Spoiler Alert: Man from Earth and Its Mind-blowing Restless Premise
It has been ages since I write something that is not about my spiritual and healing journey. I have been keeping this urge to review this film for weeks. I think it is the time to finally share my two cents.
Disclaimer: Of course I watched this in the midst of my healing journey. And you have to understand the circumstance under which I can finally made the decision to watch any film: it is when my reality was that dull and my soul needed its dose of epiphany or at least a picnic away from life. Same thing can be applied in reading books, but to watch film needs both mind and soul’s consent to be done. Ask my husband, he knows well can never force me to watch film if I still have no urge to do that, unless it is Marvel movies (haha).
Ok, let us go back to Man from Earth. This film’s set is nowhere other than the protagonist’s house. The plot revolves around intellectual argument about John Oldman’s -the protagonist- identity as a cro-magnon -- the earliest version of homo sapiens. Oldman was about to move from his current abode to a new city but his fellow faculty members from the university he worked in came and held an impromptu farewell party. They then urged Oldman to tell them the real reason that made him decide to walk away all of a sudden. The conversation went on and he finally came to a revealing moment of truth that he was a Cro-Magnon having been living for god knows how many millennia. He admitted that he was one of the great Buddha’s disciples and his story was even put in the Bible. Oldman’s company, one of whom was a true Christianity believer started to cry due to Oldman’s statement that in her opinion must have been a blasphemy. Oldman’s colleagues became impatient for his mindless talk and urge him to stop irritating them with the accurate description of his over millennia’s life without having any sign of aging. The closure of the film portrays Oldman’s confession that what he had talked about was no more than a prank. His colleagues had diverse responses towards this, some relieved and believed all was true, others pissed.
Well, for some the whole film might kind of be a total joke and boring. But for me this film tickled my soul in a fresh manner. I even watched this film to prevent me being asleep. No beautiful scenery nor adrenaline rush from the jump-scares or action scenes, simply discussion and counter arguments. I love how each and every character shows expressive face when the camera zooms in to their reaction listening to the biggest nonsensical tale of the century from a runaway academician. It seems insane but I love how the premise is developed not in way that tries to convince any of the statement as the only truth. Oldman the Cro-Magnon did not even once try to make his colleagues from diverse disciplines- archeology, biology, history, and psychiatry- believe in any of his answers. He claimed that what he told had been from his sole perspective and that he had no idea what his journey meant in a bigger perspective. The part in which he did not force his colleagues to believe him was in itself a tool of convincing. Christian believers might also find this insane, as Oldman admitted he was Jesus Christ, and that he taught Jesus’ friends about Buddhist philosophy and teachings. In other words, bible was no other than only a folklore, which is kind of distressing for the followers of Jesus. I was not offended at all, maybe because he did not mock Muslim prophet; Muhammad PBUH, but it was still an interesting thing to observe that all the things we know as truth can still be challenged and argued in this 3-D life.
Human beings have been gifted intelligence and common sense, that is why they, myself included, are thrilled to train their wit and test their own hypothesis. Or maybe not. Some of us find new way of thinking still offensive and attacking. Well, somehow we need to just let the thoughts be thoughts, not faith nor unchallenged preach. Hard is it? But this film can also remind me to let my feelings of joy, anger, and sadness pass and not believing those as my true identity. Feeling is to be felt, not to be made as our mask of identity.
Finally I would like to say that this sudden desire to write has been finally dawned. Along with this attempt to put my thoughts into words, I read a letter from my yoga guru, Adriene. She said that this is time to cherish and be clear. Cherish differences, and be clear, indeed, that feelings are a part of ourselves, not who we are. Cheers.
