"The Man from Earth" is a story about an "undead man" who has lived on Earth for 14,000 years. Jerome Bixby had such an original idea in the 1960s. In "Requiem for Methuselah," Season 3, Episode 19 of "Star Trek: The Original Series," which he wrote, the crew of the "Enterprise" encounters an "undead man" who travels between different The historical period also often featured prominent figures, such as Alexander and Leonardo da Vinci.
When it came to "The Man from Earth", Jerome Bixby enriched and refined his original idea. The protagonist is born as a "caveman", and he never dies or even grows old. He has crossed the mountains and rivers, and the long river of history. He constantly learns and adapts. He learns how to integrate into the new environment and adapts to leaving again and again. Then repeat alone. An "immortal", "immortal" person, ultimately pointing to Jesus, is to some extent a necessity. I won't say much about religion here. In the film (novel), of course, it is mainly the embodiment of the author's thoughts, but the different characters in it also reflect various concepts.
Introducing the history that everyone is familiar with, plus the "ridiculous" elements (sci-fi) with their own characteristics, as a new background and stage, is a common way for some works such as sci-fi to combine familiar, kind and affirmative things" Alienation", forming a new and attractive freshness. "The Man" in "The Man from Earth" is not only "Jesus", but also a companion of the famous cave mural author, and a neighbor of Van Gogh who has an authentic piece of Van Gogh. These not only increase the interest of the work, but also play a role in promoting the plot in the process of confirming the identity of the protagonist. Some are similar, such as The Da Vinci Code, which was popular a few years ago.
The brilliance of "The Man from Earth" lies not only in its review or remodeling of history, but also in the way it is reviewed or remodeled; not only in the legend of the protagonist, but also in the questioning, arguing, doubting and guessing of each other by the various characters "Finish" the saga.
The film is very "simple". The inside and outside of a wooden house is the whole scene, and the dialogue between several people is the main plot. John Oldman, who never grows old and never dies, has been in this place for ten years, and it's time for him to leave again. Colleagues from the university came to see him off and gathered at his house. At first, his silence, his refraining from speaking, brought a strong sense of loneliness. Facing the concerns and doubts of colleagues and friends, he began to tell his own story.
If he is the only one who speaks, no matter what the content is, it will inevitably be boring. So there are his colleagues and friends to participate. They are both professors (and a student) at the university, with different identities, with a wealth of knowledge and insights in their respective fields of expertise; and their personalities are also different. They viewed, analyzed, and accepted John from different perspectives and attitudes, and together they completed the narrative of John's legend. Among them were archaeologists, historians (or anthropologists?), psychologists, and a lovely "old urchin" biologist, an art professor who was a devout Christian, and one who watched A young, simple and practical but very sensitive female college student, and his lover who is in a complicated mood at the moment.
The most wonderful and important person among them, in my opinion, is the psychologist. His sudden appearance, his extraordinary agitation, the impact of his lover's death, his departure and return, his identity as a psychologist, his firm, strong suspicion of John, his stubbornness about the identity of "father" Sensitivity and shadow, his true relationship with John, until his final death, twists and turns, multiple hints, echoes, surprising suspense, and finally can bring new experiences to John who has lived for more than 14,000 years. The setting is really wonderful, it is admirable.
Although I haven't read the original book, I believe that the film will not change much from the novel. Although it is "simple", it is supported by wonderful and solid "content", and the watchability and durability are very good. Of course, as a movie, "The Man from Earth" can be criticized a lot, but these are not important in comparison.
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