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Quest for Fire (film)
Encyclopedia
Quest for Fire is a 1981 film adaptation
of the 1911
Belgian novel
by J.-H. Rosny aîné
(1856–1940). Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud
and adapted by Gérard Brach
, the film stars Everett McGill
, Ron Perlman
, Nameer El-Kadi, and Rae Dawn Chong
. It won the Academy Award for Makeup
. Michael D. Moore
was the associate producer in charge of action & animal scenes.
It is set in Paleolithic Europe
, 80,000 years ago, its plot surrounding the struggle for control of fire by early humans
.
), Amoukar (Ron Perlman
) and Gaw (Nameer El-Kadi), out on a dangerous quest for fire. After a frightening encounter with a pair of saber-toothed cat
s, the Ulam scouting trio enters territory of the Kzamm, a Neanderthals' tribe who have resorted to cannibalism
, and capture members of the Cro-Magnon
(early modern humans) Ivaka tribe as victims. When Gaw and Amoukar pretend to be berserker madmen, creating a ruse that causes the Kzamm tribe to scatter, Naoh manages to steal some fire, but not without being injured in a fight with two of them. One of his injuries is a bite to the genitals, and he spends a fair amount of time in visible agony from this. After killing his opponents (smashing a rock over the head of the Kzamm tribesman who bit his genitals) and disposing of the Kzamm's remaining fire in contempt, Naoh rejoins Gaw and Amoukar.
A young woman named Ika (Rae Dawn Chong
), an Ivaka prisoner who escapes with Naoh, follows them in gratitude, seeking protection. Despite attempts by Amoukar to drive her off, she follows, eventually taking advantage of a food-gather by Amoukar and Gaw to approach Naoh. She makes a primitive poultice
, helping him recover from his injury. The four begin their trek towards the Ulam, followed by the Kzamm. Attacked by the hostile tribe, the group takes advantage of a wandering herd of Wooly mammoth
s to make good their escape. While they travel back towards the Ulam grounds, Amoukar attempts to have sex with Ika: she hides near Naoh, who then demonstrates his claim on her by raping her in front of the other two males.
One day, Ika recognizes that she is near her home. She tries to persuade the Ulam trio to go with her, but either the men's sense of purpose or the lack of a common language with the woman (or perhaps both) keeps them together on their way back to the Ulam. However, when Ika leaves them the next morning, Naoh is upset; at first he continues without her, but finds he cannot stop thinking about her. He turns around, followed by the reluctant Gaw and Amoukar. After Naoh leaves the others to scout a village, he is trapped in a marsh, nearly sinking to his death, but is discovered and captured by the Ivaka. At first, Naoh is teased and subjected to several forms of humiliation by the Ivaka, but eventually they accept him and show him their ways, initiating him into the tribe. Impressed by his physical features, they arrange for him to service all the high status women if the tribe who are large and big-breasted. The petite Ika is excluded from the services of Naoh by her tribe, and when she attempts to lay near him later that night, she is chased away by the other members of her tribe. The Ivaka is the most advanced tribe depicted. They have atlatl
s (spear throwers), arts (body painting, huts, ornaments, primitive pottery
), and most importantly, the ability to make fire. When Naoh is taught by Ika how to make fire, he is overwhelmed and his life is changed forever.
Growing impatient, Gaw and Amoukar go to find Naoh and are also captured by the Ivaka. During their ordeal, they are disturbed to realize that one of the teasers laughing at them is Naoh, initially unrecognizable as he now wears the full body-paint of the Ivaka. When Gaw and Amoukar begin their escape during the night, Amoukar tries to inform Naoh of their plan but Naoh is affected by a crude fermented drink that he had been given by the Ivaka, and is unresponsive to Amourkar. Frustrated from the day's events, Amoukar 'persuades' Naoh to come along by knocking him unconscious. Ika follows the trio and helps them escape. Naoh and Ika make passionate love during a cloudburst, first by the initial, "animal" style short, rough copulation from behind seen several times before, eventually shifting around to the "missionary position
", a position the Ivaka attempted to teach Naoh during his initiation. Intrigued and aroused by observing them, Amoukar approaches Gaw, who immediately rebuffs him. They also begin to finally understand the concept of laughter, something that had puzzled them earlier about Ika and the Ivakas. When Amoukar drops a small rock on sleeping Gaw's head, they all (even Gaw) burst out laughing.
