The man from earth (2007) - Sci-fi at its best

We often wonder what we would do if we only had a few years left to live. Some of us would travel the world to discover what we have been missing out, others would seek extreme experiences to feel the pulse of life, while most would just try to connect to the world by bonding with our closest fellow human beings.

Now, what would we do if we had to face the exact opposite situation? How would we connect to a world in which our lifespan would be significantly longer than that of anyone else? What would we seek in life? How would we perceive time? How would we bond with other human beings?

The man from earth explores these questions in a fascinating huit clos. The plot revolves around John Oldman, a departing professor trying to explain to his friends the reason for his unexpected departure. Claiming to be a Cro-Magnon having survived for more than 14,000 years, Oldman faces the incredulity of his friends, who wonder if they are being the victims of a bad joke or the witnesses of a preoccupying delusion.

Through an intense dialogue intertwining science, religion, history and psychology, the protagonists delve into the details of Oldman's claim. The discussion starts as an intellectual game (a "what if" story) but Oldman's capacity to create a coherent and detailed account of his story sheds increasing doubt within the small audience.

The movie provides material to explore at least three main themes. The first underlying theme is the experience of time. Do we all experience time in the same way? We tend to experience a day, a month or a year on the basis of the implicit assumption that our life will most likely last 70 to 90 years. What consequences does this assumption have on the way we experience life and on the choices we make? Some of us might die in the next few months, while some might well live for a few centuries. Given such a degree of uncertainty, would it be beneficial to ignore this factor and embrace the unpredictable nature of this event? The seed of time we have planted in our mind reduces our freedom to think and act independently from a factor we know little about and, more importantly, have little control over. So how would we experience the flow of events that make up our life if we became independent from this underlying conception of time?

The second theme is religious dogma. Man created religion for a reason: why and how? Have we lost the essence of spiritual teachings throughout the progressive emergence of modern religion? If so, what were these teachings about and what connections can be draw between the variety of religious streams existing today? Is religion a corollary of the emergence of individual consciousness and the consequent fear of death?

The third theme is critical thinking. Society gave us the capacity to perceive, process and share complex information, using both language and art. The conceptual and cultural frameworks we inherited from society represent valuable tools to collaborate with other fellow human beings. However, these frameworks also represent barriers that we impose on ourselves by assuming that our pre-existing knowledge is valid. Humans have become increasingly able to manipulate concepts in order to function more effectively in a complex world. However, the standardization of conceptual and cultural frameworks have also led to a decrease in our ability to question this inherited knowledge. While our individual and societal capacity to use concepts (i.e. how can we do this?) has improved, our capacity to think critically (why should we do this?) has remained stagnant and might well be worsening.

The experience of time, religious dogma and critical thinking are the three main themes I have been pondering over after watching the movie. Some of you will probably identify other themes and questions. Please feel free to share and discuss them here. This movie is both deep and entertaining, "so rich, so full of possibilities"...