Quest for Fire, 1981.
Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.
Starring Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nicholas Kadi, Rae Dawn Chong and Gary Schwartz.
SYNOPSIS:
This story takes place in prehistoric time when three prehistoric tribesmen search for a new fire source.
In the cinematic universe there exists a galaxy. This (cinematic) galaxy is populated with daring films which never quite find a mass audience. In part down to their sheer audacity to break convention, and also down to many other reasons, be it financial trouble, lack of marketing etc. Quest for Fire is such a film and only the most intrepid of cinema universe explorers tend to find such films.
Playing out in part like a David Attenborough documentary, and a pre-historic quest movie, this is a fascinating film that has been under the radar since its inception. This isn’t a low budget piece either. The budget at the time was fairly moderate. By no means a blockbuster, but at the same time, far from being one of many cheap quickies that would become all the more regularly churned out in the rise of the video market. A great deal of time and no small amount of money was spent on bringing this to life, though getting the funding in the first place was apparently a quest in itself.
The film is a simple tale of a tribe of cavemen who have the ‘gift’ of fire. Fire keeps them alive. It keeps them warm, it wards of predators and rival tribes. They don’t know where it’s come from. They don’t know how to create it, nor to a great degree control it, they simply keep their embers burning in any way they possibly can. Following an attack by a less evolved tribe of Neanderthals, they lose the fire. Three of the tribe must then travel across the lands in search of fire, battling other tribes, sabre-tooth tigers and mammoths along the way. The film is a slow burner but nicely realised, and great care has gone into making the look, mannerisms and ‘language’ of these pre-historic men and women seem plausible.
Quest for Fire is a difficult film to judge in some ways. The story is very simple, but in many regards, it has to be that way. These are simple creatures on a simple quest of survival. There’s no dialogue in the film just a basic caveman language (though some versions do actually feature, pointlessly I should add, subtitles). That said you become drawn into the world, sucked along into their plight. The cast is headed up by Everett McGill, the fire handler. He’s supported by the legend that is Ron Perlman. This is Perlman’s first major role and he performs it steadfastly showing the sort of reliability and presence he would thus be known for (and still is) throughout his career. To McGill and Perlman’s credit they take these characters and find a perfect balance. Some actors could just grunt their way through and do gorilla impersonations. Some may inject too much consciousness and humanity into the roles, but they strike that perfect chord to make these Neolithic men believable. Rae Dawn Chong (Commando) also performs very well, and very naked, in one of her earliest roles.
On a technical standpoint the film is nicely realised. It looks fantastic. The desolate locales wonderfully shot in scope under the gaze of director Jean-Jacques Annuad and cinematographer Claude Agostini. The music by Philippe Sarde is atmospheric and evocative as well. The way in which characters interact and communicate is good, thanks to the input from novelist Antony Burgess who creating the language for the film.
Overall this is a film that should be watched. Though it’s a little slow moving and could do with an injection of pace every now and again, it’s unique, surprisingly funny and unexpectedly endearing.
Flickering Myth Rating – Film: ★ ★ ★ ★ / Movie: ★ ★ ★ ★
Tom Jolliffe
Originally published August 5, 2013. Updated April 11, 2018.