On their way back home, the four run into a trio of Ulam hunters, led by Aghoo, Naoh's rival as dominant male of the tribe. Left by Naoh and Amoukar to guard the fire with Ika, Gaw is severely wounded in a fight with a mother cave bear
, barely managing to escape. The other three members of the group find Gaw, and Amoukar carries him over his shoulder. When attacked by the Ulam rivals, the group uses several atlatl
s stolen from the Ivaka to dispatch their enemies. Thus the group demonstrates the advantages of embracing new technologies. Finally rejoining the Ulam tribe, the group present the fire to the delight of all. The fire tender, having been given the flame, prompts the tribesfolk into an outburst of joy. Due to the ensuing euphoria, the fire tender ends up falling in the water, extinguishing the fire. The enraged tribe nearly kills the fire tender, until Naoh, Gaw and Amoukar restrain them and scold the group. Naoh then tries to create a new fire the way he'd been taught, by using some sticks, dung and dry grasses. After several failed attempts, the more experienced Ika takes over, carefully rubbing the dry sticks together. Once the spark is lit, the tribe is overjoyed, cheering and overwhelmed again.
In the end, Naoh discovers that Ika is pregnant with their child. Naoh caresses Ika while they both gaze at the brightly lit moon.
Ulam tribe
Ivaka tribe
Kzamm tribe
Wagabu tribe
s in 1981, winning those for best film and best director. In 1983 it won the Academy Award for Makeup
. Also in 1983, it won in five categories in the Genie Awards.
of a 1911 novel, the film's fidelity to the novel must be judged separately from its compatibility with the tenets of paleoanthropology
at the time of its production.
The story of the novel takes place 80,000 years ago, during the last glacial period. The movie adheres to this date, but in the commentary accompanying the DVD release, the director Annaud stated that a much earlier date would actually have been more reasonable if he had made the film recently with modern knowledge of the subject matter.
The film, in keeping with the novel, presents three species of Homo
: Homo erectus
(Wagabu), Homo neanderthalensis (Ulam, Kzamm) and Homo sapiens (Ivaka). The Neanderthals are portrayed as the stereotypical cavemen, in an intermediate stage of development compared to the ape-like erectus on one hand, and the culturally more advanced sapiens on the other. According to current knowledge, Neandertal interaction with early modern humans has taken place only significantly later than 80,000 years ago, from about 40,000 to 20,000 years ago.
The sapiens tribe (Ivaka) is depicted as using body ornamentation
(jewellery
, body paint, mask
s, headgear
), fully developed language
and simple technology such as gourd
s as vessels and the atlatl
, features that in combination amount to full behavioral modernity
characteristic of the Upper Paleolithic
.
The Neanderthals are depicted as Caucasian, the Kzamm even as red-haired, in a peculiar anticipation of the result of genetic studies conducted in the 2000s which concluded that some Neanderthals did indeed have red hair. The sapiens woman Ika is depicted as wearing full body paint, and is cast with a multiracial
actress, leaving her racially indistinct. This is again in keeping with studies post-dating the film which established that light skin in European descendants of Cro-Magnon
developed only towards the end of the Middle Paleolithic, or during the Upper Paleolithic.
Like the elements of human culture, human-Neanderthal interbreeding is likely to have happened later than the film is set. Scientists debate the extent to which H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis ever interbred, based on continuing research, but some evidence discovered since the film's release suggests that such interbreeding did occur in Europe.
