughout the ages, Being Human is deliberately slow in its pace in order to emphasize how slow life often is. The structure is one of vignette-like character studies of one man (actually at least four distinct men, all with the same soul) who never gains complete control of situations around him, but who perseveres nonetheless.
Production
After poor test screenings, Warner Bros. instructed Bill Forsyth to trim 40 minutes from the film, as well as add narration and a happy ending. Forsyth subsequently disowned the film.
Being Human, during its limited release, received generally hostile reviews, as critics considered it one of Forsyth's poorest films. It is not known to have done well at the box office.[citation needed]
