Positively Glorious!

Last night, I was lucky enough to watch a really great story, The Man from Earth. It’s a very simple film, shot entirely in the the cabin of John Oldman, a university professor who is retiring and moving on, to the disappointment of– and without even saying goodbye to– his teacher friends. They arrive to catch him packing up his truck and are determined to have an impromtu farewell party. Pressed for a reason for leaving, John eventually tells them that he is a a Cro-Magnon caveman from the Upper Paleolithic, who still survives after 14,000 years. As the intellectual conversation continues, John reveals his story with increasing intensity and drama until the story climaxes with his most shocking tale.

This film is so great because it’s so simple, and yet so vast. The entire film is shot in John’s small house–as the furniture is being moved out– and consists solely of dialog and intellectual discourse. Yet, even in this setting, the dialog opens our imagination to places as vast as the great steppes of Asia and the mountains of the Himalaya. As John describes his life, and travel around the world we are treated to a condensed history of the human condition, with John stating that he remembers some things and forgets others, and that he also keeps making the same mistakes.

The best stories for me are those that deeply explore the simplicity of being human, the fact that, after everything is said and done, we are all the same. This movie does that very well. It’s also nice because it’s set somewhat like a play (in fact, while watching it, I assumed it was originally a play. It was not). Some directors would approach this movie as a chance to film epic scenes over the centuries with battles and special effects. This one focuses on the story, leaving the special effects to our imagination. We see John’s story in our heads, colored by our own experiences. This builds in an element that is uniquely personal.

Given the richness of the story, the breadth of its scope, and the simplicity of its production, this film easily takes a place in my top 5 list of best films I’ve seen. I only wish there was a play script, because this would be a fantastic play to put on at CAST.