The language spoken by the Neanderthals was created by Anthony Burgess
. The more advanced language of the Ivaka, according to Annaud's commentary on the DVD, was largely that of the Cree/Inuit native people of northern Canada, which apparently has caused some amusement among those in this group who have seen this film, since the words have little to do with the plot. The gestural and body language was overseen by Desmond Morris
, author of The Naked Ape
.
's song "Quest for Fire" (from the 1983 album "Piece of Mind
") is inspired by both the film and novel of the same name. An episode of Family Guy parodies the film creating a novelty porno title from it: Quest for Fur.
Film adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of the 1911
1911 in literature
The year 1911 in literature involved some significant events and new books.-Events:*George Moore publishes the first of his three-volume Hail and Farewell .*Gallimard publishing house founded in Paris by Gaston Gallimard...
Belgian novel
Novel
A novel is a book of long narrative in literary prose. The genre has historical roots both in the fields of the medieval and early modern romance and in the tradition of the novella. The latter supplied the present generic term in the late 18th century....
by J.-H. Rosny aîné
J.-H. Rosny aîné
J.-H. Rosny aîné was the pseudonym of Joseph Henri Honoré Boex , a French author of Belgian origin who is considered one of the founding figures of modern science fiction. Born in Brussels in 1856, he wrote in the French language, together with his younger brother Séraphin Justin François Boex...
(1856–1940). Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud
Jean-Jacques Annaud
Jean-Jacques Annaud is a French film director, film producer and screenwriter.- Biography :Annaud was born in Juvisy-sur-Orge, Essonne...
and adapted by Gérard Brach
Gérard Brach
Gérard Brach was a French screenwriter best known for his collaborations with the film directors Roman Polanski and Jean-Jacques Annaud...
, the film stars Everett McGill
Everett McGill
Everett McGill is an American actor, best known for mostly playing villains in films like Licence to Kill, Silver Bullet, Dune, Yanks and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.-Life and career:...
, Ron Perlman
Ron Perlman
Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
, Nameer El-Kadi, and Rae Dawn Chong
Rae Dawn Chong
Rae Dawn Chong is a Canadian-American actress.-Life and career:Chong was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the daughter of Maxine Sneed and Tommy Chong. She and her sister Robbi were raised by her grandmother, Tommy Chong's mother. Chong's father is of Chinese and Scottish-Irish ancestry and her...
. It won the Academy Award for Makeup
Academy Award for Makeup
The Academy Award for Best Makeup is the Oscar given to the best achievement in makeup for film. Usually, only three films are nominated each year rather than five as in most categories...
. Michael D. Moore
Michael D. Moore
Michael D. Moore is a Canadian-born American film actor and director.Born Michael Sheffield in Victoria, British Columbia, both he and his brother Patrick were Hollywood child actors. At the age of five he appeared in his first film under the stage name "Mickey Moore". He appeared in two dozen...
was the associate producer in charge of action & animal scenes.
It is set in Paleolithic Europe
Paleolithic Europe
Paleolithic Europe refers to the Paleolithic period of Europe, a prehistoric era distinguished by the development of the first stone tools and which covers roughly 99% of human technological history...
, 80,000 years ago, its plot surrounding the struggle for control of fire by early humans
Control of fire by early humans
The control of fire by early humans was a turning point in the cultural aspect of human evolution that allowed humans to cook food and obtain warmth and protection...
.
Plot
The film begins with a raid by the apelike Wagabu tribe on the Neanderthal Ulam tribe, who possess fire in the form of a carefully guarded small flame which they use to start larger bonfires. Obtained from a natural source, it must be fed constantly to keep it alive, for the Ulam do not know how to make their own fire. Driven out of their home after a bloody battle with the Wagabu, the surviving Ulam escape but are chased into a marsh by a pack of wolves. The Ulam fire tender escapes with the tribe's remaining fire, however after crossing a marsh, the moisture and wind douse the embers, leaving the tribe doomed to die from exposure and starvation. The Ulams refuse to resort to cannibalism and the elder decides to send three men, Naoh (Everett McGillEverett McGill
Everett McGill is an American actor, best known for mostly playing villains in films like Licence to Kill, Silver Bullet, Dune, Yanks and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.-Life and career:...
