Synopsis
Coleman Silk is a worldly and admired professor who loses his job after unwittingly making a racial slur. To clear his name, Silk writes a book about the events with his friend and colleague Nathan Zuckerman, who in the process discovers a dark secret Silk has hidden his whole life. All the while, Silk engages in an affair with Faunia Farley, a younger woman whose tormented past threatens to unravel the layers of deception Silk has constructed.
Votre Filmothèque
Cast
- Anthony HopkinsColeman Silk
- Nicole KidmanFaunia Farley
- Ed HarrisLester Farley
- Gary SiniseNathan Zuckerman
- Wentworth MillerYoung Coleman Silk
- Jacinda BarrettSteena Paulsson
- Harry LennixMr. Silk
- Clark GreggNelson Primus
- Anna Deavere SmithMrs. Silk
- Lizan MitchellErnestine
Recommandations
- 80
Time
Elegant, thoughtful film. - 80
Variety
Powered by two eye-catching performances. - 75
Rolling Stone
The Human Stain is heavy going. It's the flashes of dramatic lightning that make it a trip worth taking. - 70
The Hollywood Reporter
The thriller aspects of the story and the overall solid level of acting -- including a sexy performance from a red-hot Nicole Kidman -- keep the audience interested but never fully emotionally involved. - 70
The A.V. Club
Roth's novel was at heart a howl of rage against a corrupt, hypocritical, judgmental world, but Benton's austere adaptation--stunningly shot by the late Jean-Yves Escoffier--speaks largely in muted tones. - 63
ReelViews
The film's two big flaws are readily apparent: a clunky screenplay and the miscasting of the lead character. - 60
Newsweek
For all its shortcomings, The Human Stain is an honorable, sometimes moving attempt, better at evoking the poignancy of Silk's autumnal affair than exploring the moral ambiguities of his deception. - 50
The New Yorker
All we are left with, in essence, is an unlikely love affair, performed by two actors so remorselessly skilled that, by the end, you can't see the love for the skill. [3 November 2003, p. 104]
