The Man from Earth

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The Man from Earth
The Man from Earth theatrical poster.
Directed by	Richard Schenkman
Produced by	Emerson Bixby, Eric D. Wilkinson, Richard Schenkman
Written by	Jerome Bixby
Starring	John Billingsley Tony Todd
Distributed by	Anchor Bay Entertainment, Shoreline Entertainment
Release date(s)	November 13, 2007
Running time	89 min.
Language	English
Official website
Allmovie profile
IMDb profile

The Man from Earth is a 2007 independent film written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Richard Schenkman. The film stars David Lee Smith as John Oldman. The screenplay for this movie was conceived by Jerome Bixby in the early 1960s and was completed on his death bed in April of 1998, making it his final piece of work. ^[1]

The film tells a story of a 14,000 year old Cro-Magnon caveman, John Oldman, who survives until the present day. The entire film is shot in a small house and its porch, a testimony of the low budget from which this film is produced. It relies solely on the conversation of the characters to keep the plot moving, with no special effects, actions, or fancy music as the whole film is no more than an intellectual discourse between the 14,000-year-old Cro-Magnon and his professor and teacher friends at his farewell party.

Contents 1 Plot 2 Production 3 Cast 4 Distribution 5 Soundtrack 6 Publicity through filesharing 7 References

[edit] Plot

The movie starts off with Professor John Oldman (David Lee Smith) who is seen packing his belongings onto his truck, in preparation of moving to a new home before his colleagues show up to give him an unexpected farewell party. They consist of Harry (John Billingsley, a biologist), Edith (Ellen Crawford, a Christian literalist), Dan (Tony Todd, an anthropologist) and Sandy (Annika Peterson, a historian who is in love with John). As they are walking into the house, Edith spots an unknown Van Gogh painting of John's with the word "To my friend, Jacques Borne" written on the back. Once they are inside, it is learned that John Oldman had unexpectedly resigned from his teaching position and his concerned friends are there to obtain an explanation for it.

After some light conversation, another friend named Art Jenkins (William Katt, an archeologist), and his student, Linda Murphy (Alexis Thorpe), show up. John's friends continue to pressure him for the reason for his departure until John comes up with the question "What if a man, from the Upper Paleolithic survives until the present day?". Initially, they assume that John is working on a science fiction book and play along with the discussion. As the film progresses, John slowly reveals that he is the 'caveman' in the discussion when he mentions that he was given a chance to sail with Christopher Columbus in the 15th century. The revelation starts off with John's recollection of the terrain of prehistoric Earth and John's origins, which happens to be roughly 14,000 years ago. John reveals that he was once a Jacques Borne, a friend of Van Gogh's (which explains the picture in the beginning of the movie), and he is now 'moving on' as some people have noticed that he hasn't aged in the last 10 years.

As they take a break from the discussion, Art -- who is clearly upset with John's story -- calls another friend, Dr. Will Gruber (an old psychologist) explaining the odd situation and asks him to come over right away. In the meantime, Sandy confesses to John that she loves him when they are alone at the porch of the house. John resumes his story by stating that he was once a Sumerian for 2000 years, then a Babylonian under Hammurabi, and finally a disciple of Gautama Buddha. Dr Will Gruber arrives, and at this point, Dan mentions that John's tale is impossible to be disproved as it is to be verified, a response to the many attempts to poke holes in John's story by his colleagues previously. The discussion takes a turn into the biological/physical condition of John Oldman and the topic of death. Gruber propels the discussion deeper into the topic of death and tension rises as Gruber interrogates John on that subject. The tension culminates with Gruber pointing a gun at John. After the drama ends with the departure of Gruber, Harry reveals that Gruber's wife has passed away the day before and the confession of John's immortality had hit Gruber very hard. At this point, it can be seen that Art and Edith are upset with John's story while Harry, Dan, Sandy and Linda appear to be more sympathetic.

John also mentions that he is not a follower of a particular religion, and he doesn't believe in an all-knowing, omnipotent God. It is here that the movie takes a giant twist when John reveals how he survived the crucifixion under the identity of Jesus Christ by "blocking the pain" as he had learned to do in India under Gautama Buddha. He went on to explain the origin of the Resurrection, Moses and other items in the Bible. Tempers rise and emotions flow as Edith pressures John to recant his story, which offends her deep-rooted faith in the Bible as a Christian literalist. Dr. Gruber returns to the scene and apologizes to John for his "infantile behaviour." As John continues to pack his belongings onto the truck, his colleagues begin to talk about the possibility of John being mentally ill or high on drugs.

The discussion of John being Christ, Christianity, and the Bible continues and finally Edith, unable to take John's tale anymore, breaks down crying. Emotions in the room run high. Gruber takes charge of the situation and sternly demands that John end his 'high tale' and give closure to the story by threatening to lock him up for observation. John apologizes to everyone for his tale as he doesn't want to further upset any of his friends.

As each of John's friends leave, John apologizes to Harry and Edith, while Art and Linda leave without many parting words. When it is Dan's turn to say goodbye, it is hinted that Dan believes John's story but wouldn't take any more words for the day. After everyone but Dr. Gruber and Sandy has left, the film rises to an unexpected and shattering climax when Dr. Gruber overhears John relating to Sandy some of the other pseudonyms he has used over the years, one of which was the name of Gruber's father. Gruber, shocked and over-excited, suffers a heart attack as a result of his pre-existing heart condition and dies. After Gruber's body is taken away, the movie ends with Sandy walking towards John (in his truck) who changes his mind at the last minute to spend some part of his life with her.

[edit] Production

The story is Jerome Bixby's last work, which he completed on his deathbed in April 1998. Bixby dictated the last of his screenplay to his son, screenwriter Emerson Bixby. After Jerome Bixby's death the script was given to Richard Schenkman to direct on a $200,000 budget.^[2]

[edit] Cast

In order of appearance:

• David Lee Smith^IMDb as John Oldman
• Tony Todd as Dan
• John Billingsley as Harry
• Ellen Crawford as Edith
• Annika Peterson^IMDb as Sandy
• William Katt as Art Jenkins
• Alexis Thorpe as Linda Murphy
• Richard Riehle as Dr. Will Gruber

[edit] Distribution

The film screened at the Comic-Con Film Festival in July 2007, and premiered in Hemet, California, in October 2007. It won the grand prize for Best Screenplay and first place for Best Feature at the Rhode Island Film Festival in August 2007.^[3]

[edit] Soundtrack

All music performed by Mark Hinton Stewart

"7th Symphony - 2nd Movement"

• Written by Ludwig van Beethoven

"Forever"

• Lyrics by Richard Schenkman
• Music by Mark Hinton Stewart
• Performed by Mark Hinton Stewart and Chantelle Duncan
• Copyright - BDI Music LTD.

[edit] Publicity through filesharing

In what may be an unprecedented move, the producer of this film, Eric D. Wilkinson, has publicly thanked users of BitTorrent who have distributed the movie without express permission, saying that it has lifted the profile of this product far beyond the financier's expectations.^[4] Producers Schenkman (sellingrs), Bixby (Emerson_Bixby) and Wilkinson (EWilkinson100) have all written comments on IMDb forums and responded to questions from fans.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] References