The Human Family Tree (2009)
Dr Spencer Wells retraces the footsteps of 200 random New Yorkers and proves they are all cousins. On the most diverse street in the most diverse city in the most diverse country in the world, a team of National Geographic scientists swab the cheeks of some 200 random New Yorkers. The goal: to retrace our ancestral footprints and prove we are all cousins in the “family of man.” Cutting edge science, coupled with a cast of New Yorkers – each with their own unique genetic history - will help paint a picture of these amazing journeys. Ultimately, Man’s First Migrations answers some of humanity’s most burning questions, such as who we are and where we come from, and forces us to change how we think not only about our relationships with our neighbours, but ourselves.
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It is not deep, but it is fun to watch. It does have a bit more of an edge to it than other similar films.
Fanciful, disturbing, and wildly original, it announces the arrival of a fresh, bold voice in American cinema.
Good films always raise compelling questions, whether the format is fiction or documentary fact.
The film creates a perfect balance between action and depth of basic needs, in the midst of an infertile atmosphere.
Tells us all humans descend from one man who lived in Africa about 60,000 years ago, and that we all descend from one woman who lived in Africa 150,000 to 200,000 years ago. People had left Africa earlier, yet everyone alive today descends from these two relatively recent individuals.That all Europeans, Asians, and Native Americans descend from people who lived in Central Asia 50,000 years ago.That the Tova volcanic eruption in Southeast Asia some 74,000 years ago was a setback, and that there were other near-extinction events, presumably climate-related.That most human genetic diversity today remains in Africa: the rest of the globe descends from only two main lines of migrants. Most human tribes never left Africa.It's clear that the scientists who did the genomic research to learn this, have a map of when and where genetic markers first appear, and where they travel.But we are shown only some of it, and only as an aside. Most of the show is of people today, most of it in Queens, New York, and a lot of the show is of people getting their cheeks swabbed.There's a fascinating story to tell, of human migration. We're given bits of it, along with a lot of not much. Even the magnificent cave paintings of Southern Europe are given a just quick camera pan; as much time is spent showing a woman in New York drawing on a pad of paper.So, as an update to Bronowski's epic The Ascent of Man, it leaves much to be desired. As How I Spent My Saturday, by the chief swabber of the genome project, it's well done.