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The Man from Earth

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For the 1983 collection of Gordon R. Dickson stories, see The Man from Earth (collection).
The Man from Earth
The Man from Earth theatrical poster.
Directed byRichard Schenkman
Written byJerome Bixby
Produced byEmerson Bixby, Eric D. Wilkinson, Richard Schenkman
StarringDavid Lee Smith
John Billingsley
Tony Todd
Distributed byAnchor Bay Entertainment,
Shoreline Entertainment
Release date
November 13, 2007
Running time
89 min.
LanguageEnglish
Budget$200,000[1]

The Man from Earth is a 2007 science fiction film written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Richard Schenkman. The film stars David Lee Smith as John Oldman, the protagonist of the story. The screenplay for this movie was conceived by Jerome Bixby in the early 1960s and was completed on his death bed in April 1998, making it his final piece of work.[2] The movie gained recognition in part for being widely distributed through Internet peer-to-peer networks and its producer publicly thanked users of these networks for this.

The plot focuses on John Oldman, a departing teacher who claims to be a Cro-Magnon (or Magdalenian caveman) who has somehow survived for over 14,000 years. The only setting is in and around Oldman's house during his farewell party, with the plot advancing through intellectual arguments between Oldman and his fellow faculty.

Plot

The movie begins with Professor John Oldman (David Lee Smith) packing his belongings onto his truck, preparing to move to a new home. His colleagues show up to give him an unexpected farewell party: Harry (John Billingsley), a biologist; Edith (Ellen Crawford), a fellow professor and devout Christian; Dan (Tony Todd), an anthropologist; and Sandy (Annika Peterson), a historian who is in love with John.

As John's colleagues continue to pressure him for the reason for his departure, John slowly reveals that he is a prehistoric "caveman" who has survived for more than 14,000 years. His colleagues refuse to believe in his story. John continues to state that he was once a Sumerian for 2000 years, then a Babylonian under Hammurabi, and finally a disciple of Gautama Buddha.

The discussion takes a turn into the biological and physical condition of John and the topic of death. John mentions that he is not a follower of a particular religion, and he doesn't believe in an omnipotent God. John then reveals that he was Jesus, which leaves his audience aghast and angry. His colleagues begin to talk about the possibility of John being mentally ill or high on drugs.

After his shocking revelation, emotions in the room run high. His colleagues sternly demand that John end his "high tale" and give closure to the story; they threaten John with the possibility of locking him up for observation. John apologizes to everyone and, as he doesn't want to upset any of his friends further, he tells them that it was all a made-up 'story'.

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. After everyone but Dr. Gruber and Sandy has left, Dr. Gruber overhears John relating to Sandy some of the other pun pseudonyms he had used over the years: John Paley (as in Paleolithic) and John Savage. Another used over 60 years ago, while a chemistry professor at Harvard, John Thomas Partee (as in John T. Party of Boston), was the name of Gruber's father who had left the family. After hearing this, Gruber shocked and over-excited at the sight of his ageless father suffers a heart attack and dies. After Gruber's body is taken away, the movie ends with John getting in his truck alone then allowing Sandy to walk over towards John; at the last minute he changes his mind to spend some part of his life with her.

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.[1]

Cast

In order of appearance:

Distribution

The film screened at the San Diego Comic-Con Film Festival in July 2007, and premiered theatrically in Hemet, California and Pitman, New Jersey in October 2007. It was released on DVD in North America by Anchor Bay Entertainment on November 13, 2007 and became available for digital rental and sale at iTunes on September 22, 2009. It won the grand prize for Best Screenplay and first place for Best Feature at the Rhode Island Film Festival in August 2007.[3]

Festivals and awards

The film has been nominated and won numerous awards.[4]

