{ "id": "epzanpk2zk", "slug": "being-human-1994-film", "title": "Being Human (1994 film)", "updated": "2026-11-01", "topic_path": [ { "id": "culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture" }, { "id": "culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/topics/culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": 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"https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "path": [ { "id": "geo.weu", "label": "Western Europe", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946", "label": "Western Europe · 1946 to 2000", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture", "label": "Arts and culture", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance", "label": "Screen and stage", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen", "label": "Film and television", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films", "label": "Films and standalone screen works", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works", "label": "Individual films by title and year", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works" }, { "id": "geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance", "label": "Comedy and romantic films (individual works)", "api_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/api/v1/geo/geo.weu.t1946.culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance" } ] } ], "excerpt": "Being Human is a 1994 drama written and directed by Bill Forsyth, starring Robin Williams as Hector in five historical eras; a Warner Bros. production that flopped, grossing $1.3 million.", "snippet": "Being Human is a 1994 drama written and directed by Bill Forsyth, starring Robin Williams as Hector in five historical eras; a Warner Bros. production that flopped, grossing $1.3 million.", "node": "culture.performance.screen.films.films.individual-works.comedy-romance.comedies-of-1990-to-1994.slapstick-black-and-family-comedies.alpha-symbols-to-j", "markdown": "# Being Human (1994 film)\n\n**Being Human** is a 1994 drama film written and directed by Bill Forsyth, in which [Robin Williams](https://www.edgepedia.org/robin-williams) plays a man named Hector in five separate stories set in different periods of history, from the [Bronze Age](https://www.edgepedia.org/bronze-age) to contemporary New York.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human) Produced by Robert F. Colesberry and David Puttnam for Warner Bros., it was a large-budget production that opened poorly in the United States in May 1994, was reworked by the studio before release, and became the last film Forsyth made with Hollywood backing.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human) • [2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-17-ca-58918-story.html) • [3](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/notebook-primer-bill-forsyth)\n\n| Key fact | Detail |\n|---|---|\n| Director and writer | Bill Forsyth, the Scottish filmmaker known for *Gregory's Girl* and *Local Hero*[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-17-ca-58918-story.html) |\n| Premise | Five vignettes, each starring Robin Williams as a man named Hector in a different era: a Celt (caveman), a Roman slave, a Scottish crusader, a man shipwrecked in Africa, and a modern-day New Yorker[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human) • [4](https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/1994/05/being-human/) |\n| Release | Limited US opening May 6, 1994 on 224 screens, grossing $764,011; wide release the same date per Rotten Tomatoes[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-17-ca-58918-story.html) • [1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human) |\n| Box office | $1.3 million gross in the United States[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human) |\n| Budget | Reported as $20 million by *The Independent* and MUBI, $40 million by Cinegraph, and $50 million by Hollywood in ToTo[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-the-british-are-coming-home-you-re-a-british-director-you-re-a-hit-you-re-invited-to-hollywood-you-re-stitched-up-you-re-not-alone-1385861.html) • [3](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/notebook-primer-bill-forsyth) • [6](https://cinegraph.org/movies/being-human-1994) • [7](https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/why-being-human-robin-williams-range-humanity/) |\n| Runtime and rating | 2 hours 2 minutes; rated PG-13 in the United States[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human) |\n| Reception | 54% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer (13 reviews), a Metascore of 33, and 5.3/10 on IMDb[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human) • [8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/being-human/critic-reviews/) • [9](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106379/) |\n\n## Spoilers\n\n### Premise and structure\n\nThe film is a collage of five stories, each featuring Williams as Hector, a man in his forties journeying through life in varying relationships with more powerful associates, a woman, a lover, parents, and usually children.