This film is like a trap. A thin cover of leaves over a hole in the ground, and if you miss the signs, you fall in.
On the surface, it looks like a bunch of morons who go on an adventure, fall in love, fight animals, and eventually come home victorious.
What goes unnoticed by many is that the Neanderthals, the Ulam, and the Ivaka represent different stages of human development (I remember reading this in the Eighties, though I can't find any references today). Hominids at these stages did not really co-exist together. But in bringing together different ages in one story, the filmmaker gives us a wonderful story about TECHNOLOGY.
The Neanderthals only had clubs, they could only fight close-in. Naoh's tribe had at least spears, and they could stand off a little and toss them. But the Ivaka had slings that flung arrows quite a distance with deadly accuracy. And, they had tools to MAKE fire, as well as advanced hut construction, herbal medicine, and sexual techniques that enhanced the odds of procreation.
If you listen closely, you'll hear the differences in language between the different groups, also. The Ivaka, again, had a much greater vocabulary than the grunts used by any of the other groups. By the end of the movie, you know that fire, weapons, medicine, sustainable population growth and the beginnings of language have come to Europe.
Finally, it was worth the price of admission to see Rae Dawn Chong naked, and it managed to be funny, too! (Some of the looks on Ron Perlman's face are among the most expressive ever captured on film, I think).
#2
For some reason I managed to miss seeing this film when it was first released, yet it still has impact some 20 years later. The DVD extras offer an invaluable insight into the making and meaning of the movie which the original cinema audience did not have access to. The effort put into shooting the movie by both actors and crew was extreme and the final result is impressive. There were many difficulties to overcome;locations had to be changed at short notice, animals did not behave on film, and remember - for many of the actors this was their first appearance. Just listen to the dialog tracks how the lion trainers (standing in for the actors) were stuck up a tree for 8 hours because the animal skins they were wearing smelled a mite more tasty to the lions than perhaps they should :-) And the elephants dressed as mammoths which made a run for a warm tent containing filming equipment trampling all the cameras in the process :-))
The switch in locations from Kenya/Canada/Scotla nd did not work for me, in the space of a few footsteps we found ourselves travelling from Scottish moorland to temperate rain forrest to tropical savannah. I'm not convinced the story benefitted from this.
The director gained good advice from experts on body language and primitive dialog and this holds up well throughout the film. Ron Perlman in particular was brilliant and his actions are just so reminiscent of observing the mannerisms of silverback gorillas! Others were a bit more strained and gave the impression of ponderous slowness. If authenticity was being sought you only have compare with the larger primates for speed of movement and aggressive behaviour - behaviours which would certainly have been present in our ancestors.
It is easy to nit-pick details, for example; the stupidity of entering a cave containing a crying bear cub and which would also certainly have smelled strongly of 'bear' - our ancestors would quickly have died out if they were in the habit of doing dumb things like that!
The director aspired to make a movie which was extremely challenging in it's day. With modern techniques most of the special effects and animal appearances could be made to appear more realistic, but the film would also lose it's essential 'grittyness' which you only get from placing actors in uncomfortable and difficult situations. Real mud, dirt, bogs, sharp stones and hot&cold weather. Overall I think Quest For Fire is a great film and has lost none of it's appeal over 23 years. It deserves to be viewed many times - and don't forget to listen to those fascinating extra dialog tracks on the DVD!
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082484/board/flat/10120277
On the surface, it looks like a bunch of morons who go on an adventure, fall in love, fight animals, and eventually come home victorious.
What goes unnoticed by many is that the Neanderthals, the Ulam, and the Ivaka represent different stages of human development (I remember reading this in the Eighties, though I can't find any references today). Hominids at these stages did not really co-exist together. But in bringing together different ages in one story, the filmmaker gives us a wonderful story about TECHNOLOGY.
The Neanderthals only had clubs, they could only fight close-in. Naoh's tribe had at least spears, and they could stand off a little and toss them. But the Ivaka had slings that flung arrows quite a distance with deadly accuracy. And, they had tools to MAKE fire, as well as advanced hut construction, herbal medicine, and sexual techniques that enhanced the odds of procreation.
If you listen closely, you'll hear the differences in language between the different groups, also. The Ivaka, again, had a much greater vocabulary than the grunts used by any of the other groups. By the end of the movie, you know that fire, weapons, medicine, sustainable population growth and the beginnings of language have come to Europe.
Finally, it was worth the price of admission to see Rae Dawn Chong naked, and it managed to be funny, too! (Some of the looks on Ron Perlman's face are among the most expressive ever captured on film, I think).
#2
For some reason I managed to miss seeing this film when it was first released, yet it still has impact some 20 years later. The DVD extras offer an invaluable insight into the making and meaning of the movie which the original cinema audience did not have access to. The effort put into shooting the movie by both actors and crew was extreme and the final result is impressive. There were many difficulties to overcome;locations had to be changed at short notice, animals did not behave on film, and remember - for many of the actors this was their first appearance. Just listen to the dialog tracks how the lion trainers (standing in for the actors) were stuck up a tree for 8 hours because the animal skins they were wearing smelled a mite more tasty to the lions than perhaps they should :-) And the elephants dressed as mammoths which made a run for a warm tent containing filming equipment trampling all the cameras in the process :-))
The switch in locations from Kenya/Canada/Scotla nd did not work for me, in the space of a few footsteps we found ourselves travelling from Scottish moorland to temperate rain forrest to tropical savannah. I'm not convinced the story benefitted from this.
The director gained good advice from experts on body language and primitive dialog and this holds up well throughout the film. Ron Perlman in particular was brilliant and his actions are just so reminiscent of observing the mannerisms of silverback gorillas! Others were a bit more strained and gave the impression of ponderous slowness. If authenticity was being sought you only have compare with the larger primates for speed of movement and aggressive behaviour - behaviours which would certainly have been present in our ancestors.
It is easy to nit-pick details, for example; the stupidity of entering a cave containing a crying bear cub and which would also certainly have smelled strongly of 'bear' - our ancestors would quickly have died out if they were in the habit of doing dumb things like that!
The director aspired to make a movie which was extremely challenging in it's day. With modern techniques most of the special effects and animal appearances could be made to appear more realistic, but the film would also lose it's essential 'grittyness' which you only get from placing actors in uncomfortable and difficult situations. Real mud, dirt, bogs, sharp stones and hot&cold weather. Overall I think Quest For Fire is a great film and has lost none of it's appeal over 23 years. It deserves to be viewed many times - and don't forget to listen to those fascinating extra dialog tracks on the DVD!
Source: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082484/board/flat/10120277
