Movie Review – The man from earth (What if a 14,000 year old man appeared in front of you?)

The Man from Earth captivates audiences with its powerful story and well-written dialog, without the need for spectacular graphics. The story of a 14,000-year-old protagonist leads to deep reflections on religion, philosophy, and human existence.

 

If you look at the latest foreign movies at the box office, they’re usually either action or science fiction with spectacular graphics. Modern audiences tend to favor visually spectacular effects and fast-paced action. These movies use high budgets and cutting-edge technology to grab the audience’s attention, delivering thrilling action and an amazing visual experience. However, these elements can sometimes come at the expense of the underlying story or character depth of the movie. A movie with a lot to see and do may grab the audience’s attention immediately, but the impact is often forgotten over time.
The Man from Earth, however, goes in a completely different direction. There’s no CG at all, except for subtitles. The movie is set in a small house somewhere in the United States. The movie is just a bunch of university professors having a discussion. Despite this, once you start watching it, you can’t help but pay attention. The whole scenario and every single line of dialog is so well constructed.
Unlike many modern movies that rely on visual stimulation, this movie captivates the audience through the power of the story. This reminds us how important the “story” element of a movie is. A movie shouldn’t just rely on visual effects or spectacular action. Instead, a strong story and depth of character can be what makes a movie truly worthwhile.
The movie opens with John Oldman, a university professor, suddenly leaving for somewhere new, and his fellow professors show up at his home. They are interested in the antiques among his belongings and begin to piece together the story with the clue that he hasn’t aged nearly 10 years. It is at this point that John reveals that he is a Cro-Magnon, born 14,000 years ago and not yet dead, and that he has been living a nomadic life, traveling to different places and changing his identity when others realize he is not aging. At first, the professors find the story absurd and bizarre, but they decide that it’s an interesting discussion regardless of whether it’s true or not, and begin to ask each other questions and piece together the puzzle as if they were playing a game. The professors, who are experts in their respective fields, listen to John’s story critically but also with interest. However, as the story progresses, John’s story becomes so logical and fits so well that the discussion becomes more and more serious, and the audience becomes as fascinated with the movie as the professors are.

 

 

The title of this movie is ‘The man from earth’. In fact, we are all earthlings, but the reason for this title is to emphasize that the main character is from “14,000 years ago”. The movie’s main premise is, “What if the Cro-Magnons of 14,000 years ago were alive today?” This hypothetical is very interesting, and it creates a rather shocking imagination for the viewer, but the real appeal of the movie is not only in this interesting setting. The movie’s real appeal lies in the depth of its subject matter, which goes beyond mere curiosity. In fact, the movie asks fundamental questions about human history and existence, forcing us to reflect on how we understand our own identity.
What makes this movie even more remarkable than its macro themes are the details of the dialog and the tightly written screenplay. Among the many lines of dialog, what I found most interesting about the movie was a shocking revelation that came to light during a serious discussion. John claims that he was traveling and happened to pass through India during the time of the Buddha, met him, received his teachings, and tried to bring them to Rome. The conclusion is that he is “Jesus. Of course, this is just a hypothetical scenario based on assumptions about the Cro-Magnon. However, the next few lines really resonated with me because I’ve been thinking a lot about religion and philosophy since I was a kid, and it’s very similar to the way I was raised.
In high school, I was interested in the nature of the world, the origin of the universe, etc. and thought a lot about it, to the point where I dreamed of becoming a physicist. I am an engineer and interested in religion because I have been thinking about these things since childhood. However, trying to understand the gap between scientific thinking and religious belief has not been easy. Many people see religion and science as opposing each other, but I believe that they can play a complementary role. Religion provides for our spiritual needs and moral guidance, while science reveals the laws of the natural world. However, I don’t believe in any religion. This is probably because as an engineering student, I tend to view religion cynically and analytically. Therefore, the view of Christianity in this movie, in particular, is very much in line with my own.
After John says he is Jesus, he begins to criticize the current church and the content of the Bible. He never claimed to be the Son of God, never claimed to be the King of the Jews, never walked on water or raised the dead. He says that the only divine words he emphasized were “human goodness on earth” and that the New Testament is less than 100 words long. He says that he tried to teach faith in order to lead people in a good direction because of the social conditions of his time. What he actually taught was very brief and heavily embellished with myths, fables, and miracles, and the rituals, worship, apparitions, bread and wine, kneeling, wailing, and chanting were not what he had in mind.
My thoughts on religion are similar to the above. History doesn’t like gaps, so the people who wrote the Bible didn’t just say, “A man named Jesus appeared and taught these things,” and leave it at that. They would have wrapped his anecdotes in fables, myths, and deified his birth or actions to lend credibility to his teachings. I’m not saying that these processes are bad in themselves. It’s just that the focus is on the “lend credibility” part. However, there are problems with interpreting this aspect of the Bible.
The most problematic is the literal interpretation of the Bible. The Bible is full of fables, myths, and miracles: heaven and hell, the miracles of Moses, the five plagues, and so on. While these may be based on historical facts, not all of them are true. For example, it’s true that Moses led his people out of Egypt. However, it is physically impossible for the sea to split on either side to create a path. If a believer were to preach that to the general public as fact, it would discredit the religion of Christianity. The important thing that this myth emphasizes is that the sea did not split, Moses saved the Israelites, and he was a man of extraordinary abilities.
Among the many other beliefs of Christianity, the one I want to focus on is the concept of heaven and hell. For Christians, heaven is a place where you can only go if you believe in God, Jesus. And to get there, you have to be a good person in this life. But let’s think about it. Do we need to be good to get to heaven? Or did we create the concept of heaven to get people to be good? I agree with the latter. I think the following line from the movie sums it up well.
“In addition, the philosophy of Jesus’ teachings is Hebraic Buddhism. Mercy and tolerance, brotherhood and love, the realization that this life is fleeting. That the place of life is right here, that heaven is about building up goodness, and that it is done right here.”
What is the true “faith” that Jesus wants us to have? In short, it’s “get along with your neighbors and be good! However, we often see people who interpret the Bible in a different way, acting in ways that are unorthodox and frowned upon by others. I have been thinking that these people need to understand the fundamental meaning of religion. This movie is recommended as an interesting scientific subject, but in my opinion, it is especially recommended as a contemplation and reflection on religion.