Quest for FireOne of the oldest lessons in history is that survival comes with humility. Quest for Fire is a dramatic film set eighty-thousand years in the past, when humanity was in its infancy, and the primitive tribes and cavemen that constituted our species were in a very real struggle for survival. These were days where hunting and gathering was the status quo, and where fire was wrought from on high, an element of nature, not by man. When one tribe is ambushed by a rival clan, and the kept flame is extinguished, Naoh (Everett McGill) and his friends must seek new fire, their very survival on the line.
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Quest for Fire is daring in that the story is told predominantly through the actions and body language of the characters. An invented language is employed by the cavemen of the film--developed by acclaimed author Anthony Burgess--but Quest for Fire resists the uses of subtitles to make us feel like outsiders in this world, forcing us to interpret a form of communication we do not understand. This is part of the bigger message of Quest for Fire, that only by learning and adapting can one control the elements and thrive in such a savage and hostile environment. Quest for Fire is a true Promethean adventure, as Naoh must steal fire to keep his clan alive, but also in the sense that Naoh is forced to accept that there is much knowledge in the world that will serve him and his people better. Naoh is a young man, but he is relatively smart for his situation, forced to make bold, inventive choices when pressed. When Naoh, Amoukar (Ron Perlman), and Gaw (Nameer El-Kadi) set out into the wilds, they are without navigation or direction, and essentially on a fool's errand. There is the very real sense that at any minute, their quest will end in tragedy. For instance, in Quest for Fire, prehistoric predators are always a threat, like the wolves which harry the surviving members of Naoh's clan during their exodus. When the trio of Cro-Magnon adventurers are pursued by a couple of saber-toothed cats, their only option is to desperately hide in the flimsiest looking tree for days, waiting for their predators to get hungry and go elsewhere. The sense that there is some alternate means of achieving their goal only begins to make itself evident when the trio catch sight of smoke in the distance, and Naoh ends up rescuing a young girl named Ika (Rae Dawn Chong) from a pack of degenerate cannibals. (Even in the distant past, there are some things which remain taboo.) When Naoh is gravely wounded in the fight, the surprisingly chatty Ika applies a poultice to Naoh's wound, and soon after falls in with the group. The growing bond between Naoh and Ika is mutually beneficial--he begins to understand feelings of attraction and primal urges within himself, and she finds in Naoh a protector and companion. But more than that, the union reflects that the two travelers learn from one another, underscoring that one must diversify and seek out new knowledge in order to survive, that strength alone isn't enough.
Unsurprisingly, fire holds special significance in Quest for Fire. From the very first shot from darkness in the film, it is depicted as a glowing beacon of life amid a harsh and cruel world. The search for the power of fire--and the enlightenment that follows when Naoh learns the secret from Ika's people--recalls the first act of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both films share an unintelligible language and a a revelation that comes when the primitive characters understand truths about nature, like the ability to create fire. (Just as 2001 was adapted from the novel by Arthur C. Clarke, Quest for Fire was adapted from the novel of the same name by J.-H. Rosny, written in 1911.) The relentless savagery and hard-edged push to survive in this uncultivated world also evokes the works of Werner Herzog; Naoh's quest is similar to that of the expedition in his film, Aguirre, the Wrath of God. As the language of the primitive characters must be interpreted on a somewhat subjective basis by the audience, the music in Quest for Fire, composed by Philippe Sarde, carries much of the film like a symphonic narration, an operatic ballet amid the grunts and howls. Body language conveys much, and is mimed with great subtext by the talented actors. Scenes like one where Ika leaves Naoh to return to her people has the heartbroken caveman returning to their shared bed of straw instead of continuing forward, depressed and recalling her smell. Naoh is a fairly complex character, one who struggles with his purpose on the quest and in his his life. He is crafty enough to devise a strategy to claim fire from the cannibals by dividing their forces at their camp, having Amoukar and Gaw bait them into a chase, aware of how acute their sense of smell is by keeping a pelt of a wolf on hand as a distraction while they reconnoiter the camp at night. When surrounded in the plains, Naoh approaches a woolly mammoth with food, effectively recruiting the titanic beasts protect them. After Ika leaves, his thoughts turn to more abstract concepts like "monogamy" and "love". When he is captured by Ika's people, they cannot humiliate him sufficiently to make him lose favor with Ika; instead, they seduce his mind by revealing how they are able to produce fire without the aid of a spontaneous moment in nature. This is where Naoh loses his way for a time, convinced that this knowledge is a higher calling, something that supersedes the quest. One of the most interesting things about Quest for Fire is how it prompts viewers to subconsciously attribute modern sensibilities onto the cavemen, applying our own cultural values on events, like the relationship between Naoh and Ika. Quest for Fire is a recreation of a world where man is not the dominant species, a reminder of humanity's humble origins as scavengers before scholars.
Recommended for: Fans of an intriguing drama about survival and understanding in a prehistoric context. Vast landscapes shot entirely in Scotland create a sense of being transported back to the formative years for humanity, a glimpse at what was different and what was less so.
Unsurprisingly, fire holds special significance in Quest for Fire. From the very first shot from darkness in the film, it is depicted as a glowing beacon of life amid a harsh and cruel world. The search for the power of fire--and the enlightenment that follows when Naoh learns the secret from Ika's people--recalls the first act of Stanley Kubrick's 2001: A Space Odyssey. Both films share an unintelligible language and a a revelation that comes when the primitive characters understand truths about nature, like the ability to create fire. (Just as 2001 was adapted from the novel by Arthur C. Clarke, Quest for Fire was adapted from the novel of the same name by J.-H. Rosny, written in 1911.) The relentless savagery and hard-edged push to survive in this uncultivated world also evokes the works of Werner Herzog; Naoh's quest is similar to that of the expedition in his film, Aguirre, the Wrath of God. As the language of the primitive characters must be interpreted on a somewhat subjective basis by the audience, the music in Quest for Fire, composed by Philippe Sarde, carries much of the film like a symphonic narration, an operatic ballet amid the grunts and howls. Body language conveys much, and is mimed with great subtext by the talented actors. Scenes like one where Ika leaves Naoh to return to her people has the heartbroken caveman returning to their shared bed of straw instead of continuing forward, depressed and recalling her smell. Naoh is a fairly complex character, one who struggles with his purpose on the quest and in his his life. He is crafty enough to devise a strategy to claim fire from the cannibals by dividing their forces at their camp, having Amoukar and Gaw bait them into a chase, aware of how acute their sense of smell is by keeping a pelt of a wolf on hand as a distraction while they reconnoiter the camp at night. When surrounded in the plains, Naoh approaches a woolly mammoth with food, effectively recruiting the titanic beasts protect them. After Ika leaves, his thoughts turn to more abstract concepts like "monogamy" and "love". When he is captured by Ika's people, they cannot humiliate him sufficiently to make him lose favor with Ika; instead, they seduce his mind by revealing how they are able to produce fire without the aid of a spontaneous moment in nature. This is where Naoh loses his way for a time, convinced that this knowledge is a higher calling, something that supersedes the quest. One of the most interesting things about Quest for Fire is how it prompts viewers to subconsciously attribute modern sensibilities onto the cavemen, applying our own cultural values on events, like the relationship between Naoh and Ika. Quest for Fire is a recreation of a world where man is not the dominant species, a reminder of humanity's humble origins as scavengers before scholars.
Recommended for: Fans of an intriguing drama about survival and understanding in a prehistoric context. Vast landscapes shot entirely in Scotland create a sense of being transported back to the formative years for humanity, a glimpse at what was different and what was less so.