[10](https://www.archindy.org/criterion/files/1994/pdfs/19940527.pdf) The settings range from prehistoric times, ancient Rome, and the Middle Ages to contemporary New York.[10](https://www.archindy.org/criterion/files/1994/pdfs/19940527.pdf) According to the synopsis on Rotten Tomatoes, Hector is a single human soul allowed to experience five distinct lives across history, reborn successively as a Celt, as a slave in Rome, as a Scottish crusader, as a man cast away on African shores, and as a present-day New Yorker; even as the same souls, among them his lover and his children, repeatedly surface in his vicinity, he keeps repeating identical errors.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human) Time Out notes that Hector may not be reincarnated exactly, but each story feeds on what has gone before: after losing his family in the Bronze Age, he is separated from them in every other tale.[11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/being-human-1)\n\nRecurring motifs include fear and anxiety, superstition and sacrifice, the nature of partnership, how men treat women and other men as chattels, water-crossings, the difficulty of filling other men's shoes, and the abused integrity of a name.[11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/being-human-1) The Criterion, an [Indianapolis](https://www.edgepedia.org/indianapolis) weekly, described the film's concerns as including religion, or the concept of priesthood, and humanity's usually futile efforts to cope with the eternal mysteries.[10](https://www.archindy.org/criterion/files/1994/pdfs/19940527.pdf) A female narrator, played by [Theresa Russell](https://www.edgepedia.org/theresa-russell) as the Storyteller, frames the stories; in her words, \"In the end, isn't every story all the one story?\"[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-17-ca-58918-story.html) • [12](https://www.fandango.com/being-human-132488/movie-overview)\n\n## Production\n\n**Origins.** Forsyth conceived *Being Human* while editing his 1989 film *Breaking In*; MUBI's Notebook primer reports that the idea came to him during a phone call with [Bill Murray](https://www.edgepedia.org/bill-murray).[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-the-british-are-coming-home-you-re-a-british-director-you-re-a-hit-you-re-invited-to-hollywood-you-re-stitched-up-you-re-not-alone-1385861.html) • [3](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/notebook-primer-bill-forsyth) When Robin Williams came on board to play five different people called Hector, Forsyth chose Hollywood financing over European money.[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-the-british-are-coming-home-you-re-a-british-director-you-re-a-hit-you-re-invited-to-hollywood-you-re-stitched-up-you-re-not-alone-1385861.html) Filming began in Scotland in 1992, and also took place in Morocco, England, New York, and California.[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-the-british-are-coming-home-you-re-a-british-director-you-re-a-hit-you-re-invited-to-hollywood-you-re-stitched-up-you-re-not-alone-1385861.html) • [7](https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/why-being-human-robin-williams-range-humanity/)\n\n**A disagreement over the meaning.** Forsyth recalled a fundamental difference of opinion with the studio: \"For me, this film was about the fact that for individuals nothing changes and nothing ever will, whether you're a caveman or a lawyer. The studio thought experiences do change you and so Hector would get better as he went along.\" He sold the project to Williams as a mainstream movie, and Williams joked in a Scottish accent whenever they had trouble, \"It's OK, it's a mainstream movie.\"[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-the-british-are-coming-home-you-re-a-british-director-you-re-a-hit-you-re-invited-to-hollywood-you-re-stitched-up-you-re-not-alone-1385861.html)\n\n**The recut.** When filming completed, the film had an initial running time of 160 minutes.[7](https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/why-being-human-robin-williams-range-humanity/) According to Time Out, Warner Bros. sat on the film for a year trying to find a recut that would make sense, then gave it back to the director, who added Theresa Russell's voice-over narration as a sign of good faith.