), Amoukar (Ron Perlman
Ron Perlman
Ronald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
) and Gaw (Nameer El-Kadi), out on a dangerous quest for fire. After a frightening encounter with a pair of saber-toothed cat
Saber-toothed cat
Saber-toothed cat or Sabre-toothed cat refers to the extinct subfamilies of Machairodontinae , Barbourofelidae , and Nimravidae as well as two families related to marsupials that were found worldwide from the Eocene Epoch to the end of the Pleistocene Epoch ,...
s, the Ulam scouting trio enters territory of the Kzamm, a Neanderthals' tribe who have resorted to cannibalism
Cannibalism
Cannibalism is the act or practice of humans eating the flesh of other human beings. It is also called anthropophagy...
, and capture members of the Cro-Magnon
Cro-Magnon
The Cro-Magnon were the first early modern humans of the European Upper Paleolithic. The earliest known remains of Cro-Magnon-like humans are radiometrically dated to 35,000 years before present....
(early modern humans) Ivaka tribe as victims. When Gaw and Amoukar pretend to be berserker madmen, creating a ruse that causes the Kzamm tribe to scatter, Naoh manages to steal some fire, but not without being injured in a fight with two of them. One of his injuries is a bite to the genitals, and he spends a fair amount of time in visible agony from this. After killing his opponents (smashing a rock over the head of the Kzamm tribesman who bit his genitals) and disposing of the Kzamm's remaining fire in contempt, Naoh rejoins Gaw and Amoukar.
A young woman named Ika (Rae Dawn Chong
Rae Dawn Chong
Rae Dawn Chong is a Canadian-American actress.-Life and career:Chong was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the daughter of Maxine Sneed and Tommy Chong. She and her sister Robbi were raised by her grandmother, Tommy Chong's mother. Chong's father is of Chinese and Scottish-Irish ancestry and her...
), an Ivaka prisoner who escapes with Naoh, follows them in gratitude, seeking protection. Despite attempts by Amoukar to drive her off, she follows, eventually taking advantage of a food-gather by Amoukar and Gaw to approach Naoh. She makes a primitive poultice
Poultice
A poultice, also called cataplasm, is a soft moist mass, often heated and medicated, that is spread on cloth over the skin to treat an aching, inflamed, or painful part of the body. It can be used on wounds such as cuts...
, helping him recover from his injury. The four begin their trek towards the Ulam, followed by the Kzamm. Attacked by the hostile tribe, the group takes advantage of a wandering herd of Wooly mammoth
Mammoth
A mammoth is any species of the extinct genus Mammuthus. These proboscideans are members of Elephantidae, the family of elephants and mammoths, and close relatives of modern elephants. They were often equipped with long curved tusks and, in northern species, a covering of long hair...
s to make good their escape. While they travel back towards the Ulam grounds, Amoukar attempts to have sex with Ika: she hides near Naoh, who then demonstrates his claim on her by raping her in front of the other two males.
One day, Ika recognizes that she is near her home. She tries to persuade the Ulam trio to go with her, but either the men's sense of purpose or the lack of a common language with the woman (or perhaps both) keeps them together on their way back to the Ulam. However, when Ika leaves them the next morning, Naoh is upset; at first he continues without her, but finds he cannot stop thinking about her. He turns around, followed by the reluctant Gaw and Amoukar. After Naoh leaves the others to scout a village, he is trapped in a marsh, nearly sinking to his death, but is discovered and captured by the Ivaka. At first, Naoh is teased and subjected to several forms of humiliation by the Ivaka, but eventually they accept him and show him their ways, initiating him into the tribe. Impressed by his physical features, they arrange for him to service all the high status women if the tribe who are large and big-breasted. The petite Ika is excluded from the services of Naoh by her tribe, and when she attempts to lay near him later that night, she is chased away by the other members of her tribe. The Ivaka is the most advanced tribe depicted. They have atlatl
Atlatl
An atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...
s (spear throwers), arts (body painting, huts, ornaments, primitive pottery
Pottery
Pottery is the material from which the potteryware is made, of which major types include earthenware, stoneware and porcelain. The place where such wares are made is also called a pottery . Pottery also refers to the art or craft of the potter or the manufacture of pottery...
