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jabbagr
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An error has ocurred. Please try againA list of the movies I have watched can be found here: http://www.imdb.com/user/ur27008434/watchlist
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The Man from Earth (2007)
A travel through time and history in 87 minutes.
What if you were a man that lived for 14,000 years? What if you could witness the living history of the planet? What if..? This is the central idea of Jerome Bixby's highly under-appreciated gem called The Man from Earth. A film that takes place in a single room and is essentially a series of discussions between college professors from various fields. A film so mysterious that will have you glued to the screen the whole time. A film that deserves to be reviewed.
"I've done this before". One of the first things our protagonist says, is actually one of the key elements in the story. We begin following John Oldman (get it?) who after 10 years has decided to leave his position as a history professor at a local university and move. His colleagues however decide to send him off with a party. And this is when our story begins. John decides to do something he has never done before...to tell the truth about himself. So he explains that he is a man that never ages, a man that has lived for 140 centuries. Upon this revelation a cat and mouse game begins between the host and his guests. John narrates his life while the others try to disprove his sayings. Through this back and forth we travel through the history of mankind over the past few millennia, from the Cro-Magnon to the modern era. A journey that takes you through science, art, history, anthropology and religion.
At first, the film seems to go around the same topic: "Is John lying?". If you focus on this though, you have missed the point. The main message coming across is the sense of uncertainty that is present throughout the discussions. How can any of us be certain about anything? How can we function unless we take certain things for granted? More importantly, what happens when the things we have taken for granted are questioned? The guests' reactions to John's story, cover a wide range of emotions throughout the film. Indulging, disbelief, concern, curiosity, mockery and anger are all present and expressed in different ways.
During the discussions you are presented with various historical facts combined with the fact that knowledge of these facts does not constitute an answer to the ultimate question. The structure of the film prepares you from the very start for the possibility that you might not even get one. Yet in the end we see that even for a man who has allegedly lived this long there are still things he hasn't done before. In an effort to keep this review as spoiler-free as possible I will not go into lengths about what is being discussed, and I will only say that it is a chance to see an alternate interpretation of history. After all, as it is continuously repeated by the participants of this academic discussion, "Anything is possible".
The film does not feature a well known cast and performances are the obvious flaw one could find in it. With one exception; David Lee Smith as John Oldman. The silent and humble portrayal of Smith seems to be extremely fitting to the character and all he represents. He is a man that has known and experienced more than one could imagine and that has given him an inner peace that can be seen by his reactions during the conversation. He is, however, still a human and so when Dr. Gruber corners and directly attacks him, you can see the doubt and fear he has about his own nature come to the surface.
There is not much to say about the direction, but the score is very subtle and only present at times where it sets the mood without hindering the conversation. It augments the sense of mystery and always ties in very well with the topic at hand.
Bixby's excellent writing lights the fuse that can lead to endless possibilities for discussion after the end of the film. A man who spend his life writing cheap science fiction, finally managed on his deathbed to complete a screenplay that he first conceived in the 60s. The materialization of his idea about the true nature of man, that is the perfect mixture of open-mindedness and cynicism.