介绍:
[Genre] Drama, Romance, Sci-Fi
[Director] Richard Schenkman
[Writer] Jerome Bixby
[Stars] David Lee Smith, Tony Todd, John Billingsley
[Storyline]
An impromptu goodbye party for Professor John Oldman becomes a mysterious interrogation after the retiring scholar reveals to his colleagues he has a longer and stranger past than they can imagine.
- Written by Ankur
[Synopsis contains spoilers]
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 they are walking into the house, Edith spots an unknown Van Gogh painting of John's with the note "To my friend, Jacques Borne" on the back written in French. Once inside, his friends persistently ask John why he is leaving.
Another friend, Art Jenkins (William Katt), an archeologist, and his student Linda Murphy (Alexis Thorpe), arrive and John's friends continue to pressure him for the reason for his departure. John poses the question, "What if a man, from the Upper Paleolithic survived until the present day?" They assume that John is working on a science fiction story and play along with the discussion. As the film progresses, John slowly reveals that he is the "caveman" under discussion when he mentions that he was given a chance to sail with Christopher Columbus in the 15th century. The revelation starts off with John's recollection of the terrain of prehistoric Earth and John's origins, which happens to be roughly 14,000 years ago. John reveals that he was once Jacques Borne, a friend of Van Gogh's, and he is now "moving on" since some people have noticed his lack of aging.
As they take a break from the discussion, Art who is concerned about John's sanity telephones another friend, Dr. Will Gruber (Richard Riehle), an elderly psychologist, explaining the odd situation and asks him to come over right away. In the meantime, Sandy confesses to John that she loves him, but John tells her they can never be together because of his immortality. John resumes his story by stating that he was once a Sumerian for 2000 years, then a Babylonian under Hammurabi, and finally a disciple of Gautama Buddha. Dr. Gruber arrives, at which point Dan mentions that John's tale is as impossible to be disproved as it is to be verified, a response to the many attempts to poke holes in John's story by his colleagues. The discussion takes a turn into the biological and physical condition of John and the topic of death. Gruber propels the discussion deeper into the topic of death and tension rises as Gruber interrogates John on that subject. The tension culminates with Gruber pointing a gun at John. After the drama ends with the departure of Gruber, Harry reveals that Gruber's wife has passed away the day before and the profession of John's immortality had hit Gruber very hard. Art and Edith are upset with John's story, while Harry, Dan, Sandy, and Linda appear to be more sympathetic.
John also mentions that he is not a follower of a particular religion, and he doesn't believe in an omnipotent God. John's audience is shocked when he reveals how he survived the crucifixion when he was Jesus by "blocking the pain", a technique he learned in India. He explains the origin of the Resurrection, Moses, and other events and people in the Bible. Tempers and emotions rise as Edith pressures John to recant his story, which offends her deep-rooted faith in the Bible. Dr. Gruber returns to the scene and apologizes to John for his "infantile behavior". As John continues to pack his belongings onto the truck, his colleagues begin to talk about the possibility of John being mentally ill or high on drugs.
The discussions of John being Jesus, Christianity, and the Bible continue and Edith, unable to take John's tale anymore, breaks down crying. Emotions in the room run high. Gruber takes charge of the situation and sternly demands that John end his "high tale" and give closure to the story; he threatens John with the possibility of locking him up for observation. John apologizes to everyone and, as he doesn't want to further upset any of his friends, he tells them that all he just told them is just a 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 pseudonyms he has used over the years. One used over 60 years ago was the name of Gruber's father, a chemistry professor from Harvard, who had left the family. Gruber, shocked and over-excited, suffers a heart attack and dies. After Gruber's body is taken away, the movie ends with Sandy walking towards John (sitting in his truck); at the last minute he changes his mind to spend some part of his life with her.
《那个男人来自地球》讲述的就是这么一个事情，35岁的哈弗历史教授工作十年之后突然辞职，同事们纷纷不解，他们临时在他家里聚会，敦促他解释一番。但约翰提出的原因令他们大吃一惊：约翰声称他有不死之身，生存了14000年，并且不能呆在一个地方超过10年，不然他秘密会被发现。面对约翰的说辞，众人开始了对他的质问。
与其他的科幻片不同，本片脱离了“激光与飞行器”的束缚，类似的影片也有过几部，比如《时间旅行者的妻子》《返老还童》等等。这些脱离了主流科幻片拍摄手法的影片，却意外的让人印象深刻。几张沙发，一个火炉，几个学者，便开始了谈话，全片皆由语言来阐述剧情，你可能与那几个学者一样，从刚开始认为他疯了，到最后询问他还有什么教诲，在不断地质问与询问当中，一遍遍的被主人公的言语所左右，这是导演的精彩之处，当几名学者质问，观众也随之期待约翰作出回答，但是回答完毕之后，提问者又在想约翰是在书中看到的，观众也会产生这样的想法，这样一遍遍的提问，一遍遍的回答，观众已经再不知不觉中认定约翰就是那个耶稣，就是那个活了14000年的人，这时候的剧情也随着学者的相信而进入下一个阶段。他们不再质问，而是询问，约翰解释了地貌，历史，宗教，从广阔无垠的平原，到山峦叠嶂的险峰，从哥伦布到耶稣，一切都是那么的合理。
他的渊博知识也是那么的合理，因为他有足够的时间来学习，14000年，这已经不是一个人类的年龄，观众们自然会对他在这14000年中的所见所闻感兴趣，导演抓住了这一点的同时，也带领我们进入他所设置的世界当中。
影片后半部分，当众人正听的出神的时候，心理学家却突然要求约翰停止这无聊的谎言，约翰说了一句，故事结束。至此，学者与观众才恍然大悟，原来这一切的一切是约翰编出来的，我们都成了他最好的听众，也正是疑问那些学者的肯定，不知不觉中配合他完成了这个跨越14000年的故事。但就在同时，我们也跟那学者一样，在之前的疑问中产生出的怀疑心理，又觉得约翰就是那个耶稣。谁知道呢，也许人类接受与他们自热规则相同的事物比较容易吧。虽然带着疑惑，但是大家都陆续离开了。至此，我们已经进入了导演设置好的游戏中，我这么觉得，看到这里，其实观众们心里都有着强大的疑问，约翰说的到底是真是假，他的言语总是让人将信将疑，最后与心理学家的对话揭开了谜题，原来约翰是那个年近60的心理学家的父亲，在于他母亲相处10之后他选择了离开，约翰回答了心理学家的疑问，也许心理学家不能接受这个事实，突然暴毙身亡。此时那个女老师问了约翰一句：“你是第一次看见成年的孩子死去吧？”约翰没有说话，只是默默地关掉等，走到星空下，也许他担心大家会像心理学家一样，才在说这是一个故事吧。对于人们不能接受的事物，还是让他们拒绝接受为好吧。
最后约翰带好行李，开车离去，那个女教师一直看着他，这时约翰的车突然停了下来，女教师上了车，汽车发动，开走。
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