), and most importantly, the ability to make fire. When Naoh is taught by Ika how to make fire, he is overwhelmed and his life is changed forever.
Growing impatient, Gaw and Amoukar go to find Naoh and are also captured by the Ivaka. During their ordeal, they are disturbed to realize that one of the teasers laughing at them is Naoh, initially unrecognizable as he now wears the full body-paint of the Ivaka. When Gaw and Amoukar begin their escape during the night, Amoukar tries to inform Naoh of their plan but Naoh is affected by a crude fermented drink that he had been given by the Ivaka, and is unresponsive to Amourkar. Frustrated from the day's events, Amoukar 'persuades' Naoh to come along by knocking him unconscious. Ika follows the trio and helps them escape. Naoh and Ika make passionate love during a cloudburst, first by the initial, "animal" style short, rough copulation from behind seen several times before, eventually shifting around to the "missionary position
Missionary position
The missionary position is a "man-on-top" sex position usually described as the act in which the woman lies on her back and the partners face each other. Though often acted on and applied by heterosexual pairings, it may also be used by gay and lesbian couples.The missionary position is an example...
", a position the Ivaka attempted to teach Naoh during his initiation. Intrigued and aroused by observing them, Amoukar approaches Gaw, who immediately rebuffs him. They also begin to finally understand the concept of laughter, something that had puzzled them earlier about Ika and the Ivakas. When Amoukar drops a small rock on sleeping Gaw's head, they all (even Gaw) burst out laughing.
On their way back home, the four run into a trio of Ulam hunters, led by Aghoo, Naoh's rival as dominant male of the tribe. Left by Naoh and Amoukar to guard the fire with Ika, Gaw is severely wounded in a fight with a mother cave bear
Cave Bear
The cave bear was a species of bear that lived in Europe during the Pleistocene and became extinct at the beginning of the Last Glacial Maximum about 27,500 years ago....
, barely managing to escape. The other three members of the group find Gaw, and Amoukar carries him over his shoulder. When attacked by the Ulam rivals, the group uses several atlatl
Atlatl
An atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...
s stolen from the Ivaka to dispatch their enemies. Thus the group demonstrates the advantages of embracing new technologies. Finally rejoining the Ulam tribe, the group present the fire to the delight of all. The fire tender, having been given the flame, prompts the tribesfolk into an outburst of joy. Due to the ensuing euphoria, the fire tender ends up falling in the water, extinguishing the fire. The enraged tribe nearly kills the fire tender, until Naoh, Gaw and Amoukar restrain them and scold the group. Naoh then tries to create a new fire the way he'd been taught, by using some sticks, dung and dry grasses. After several failed attempts, the more experienced Ika takes over, carefully rubbing the dry sticks together. Once the spark is lit, the tribe is overjoyed, cheering and overwhelmed again.
In the end, Naoh discovers that Ika is pregnant with their child. Naoh caresses Ika while they both gaze at the brightly lit moon.
Cast
- Everett McGillEverett McGillEverett McGill is an American actor, best known for mostly playing villains in films like Licence to Kill, Silver Bullet, Dune, Yanks and Under Siege 2: Dark Territory.-Life and career:...
... Naoh - Ron PerlmanRon PerlmanRonald N. "Ron" Perlman is an American television, film and voice over actor. He is known for having played Vincent in the TV series Beauty and the Beast , a Deathstroke figure known as Slade in the animated series Teen Titans, Clarence "Clay" Morrow in Sons of Anarchy, the comic book character...
