The Man From Earth

2007, USA, 87 mins
Now available on DVD.

Review by Carl J. Schroeder

The buzz is going around for this new release - basically direct to DVD - of a classic style science fiction philosophy film based on a group of scholars questioning a 14,000 year old colleague. The story was the life's work of a famous genre writer, completed on his deathbed, a 1950's era author known for some of the best Twilight Zone and Star Trek episodes ever produced. Jerome Bixby's Man from Earth is totally satisfying without the need for action or special effects, because great actors are given great dialogue that engages the mind and makes startling statements about civilization and religion.

The Man from Earth is an independent film worth seeing and supporting. It harkens back not only to golden age sci-fi, but other great location-bound conversation films, like My Dinner with Andre (1981) in its restaurant, Mindwalk (1990) on an island, Between Two Worlds (1944) on the afterlife ferry, and the classic 12 Angry Men (1957) in one jury room. That last example was particularly studied, because Bixby sets this debate in a cabin in the desert thusly: Several college faculty members, including a biologist, anthropologist, and historians, follow an esteemed peer when they find him preparing to start a new life somewhere else with a never-before-seen genuine Van Gogh casually tossed in the back of his pickup.

It seems our hero, John Oldman (old-man, see, Bixby has a sense of humor), has to move on every 10 years because people start wondering why he hasn't aged. He confesses this to his friends when they pester him enough. Hey, there's a genuine prehistoric tool in your house, and a fancy bow, what gives? Oh, I'm a 14,000 year old man from the upper Pleistocene era, couldn't you tell? This leads to much great conversation. It turns out that upper Pleistocene humans were physically indistinguishable from modern humans, so maybe the best darn looking cave man really is the star of our movie. What's more, this guy knew Van Gogh, Columbus, the Buddha, and Jesus. So hang on for a wild ride of speculative historical revisionism.

Since this is the first time our cave man has revealed all, there's lots of emotional fallout to reckon with. Which makes for more great conversation, and theatre. The academics have to agree with John's facts but conclude he's delusional. Just memorized books, only imagined he saw the tectonic plates move, for example. One historian calls over a psychiatrist who turns out to be unstable with a gun, not a good combination. Then there's the young attractive woman who confesses her love for John which is so true that she won't mind growing old while he doesn't (yeah, but will he?). The showstopper comes when the old Christian lady gets so upset at the blasphemy that she breaks down sobbing. She doesn't want to hear John's firsthand accounts of how her religion got inflated from non-miraculous simpler events.

Here The Man from Earth becomes The Da Vinci Code (2006) in another direction, say, atheism instead of new age feminism. It's interesting to note how atheist themes are getting more recognition in cinema lately, basically as backlash to fundamentalism. The new family fantasy The Golden Compass (2007) is being debated as an atheist's reply to the righteous morality of C. S. Lewis and Tolkien, and the sci-fi thriller The Mist (2007) proves that one crazy church lady can be more dangerous than a whole lotta inter-dimensional monsters. Folks of faith can get offended or learn a new point of view. The documentary The God Who Wasn't There (2005) covers similar territory as The Man from Earth, name dropping a multitude of mythological precedents for the Jesus story. The 14,000 year old man has been through all the civilizations, so he knows this stuff without having to read the works of Robert M. Price.

I take no offense, I just wonder why in 14,000 years John Oldman hasn't once had a near-death experience, or entheogenic revelation, or mystical awakening, or something to make him a little more sympathetic to theism. Maybe it's because he, like Jesus, was strictly Buddhist (the lost years theory), or more likely this very personal story was the death bed catharsis for an agnostic sci-fi writer. More context reveals that the film was shot for very little in just over a week. Veteran actors, many recognizable, turn in decent performances that probably would have been better if time had allowed. Everyone is giving a labor of love, which is how films like this can shine.

The Man from Earth is gentle, moral, thought provoking, funny, and even has a good ending. The DVD comes with four valuable extras too, so enjoy at your favorite rental or purchase at amazon here.

Carl Schroeder publishes the MysticalMovieGuide.com website, which researches and reviews thousands of films with intriguing psychological and spiritual themes across all genres, countries, and styles - plus tips on where to find them.