[11](https://www.timeout.com/movies/being-human-1) Hollywood in ToTo reports that the studio had the film cut down to two hours and added the narration before releasing it in the spring of 1994, four months after *Mrs. Doubtfire*.[7](https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/why-being-human-robin-williams-range-humanity/) Forsyth publicly described the result as a project that got out of his control.[13](https://www.adrianmartinfilmcritic.com/reviews/b/being_human.html) At a specially organized screening at the Glasgow Film Theatre in 1994, he began the question-and-answer session by apologizing to the audience for the film.[14](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/6666/1/2006MurrayPhD.pdf)\n\n## Release and box office\n\nThe film opened in limited release on May 6, 1994, on 224 screens, grossing $764,011, then fell 64 percent the following weekend to $278,326.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-17-ca-58918-story.html) Tracking polls by the National Research Group showed only 43 percent of test audiences were aware of the film during its second week in release, against a 60 to 65 percent average, and about 1 percent of audiences of all ages listed it as their first choice of a movie to see.[2](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-17-ca-58918-story.html) Its total United States gross was $1.3 million.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human) The film received minimal theatrical distribution in both Britain and the United States; the Edinburgh Festival was, per *The Independent*, the only opportunity UK audiences had to see it on the big screen.[14](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/6666/1/2006MurrayPhD.pdf) • [5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-the-british-are-coming-home-you-re-a-british-director-you-re-a-hit-you-re-invited-to-hollywood-you-re-stitched-up-you-re-not-alone-1385861.html) Later releases were on video in Argentina (September 15, 1994) and Hungary (December 8, 1994), with a Swedish television premiere on June 20, 1998.[15](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106379/releaseinfo/)\n\n## Reception\n\nCritical response was mixed to negative. The film holds a Metascore of 33, classified by Metacritic as generally unfavorable, with 4 positive, 5 mixed, and 9 negative reviews out of 18 counted.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/being-human/critic-reviews/) On Rotten Tomatoes it stands at 54 percent from 13 critics.[1](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human) The *Washington Post*'s Rita Kempley called it \"a whimsically offbeat, stubbornly upbeat tour of man's progress as seen through the eyes of five guys named Hector,\" while Kenneth Turan of the *Los Angeles Times* called it \"misconceived, misguided and a completely miserable viewing experience,\" singling out the voice-over narration read by Theresa Russell as the film's most irritating aspect.[8](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/being-human/critic-reviews/) • [16](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-06-ca-54325-story.html) The critic Jonathan Rosenbaum, writing in the *Chicago Reader*, defended it as one of the few truly original and personal commercial movies to have appeared that year.[4](https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/1994/05/being-human/) The film critic Adrian Martin found the film adrift for its first two hours but judged that Forsyth's understated style survived the studio interference, with at least two of the five stories, especially the one featuring Anna Galiena, quite moving.[13](https://www.adrianmartinfilmcritic.com/reviews/b/being_human.html)\n\n## Cast\n\nRobin Williams plays Hector in all five stories.[12](https://www.fandango.com/being-human-132488/movie-overview) The supporting cast includes [John Turturro](https://www.edgepedia.org/john-turturro) as Lucinnius, Anna Galiena as Beatrice, Vincent D'Onofrio as a priest, [Héctor Elizondo](https://www.edgepedia.org/hector-elizondo) as Dom Paulo, Lorraine Bracco as Anna, Lindsay Crouse as Janet, and Theresa Russell as the Storyteller.[12](https://www.fandango.com/being-human-132488/movie-overview) Netflix's listing also credits [Robert Carlyle](https://www.edgepedia.org/robert-carlyle) and Bill Nighy.[17](https://www.netflix.com/title/70126955)\n\n## Aftermath\n\n*Being Human* was Forsyth's final film with Hollywood backing, and it effectively ended his American career.[3](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/notebook-primer-bill-forsyth) • [18](https://psi329.cankaya.edu.tr/uploads/files/Shail%2C%20British-Film-Directors-A-Critical-Guide.pdf) In a 1994 interview, Forsyth said of the experience, \"I got the ending I wanted but I lost on virtually every other thing,\" and he and [Mike Figgis](https://www.edgepedia.org/mike-figgis) both vowed never to work in Hollywood again.