... Amoukar - Nameer al-KadiNicholas KadiNicholas Kadi is a Turkish-born Iraqi American actor.Kadi was born in Istanbul, Turkey of Iraqi descent. His father, Nizar el Kadi, was an Iraqi ambassador....
... Gaw - Rae Dawn ChongRae Dawn ChongRae Dawn Chong is a Canadian-American actress.-Life and career:Chong was born in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, the daughter of Maxine Sneed and Tommy Chong. She and her sister Robbi were raised by her grandmother, Tommy Chong's mother. Chong's father is of Chinese and Scottish-Irish ancestry and her...
... Ika
Ulam tribe
- Gary Schwartz ... Rouka
- Naseer El-Kadi ... Nam
- Franck-Olivier Bonnet ... Aghoo
- Jean-Michel Kindt ... Lakar
- Kurt Schiegl ... Faum
- Brian Gill ... Modoc
- Terry Fitt ... Hourk
- Bibi Caspari ... Gammla
- Peter Elliott ... Mikr
- Michelle Leduc ... Matr
- Robert Lavoie ... Tsor
Ivaka tribe
- Mohamed Siad Cockei ... Ota Otarok
- Tarlok Sing Seva ... Tavawa
- Lolamal Kapisisi ... Firemaker
- Hassannali Damji ... Old Man in Tree
Kzamm tribe
- The Great Antonio
- Jacques CaronJacques CaronJacques Joseph Caron is a former assistant coach for the National Hockey League's Hartford Whalers and is the current goaltending coach for the National Hockey League's New Jersey Devils. He won three Stanley Cups as goaltending coach with New Jersey in 1995, 2000 and 2003.-External links:...
- Adrian StreetAdrian StreetAdrian Street is a Welsh professional wrestler known for his flamboyant, androgynous wrestling persona, brought to prominence in the 1970s and 1980s. Street was often accompanied to the ring by his long-time manager Miss Linda, and the two worked primarily as villains...
- George BuzaGeorge BuzaGeorge Buza is an American-born Canadian actor who is best known for voicing Beast in the X-Men Animated Series.-Biography:Born in Cleveland, Ohio, he moved to Canada as a young man and became a Canadian citizen in 1998. He appeared as Chief Jake McKenna multiple times in the TV series Honey, I...
Wagabu tribe
- Rod Bennett
- Jacques Demers
- Michel Drouet
- Michel Francoeur
- Charles Gosselin
- Bernard Kendall
- Benoit Levesque
- Joshua Melnick
- Jean-Claude Meunier
- Alex Quaglia
Reception
The film was nominated for six César AwardCésar Award
The César Award is the national film award of France, first given out in 1975. The nominations are selected by the members of the Académie des arts et techniques du cinéma....
s in 1981, winning those for best film and best director. In 1983 it won the Academy Award for Makeup
Academy Award for Makeup
The Academy Award for Best Makeup is the Oscar given to the best achievement in makeup for film. Usually, only three films are nominated each year rather than five as in most categories...
. Also in 1983, it won in five categories in the Genie Awards.
Historical accuracy
As an adaptationFilm adaptation
Film adaptation is the transfer of a written work to a feature film. It is a type of derivative work.A common form of film adaptation is the use of a novel as the basis of a feature film, but film adaptation includes the use of non-fiction , autobiography, comic book, scripture, plays, and even...
of a 1911 novel, the film's fidelity to the novel must be judged separately from its compatibility with the tenets of paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology
Paleoanthropology, which combines the disciplines of paleontology and physical anthropology, is the study of ancient humans as found in fossil hominid evidence such as petrifacted bones and footprints.-19th century:...
at the time of its production.
The story of the novel takes place 80,000 years ago, during the last glacial period. The movie adheres to this date, but in the commentary accompanying the DVD release, the director Annaud stated that a much earlier date would actually have been more reasonable if he had made the film recently with modern knowledge of the subject matter.
The film, in keeping with the novel, presents three species of Homo
Homo (genus)
Homo is the genus that includes modern humans and species closely related to them. The genus is estimated to be about 2.3 to 2.4 million years old, evolving from australopithecine ancestors with the appearance of Homo habilis....
