The Man From Earth
| Movie | |
|---|---|
| German title | The Man from Earth |
| Original title | The Man from Earth |
| Country of production | United States |
| original language | English |
| Publishing year | 2007 |
| length | 89 minutes |
| Age rating | FSK 0 |
| Rod | |
| Director | Richard Schenkman |
| script | Jerome Bixby |
| production | Emerson Bixby, Eric D. Wilkinson, Richard Schenkman |
| music | Mark Hinton Stewart |
| camera | Afshin Shahidi |
| cut | Neil Grieve |
| occupation | |
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| chronology | |
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The Man from Earth is a 2007 science fiction film directed by Richard Schenkman based on a script by Jerome Bixby . It tells the story of John Oldman who claims to be a 14,000 year old Cro-Magnon human . The action of the film takes place mainly in a single room. The film was released on DVD on February 12, 2009 . In 2017 a sequel appeared with The Man from Earth: Holocene .
action
Professor John Oldman is about to load his pick-up truck with moving boxes and other items when he is unexpectedly visited by friends and colleagues. It is a group of scientists consisting of Harry ( biologist ), Edith ( art scholar and Bible-firm Christian), Dan ( anthropologist ) and Sandy ( historian ). Shortly afterwards, Art ( archaeologist ) and his student Linda arrive . Everyone wants to say goodbye to John and are curious to know why he is going and where. After everyone has made themselves comfortable in the living room, Sandy reveals to John in a quiet moment that she has fallen in love with him and regrets his departure.
The question arises again and again about the reason for John's departure, but he evades. Since his friends persist, John asks them the question: "Assuming that a person from the Paleolithic had survived to this day, what kind of person would he be?" In the course of the discussion on this question, it turns out that John means himself . After some of John’s stories from his 14,000-year-old memory, he explains that he now has to move on - as he has often done before - because after a few years people around him notice that he is not aging.
John says that he once lived as a caveman . Art becomes skeptical and calls the well-known psychiatrist Dr. Will Gruber to ask him to come over. After John explains that he knew Buddha and Hammurabi , Will appears and also listens to John's stories. John also claims to have known historical people such as Christopher Columbus and van Gogh personally. The latter gave him a picture that he initially called a copy. Scientists are getting deeper and deeper into discussions about the provability of his claim and other philosophical and theological problems. The situation suddenly escalates and Will threatens John with what later turns out to be an unloaded weapon.
Finally, John explains that he was once Jesus and had only tried to adapt the wisdom of his teacher Buddha to the rituals of the time. He did not die on the cross, but was only seriously injured and found supposedly dead. The disciples had misinterpreted his convalescence as a miracle. Everything else is the myth that developed afterwards about his person, which he did not want.
Edith then calls him a blasphemist , and Will - still very skeptical like most - thinks that John should be treated like a mentally ill person who thinks he is Napoleon . Regardless of sitting round the fireplace, the John to the fire in the cave recalls his childhood, and sounds for the 7th Symphony of Beethoven by more of his stories.
Finally, Will threatens John with a forced admission and tells him to expose his story as a story of lies . John complies and explains that everything was just an invention, a mind game. The round then slowly dissolves, although some were now inclined to believe John's story. After everyone has left except Sandy and Will, who remains in the background, John gives Sandy a few names that he has used in his past. When Will hears one of these names, he realizes that John must be his father. By giving details from Will's past, such as the name of his dog from childhood, which only he can know, John proves his story. Will has a heart attack from the shock. The paramedics summoned can only determine his death. John is very upset because he has never seen his own child die because he has left every family after only a few years of living together. He gets in his car and drives off. Shortly afterwards he stops and lets Sandy get in.
Finance and Web Success
The film is said to have been budgeted for $ 200,000. The film was so successful in the P2P community that the director thanked him on various BitTorrent websites. At the same time, he asked to order the DVD or to donate it via the film website.
Prizes and awards
- 2007 - 1st Place - Best Feature - Rhode Island International Film Festival, NY, USA
- 2007 - Grand Prize - Best Screenplay - Rhode Island International Film Festival, NY, USA
- 2008 - Best Film - Montevideo Fantastic Film Festival of Uruguay
- 2008 - Audience Choice Award - Montevideo Fantastic Film Festival of Uruguay
- 2008 - Best Director - Fantaspoa - International Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre, Brazil
- 2008 - 2nd Place - Best Feature - Rio de Janeiro International Fantastic Film Festival (RioFan)
- 2008 - Audience Award: Best Feature Film - Fixion-Sars Horror & Fantastic Film Festival of Santiago, Chile
- 2008 - Jury Award: Best Screenplay - Fixion-Sars Horror & Fantastic Film Festival of Santiago, Chile
- 2008 - Best Sci-Fi Screenplay - International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival, Phoenix, AZ, USA
- 2008 - Best Screenplay - Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre - Int'l Independent Horror, Fantasy & Bizarre, Argentina
- 2008 - DVD Critics Award - Best Non-Theatrical Movie
Similar topic, see also
- Tous les hommes sont mortels (1946), dt. All people are mortal by Simone de Beauvoir , ISBN 3-499-11302-3
- The Boat of a Million Years (1989), (German time trial driver , 1991, Heyne 4832) by Poul Anderson , ISBN 3-453-05018-5
- Planet of the Immortals is an episode of Spaceship Enterprise (1969), in which an immortal person from the Bronze Age occurs, who assumed different historical personalities as changing identities. The script was also written by Jerome Bixby.
- Atlan da Gonozal from the science fiction series Perry Rhodan , an alien stranded on earth who is relatively immortal thanks to a so-called "cell activator". He has lived on earth for several thousand years and, as an advisor to many historical personalities of mankind, has repeatedly given impulses for their further development.
Web links
- Website of the film
- The Man from Earth in the Internet Movie Database (English)
- The Man From Earth atRotten Tomatoes(English)
Individual evidence
- ↑ Jay A. Fernandez: A sci-fi writer's final words are brought to life , Los Angeles Times . July 25, 2007. Retrieved February 26, 2013.