Thursday, December 25, 2008

THE MAN FROM EARTH (2007)

Imagine a man bidding farewell to friends & neighbors confessing that he’s actually caveman still surviving for 14000 years & his life encompassing every experiences of past history including Buddha to stone age or even Jesus Christ!!!
Is he crazy? Is he serious? Is he really a caveman what he proclaims?
Well, this is a film where either you are inside as a viewer or totally outside with this strangest man. The movie is total verbal narration of this character & ongoing debate of characters shot in a minimalist room with several characters from beginning to end so it’s feeling like watching one act drama.
There’s no external movement of any single character in the film outside the room sparing occasional moments & even pace is tad boring. No camera movements at all. Its more like classic ‘12 Angry Men’ by Lumet but not so detailing in character analysis. The film has many flows to count.
For most of the viewers the movie has zero entertainment value on all sorts.
But at the same time it’s one of the surprising film as well. Its more a point of view than usual cinematic visual experience. It can work more as a sort of single act drama than full length film. But it is also one of the awesome intriguing screenplay ever written in the terms of originality & creativity.

An experimental & unusual movie for a sound audience.

Ratings-7/10

3 comments:

abhishek said...

sometimes when we watch a classic, we , sort of, surrender b4 them, n let that movie hold the reigns. n almost all the time the ride becomes an unforgettable.

A very intelligent friend of mine gave this movie to me, with no recommendations, except "dekhna ise!!". i even didn keep it in my pc for the nex 6 months, n i kept it in a frnds pc. i got it 6 mnts later, n jus wathced it,when i didn hv anything to do, with no expectation, no recommendations, n no movie sites searching.

i put the reigns in the movie's hands, n i must say, i havent seen a much more intelligent sci-fi than this. even better then matrix, only latter had, as u say, the visual excellence . the problem is people always expect a sci fi to be a CGI magnum opus. i was unaware of any "12 angry men" then. MFE was a mind boggling for me. as u said, i was inside as a viewer, n was overawed with the conversation. the protagonist's "i-know-u-will-raise-this-question-n-so-i-have-the-ans-ready" expression, which made everyone shut their mouth, including me, was the 3rd best part after story n the acting for me.

see, although, at heart i am a devotee of literature and literary works, but at my brain, its science, n logic rules. n u give me any sci-fi movie, n i can rape it on scientific terms.....but here i was like "hands tied, n mouth shut". i ran to a doctor friend who is also a die hard movie lover, n insisted him to watch, n his reaction was "nothing". he said i m speechless.

throughout i was expecting, like any other trash american movie, it will also turn out that the guy will accept that he was joking, n the movie "may end on a happier note", n i will forget it, but after the end, it never allowed me to do so, till now. it showed a totally parallel world......

no doubt, it has created a new genre, where u hav to think n visualize rather than spoon-fed by the CGI. The point where i agree with u is it is like a one act play, n undoubtedly one of the best i've ever seen.

i have extensively read about this movie on net, (though very less material is available), n found many people ridiculing it, raising question on the high rating of the movie,(8.2-imdb-by 18,813 people [authenticity may be questionable] till now, excluding me) n also blaming of having many loopholes, but the best thing is, i have found equal number of intelligent people who have beautifully proved that "those people's understanding n their questions have been a big piece of BULLSHIT". jus check out the message board [http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0756683/board]. the points are really intelligent there. now i would like to know ur so called "loopholes". but do check the link b4 stating ur doubts.

now, i think u are a bit confused at some points. ur "shot in a minimalist room with several characters from beginning to end so it’s feeling like watching one act drama. " n "awesome intriguing screenplay" comments opposes each other. as i m working on a movie n the story n screenplay is mine, n as far as i have read n have i known, screen play is the most prominent link btwn the script n the direction. it contains the camera angles, length of shots, changes etc, which is added in the script, n then it becomes a manual which a director is suppose to follow. so if the screenplay is good, then it would become something comparable to "12 angry men" as far as closed room drama is concerned. script was no doubt awesome. screen play was average. but the direction n the intriguing acting n also the back ground score has compensated for that.

anyways, its ur choice, its still one of my very dearest movie.....
I TOTALLY BOW.

HIREN DAVE said...

abhi.let me tell u very frankly that the sound plays havoc during the movie watching as somethin is wrong with the movie file which i downloaded...from the beginnin the sound interruption is creatin mess n it continues throughout...but anyway i continued watching as its one of the nice gesture by u...may b m half hearted in my movie watchin due to the mess i mentioned above...it may bpossible that i failed to surrender to the movie as u say in the beginnin of ur post..but i like ur point about literature vs science student n thats exactly problem with my review n movie watchin experience...in my case m totally literature lover n its my job as well bein a lecturer..but i must say this is a new thing i learn from u...n yes u r absolutely pinpointed the mistake-its script which i meant n not screenplay...
error regretted...i will surely give it second treat but not with the same shit file...hope i'll admire it like u...

nanda said...

:D
here i have to completely agree with abhishek on it being a dear movie.
One of the best movies EVER.
And i too, whenever tell my friends to watch it, i tell them not to read ANYTHING about it. What the movie has to offer is an unparalleled experience.

one of the most intelligent stories ever told.