The film is a about young professor who claims that he's a 14,000 year old caveman and tells his life history during his farewell party to a group of academic friends/colleagues. The film is confined almost exclusively in a room with people bantering and questioning the protagonists' claim.
I find the history which the film stands upon is a bit shaky, especially in the prehistory part ('transition' from hunter-gathering to agrarian), as it feels like tacking on a pop history evolutionist bent. The focus on grand, familiar historical figures of the west (Buddha, Jesus, Napoleon, etc) also makes the story less convincing as it might seem a bit too Western pop history (e.g., no Southeast Asian, Mediterranean, or Eurasian history at all despite David Lee Smith having the looks of it).
However it's understandable due to scholarship in 2007. Would be a good conversation starter, still. Would make a good talk with family/friends/partner if you have interest in the longue-duree kind of thing. I'd love to see similar story built upon Graeber's The Dawn of Everything. :)
Shout by Pradipa PRBlockedParent2022-05-01T16:00:23Z
The film is a about young professor who claims that he's a 14,000 year old caveman and tells his life history during his farewell party to a group of academic friends/colleagues. The film is confined almost exclusively in a room with people bantering and questioning the protagonists' claim.
I find the history which the film stands upon is a bit shaky, especially in the prehistory part ('transition' from hunter-gathering to agrarian), as it feels like tacking on a pop history evolutionist bent. The focus on grand, familiar historical figures of the west (Buddha, Jesus, Napoleon, etc) also makes the story less convincing as it might seem a bit too Western pop history (e.g., no Southeast Asian, Mediterranean, or Eurasian history at all despite David Lee Smith having the looks of it).
However it's understandable due to scholarship in 2007. Would be a good conversation starter, still. Would make a good talk with family/friends/partner if you have interest in the longue-duree kind of thing. I'd love to see similar story built upon Graeber's The Dawn of Everything. :)