[5](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-the-british-are-coming-home-you-re-a-british-director-you-re-a-hit-you-re-invited-to-hollywood-you-re-stitched-up-you-re-not-alone-1385861.html) A PhD thesis on Forsyth records that prolonged exposure to American financiers and producers had, in his own retrospective account, reduced his perception of what film could be.[14](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/6666/1/2006MurrayPhD.pdf)\n\n## References\n\n1. [Being Human, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/being_human)\n2. [Robert W. Welkos, \"Why 'Being Human' Misfired,\" Los Angeles Times, May 17, 1994](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-17-ca-58918-story.html)\n3. [Notebook Primer: Bill Forsyth, MUBI Notebook](https://mubi.com/de/notebook/posts/notebook-primer-bill-forsyth)\n4. [Jonathan Rosenbaum, \"Being Human,\" Chicago Reader, May 13, 1994](https://jonathanrosenbaum.net/1994/05/being-human/)\n5. [Peter Guttridge, \"The British are coming (home),\" The Independent, August 26, 1994](https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/film-the-british-are-coming-home-you-re-a-british-director-you-re-a-hit-you-re-invited-to-hollywood-you-re-stitched-up-you-re-not-alone-1385861.html)\n6. [Being Human, Cinegraph](https://cinegraph.org/movies/being-human-1994)\n7. [\"Why 'Being Human' Captures Robin Williams' Humanity,\" Hollywood in ToTo](https://www.hollywoodintoto.com/why-being-human-robin-williams-range-humanity/)\n8. [Being Human critic reviews, Metacritic](https://www.metacritic.com/movie/being-human/critic-reviews/)\n9. [Being Human (1994), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106379/)\n10. [James W. Arnold, \"'Being Human' conjures up ironic life dilemmas,\" The Criterion, May 27, 1994](https://www.archindy.org/criterion/files/1994/pdfs/19940527.pdf)\n11. [Being Human review, Time Out](https://www.timeout.com/movies/being-human-1)\n12. [Being Human, Fandango](https://www.fandango.com/being-human-132488/movie-overview)\n13. [Adrian Martin, \"Being Human,\" October 1994](https://www.adrianmartinfilmcritic.com/reviews/b/being_human.html)\n14. [Jonathan Murray, PhD thesis on Bill Forsyth, University of Glasgow, 2006](https://theses.gla.ac.uk/6666/1/2006MurrayPhD.pdf)\n15. [Being Human release info, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106379/releaseinfo/)\n16. [Kenneth Turan, \"2,000 Years of 'Being' Go Awry,\" Los Angeles Times, May 6, 1994](https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1994-05-06-ca-54325-story.html)\n17. [Being Human, Netflix](https://www.netflix.com/title/70126955)\n18. [Andrew Shail, British Film Directors: A Critical Guide, entry on Bill Forsyth](https://psi329.cankaya.edu.tr/uploads/files/Shail%2C%20British-Film-Directors-A-Critical-Guide.pdf)\n\n---\n*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Comedy and romantic films (individual works) › Comedies of 1990 to 1994 › Titles symbols to J*\n\n*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 3, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*\n\n*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*\n\nLicense: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license\n", "same_as": [], "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/being-human-1994-film", "markdown_url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/being-human-1994-film.md", "license": { "name": "Edgepedia Community License 1.0", "url": "https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license", "summary": "Free with credit, commercial use included. AI training is open to everyone. For other uses, organizations over USD 100M in revenue or 100M monthly users license separately.", "spdx": "LicenseRef-Edgepedia-Community-1.0" }, "credit": "\"Being Human (1994 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/being-human-1994-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "credit_md": "\"[Being Human (1994 film)](https://www.edgepedia.org/being-human-1994-film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), [https://www.edgepedia.org/being-human-1994-film](https://www.edgepedia.org/being-human-1994-film). [Edgepedia Community License 1.0](https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license).", "credit_html": "\"Being Human (1994 film)\", Edgepedia (EdgeChat), https://www.edgepedia.org/being-human-1994-film. Edgepedia Community License 1.0.", "speakable": "Being Human is a 1994 drama written and directed by Bill Forsyth, starring Robin Williams as Hector in five historical eras; a Warner Bros. production that flopped, grossing $1.3 million." }