Man from Earth

Anchor Bay

R4 DVD

Jerome Bixby was a celebrated author whose television credits included the "Mirror, Mirror" and “Day of the Dove” episodes of Star Trek and the "It's a Good Life" episode of The Twilight Zone. He also conceived and co-wrote the celebrated 1966 film Fantastic Voyage. The Man from Earth was originally conceived by Bixby in the 1960’s but not completed until the last months before his death in 1998. After his demise his son tirelessly worked to bring it to the big screen and this film is the result and what a superb film it is.

College professor John Oldman has unexpectedly decided to move on, he has a great career and love on the cards but for some undisclosed reason he is loading his pick-up truck and preparing to leave. He is interrupted by a small group of friends primarily made up of fellow academics, since he tried to escape a going away party they have decided to bring it to him. While John is a respected and loved academic, he lives in an isolated Cabin and seems to have a very different approach to life than those around him. He lives with minimal possessions and seems to like the “natural” life.

As his friends help him pack away his possessions they are a little startled to notice what looks like a genuine yet unknown Van Gogh, a rare bow and arrow and a late Cro-Magnon flint tool.

As the whisky and conversation flows all of them are intrigued about John’s unexpected departure and his evasiveness about his life and where he is going next. For someone close to his friends he seems unwilling to even tell them where he is going and what he plays to do.

After some deliberation John asks them a fascinating yet strange question "What if a man from the upper paleolithic survived until the present day?" At first it seems just like a hypothetical debate to have with some boozy academic friends and they discuss it from the angle of biology, anthropology and history. However, suddenly John moves the discussion into the first person and they realize he is seriously talking about himself.

John reveals he is 14,000 years old and has lived in a vast number of countries and communities. He learned early that to stay too long was dangerous as his lack of aging gave him away, so to minimize risk he would move every ten years. He begins to explain to them his experience of life and slowly but surely each one of his guests become challenged, frightening, awestruck, or in one case, emotionally distraught. One of his guests becomes so concerned about John’s mental condition that he invites a psychiatrist friend in on the discussion.

There are no special abilities or awesome godlike powers, John uses his intelligence to challenge and confront those around him. He not only explains his experience of prehistory but his personal apprenticeship to the Buddha and his later life being the basis for the “Jesus” myth.

The sheer intelligence and erudition of the script is breathtaking. It is witty, interesting and above all shows a brilliant knowledge of history, religion, mythology and psychology. The mixture of guests including a psychiatrist, religious believer, an open minded academic, an anthropologist and so on, allows the film to reflect on various reactions to John’s tale.

Man from Earth is a powerful film, yet clearly low budget. It has been essentially filmed in one cabin with minimal props and no special effects. The acting is superb and each of the characters are totally believable. It is really quite an achievement to create such a fascinating film with a group of people having a conversation.

The climax of the film is totally unexpected, as John recants to save his guests their sanity and each of them leaves, the psychiatrist hears John talking with a young girl about his various lives and names. Suddenly the psychiatrist releases that John was his father, a father who left when he was very young, just like John was describing. Suddenly faced with undeniable proof of John’s immortality, his dies of a heart attack and John is again reminded of the cost of living forever.

The Man from Earth is startling Science Fiction, filled with thought provoking ideas and some of the best dialogue I have heard in a long time.

This review will appear in Volume 2 No.2 (2009) of the digital and print edition of Synergy Magazine.

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