Obsessive scientist Nathan and his lover, the naturalist Lila, discover Puff: a man born and raised in the wild. As Nathan trains the wild man in the civilized ways of the world, Lila fights to preserve the man’s natural state. In the power struggle that ensues, an unusual love triangle emerges.
Direction
Gondry's music-video brain applied to philosophical farce.
Writing
Charlie Kaufman's first script—messy, ambitious, unmistakably his.
Acting
Rhys Ifans commits completely to feral physical comedy.
Director
Michel Gondry
Tim Robbins
Nathan Bronfman
Patricia Arquette
Lila Jute
Rhys Ifans
Puff
Miranda Otto
Gabrielle
Mary Kay Place
Nathan's Mother
Robert Forster
Nathan's Father
Peter Dinklage
Frank
Rosie Perez
Louise
Hilary Duff
Young Lila Jute
Miguel Sandoval
Wendall the Therapist
Toby Huss
Puff's Father
Ken Magee
Police Detective
Sy Richardson
Police Detective
David Warshofsky
Police Detective
Stanley DeSantis
Doctor
Trivia, insights & behind the scenes
This was Michel Gondry's feature debut and Charlie Kaufman's first produced screenplay, written before Being John Malkovich.
The Kaspar Hauser syndrome referenced was a real 19th-century phenomenon of feral children—Kaufman uses it to satirize self-help culture's obsession with 'authenticity.'
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