Free | CinemaNow
Posted: 5/27/2012
During the Ice Age, 80,000 years ago, the source of fire used by a clan of cavemen is extinguished during a ferocious battle with a group of Neanderthals. Not knowing how to create fire themselves, three members of the clan (Everett McGill, Ron Perlman and Nameer El-Kadi) must go on a journey in search of fire. This trip is fraught with danger, hardship and enlightenment, as the fire-seekers have to deal with humans at many levels of advancement, as well as saber-toothed tigers, wooly mammoths and cannibals. After rescuing a young cavewoman (Rae Dawn Chong) from a tribe of cannibals, she leads them to her own, more-evolved tribe, where they learn in the film's heroic climax that humans can actually create fire. The films' overarching theme, relayed through a detailed rendering of the travails of primitive existence, is that humankind's evolution progresses when humans learn that they can alter their environment, and thus control their own destiny. The film has no English dialogue nor subtitles, and the cast communicates using primitive languages developed specifically for QUEST FOR FIRE by Anthony Burgess, the noted author of the novel, <,u>,A Clockwork Orange<,,u>,, which was later made into a film of the same name. Director Jean-Jacques Annaud creates a visually enthralling portrayal of prehistoric times, which has been referred to as a masterpiece. Filming in Kenya, Scotland, Iceland and Canada gives the film a majestic feel, and evidence the scope of the cavemen's epic journey. The film received an Academy Award nomination for Best Make-Up.