  • 2007 – WINNER – 1st place – Best Screenplay - Rhode Island International Film Festival
  • 2007 – WINNER – Grand Prize - Best Screenplay - Rhode Island International Film Festival
  • 2008 – WINNER – Best Film – Montevideo Fantastic Film Festival of Uruguay
  • 2008 – WINNER – Audience Choice Award Montevideo Fantastic Film Festival of Uruguay
  • 2008 – WINNER – Best Director - Fantaspoa – International Fantastic Film Festival of Porto Alegre, Brazil
  • 2008 – WINNER – 2ND place – Best Screenplay - Rio de Janeiro International Fantastic Film Festival (RioFan)
  • 2008 – WINNER – Audience Award: Best Screenplay Film – Fixion-Sars Horror & Fantastic Film Festival of Santiago, Chile
  • 2008 – WINNER – Jury Award: Best Screenplay – Fixion-Sars Horror & Fantastic Film Festival of Santiago, Chile
  • 2008 – WINNER – Best SCI-FI Screenplay - International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival, Phoenix, AZ
  • 2008 – WINNER – Best Screenplay - Buenos Aires Rojo Sangre – Int'l Independent Horror, Fantasy & Bizarre, Argentina
  • 2007 - Official Selection - Another Hole in the Head SF IndieFest
  • 2007 – Official Selection – San Diego ComicCon International Film Festival
  • 2008 – Official Selection – Amsterdam Fantastic Film Festival
  • 2008 – Official Selection (Opening Night Screenplay) – Down Beach Film Festival, Atlantic City, NJ
  • 2008 – Official Selection – Otrocine Fantastic Film Festival of Bogota
  • 2008 – Official Selection – FilmColumbia – Festival of Film in Chatham, NY
  • 2008 – Official Selection - Festival de Cine Fantástico (Fantastic Film Festival of Malaga) (FANCINE)
  • 2008 – Official Selection - Festival Cinema de Salvador
  • 2008 – Official Selection - Mostra Curta Fantástico of São Paulo, Brazil
  • 2007 - Saturn Award nominee - Best DVD Release - The Man From Earth[5]
  • 2008 – WINNER – DVD Critics Award – Best Non-Theatrical Movie

Reviews

  • "The Man from earth is technically a low budget film without any implications of great potential but it definitely has a script that shivers through your bone when you watch the movie.One of the best story ever made -Milton Arya Nayaban,Filmforum.Com.
  • "A considerable achievement... a picture which deserves wide exposure... The Man From Earth gradually and stimulatingly builds to a pitch of near hypnotic intensity." – Neil Young, The Hollywood Reporter[6]
  • "Based on a really wonderful final work by Jerome Bixby... If you’re a fan of Bixby's – it's a must own." – Harry Knowles, Ain’t It Cool News[7]
  • "The Man From Earth restores dignity to science fiction of the mind." - Michael Guillen, Twitch[8]
  • "A tall tale... that ends with a devastatingly clever twist." - Michael Janusonis, The Providence Journal[9]
  • "Great acting performances... with an ending you wouldn't want to miss... Jerome Bixby's last written work has turned out to be his best." - Hock Teh, IGN[10]
  • "A mind bending drama... It sure beats watching Transformers." - Nick Lyons, DVD Talk[11]
  • "The Man From Earth is very much a labor of love from all involved... it's well worth the effort. The final work from the writer responsible for some of the finest episodes of The Twilight Zone and the original Star Trek gets a thoughtful, low-budget treatment." – Ian Spelling, Sci Fi.com[12]
  • "Jerome Bixby's The Man From Earth is one of the most intelligent science fiction films ever made... probably one of the best science fiction films of the decade." – Mark L. Leeper, Stephen Hunt's SF Crows Nest[13]
  • "The Man From Earth really has a chance of being the single best piece of screenwriting you will see on a screen large or small this year (really!)." – Late Film[14]

Soundtrack

All music performed by Mark Hinton Stewart

"7th Symphony - 2nd Movement"

"Forever"

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

Publicity through filesharing

In what may be an unprecedented move, the producer of this film, Eric D. Wilkinson IMDb
, 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.[15] Producers Schenkman (sellingrs), Bixby (Emerson_Bixby) and Wilkinson (EWilkinson100) have all written comments on IMDb forums and responded to questions from fans.[citation needed]

References

  1. ^ a b Fernandez, Jay A. (2007-07-25). "A sci-fi writer's final words are brought to life". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 2008-01-07. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  2. ^ Man From Earth "The Man From Earth (About)". Retrieved 2008-04-09. {{cite news}}: Check |url= value (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  3. ^ ""Jerome Bixby's The Man from Earth" on DVD Nov. 13". StarTrek.com / CBS Studios, Inc. 2007-10-26. Retrieved 2008-01-07. {{cite news}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |coauthors= (help)
  4. ^ The Man from Earth MySpace Blogs
  5. ^ The Man from Earth official website, top left
  6. ^ The Man From Earth - The Hollywood Reporter, Film review
  7. ^ Harry's DVD PICKS AND PEEKS for 2nd Week of November - Ain't It Cool News, Film review
  8. ^ 2007 HOLEHEAD—REVIEW of Man From Earth - Twitch, Film review
  9. ^ Reliving the really old days with The Man From Earth - The Providence Journal, Film review
  10. ^ The Man From Earth DVD Review - IGN, Film review
  11. ^ Jerome Bixby's The Man from Earth - DVD Talk, Film review
  12. ^ Man from Earth - Sci-Fi Weekly, Film review
  13. ^ The Man From Earth: Mark's take - Stephen Hun's SF Crow's nest, Film review
  14. ^ Is Jerome Bixby's The Man from Earth this years sleeper hit? - Late Film, Film review
  15. ^ Producer Thanks Pirates For Stealing His Film | TorrentFreak
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