: Homo erectus
Homo erectus
Homo erectus is an extinct species of hominid that lived from the end of the Pliocene epoch to the later Pleistocene, about . The species originated in Africa and spread as far as India, China and Java. There is still disagreement on the subject of the classification, ancestry, and progeny of H...
(Wagabu), Homo neanderthalensis (Ulam, Kzamm) and Homo sapiens (Ivaka). The Neanderthals are portrayed as the stereotypical cavemen, in an intermediate stage of development compared to the ape-like erectus on one hand, and the culturally more advanced sapiens on the other. According to current knowledge, Neandertal interaction with early modern humans has taken place only significantly later than 80,000 years ago, from about 40,000 to 20,000 years ago.
The sapiens tribe (Ivaka) is depicted as using body ornamentation
Body ornamentation
Practices of body ornamentation are a cultural universal .They can involve*body modification **tattoos**branding**body piercing*body art **body painting, makeup**hairstyles**hair coloring...
(jewellery
Jewellery
Jewellery or jewelry is a form of personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, and bracelets.With some exceptions, such as medical alert bracelets or military dog tags, jewellery normally differs from other items of personal adornment in that it has no other purpose than to...
, body paint, mask
Mask
A mask is an article normally worn on the face, typically for protection, disguise, performance or entertainment. Masks have been used since antiquity for both ceremonial and practical purposes...
s, headgear
Headgear
Headgear, headwear or headdress is the name given to any element of clothing which is worn on one's head.Headgear serve a variety of purposes:...
), fully developed language
Origin of language
The origin of language is the emergence of language in the human species. This is a highly controversial topic. Empirical evidence is so limited that many regard it as unsuitable for serious scholars. In 1866, the Linguistic Society of Paris went so far as to ban debates on the subject...
and simple technology such as gourd
Gourd
A gourd is a plant of the family Cucurbitaceae. Gourd is occasionally used to describe crops like cucumbers, squash, luffas, and melons. The term 'gourd' however, can more specifically, refer to the plants of the two Cucurbitaceae genera Lagenaria and Cucurbita or also to their hollow dried out shell...
s as vessels and the atlatl
Atlatl
An atlatl or spear-thrower is a tool that uses leverage to achieve greater velocity in dart-throwing.It consists of a shaft with a cup or a spur at the end that supports and propels the butt of the dart. The atlatl is held in one hand, gripped near the end farthest from the cup...
, features that in combination amount to full behavioral modernity
Behavioral modernity
Behavioral modernity is a term used in anthropology, archeology and sociology to refer to a set of traits that distinguish present day humans and their recent ancestors from both living primates and other extinct hominid lineages. It is the point at which Homo sapiens began to demonstrate a...
characteristic of the Upper Paleolithic
Upper Paleolithic
The Upper Paleolithic is the third and last subdivision of the Paleolithic or Old Stone Age as it is understood in Europe, Africa and Asia. Very broadly it dates to between 40,000 and 10,000 years ago, roughly coinciding with the appearance of behavioral modernity and before the advent of...
.
The Neanderthals are depicted as Caucasian, the Kzamm even as red-haired, in a peculiar anticipation of the result of genetic studies conducted in the 2000s which concluded that some Neanderthals did indeed have red hair. The sapiens woman Ika is depicted as wearing full body paint, and is cast with a multiracial
Multiracial
The terms multiracial and mixed-race describe people whose ancestries come from multiple races. Unlike the term biracial, which often is only used to refer to having parents or grandparents of two different races, the term multiracial may encompass biracial people but can also include people with...
actress, leaving her racially indistinct. This is again in keeping with studies post-dating the film which established that light skin in European descendants of Cro-Magnon
Cro-Magnon
The Cro-Magnon were the first early modern humans of the European Upper Paleolithic. The earliest known remains of Cro-Magnon-like humans are radiometrically dated to 35,000 years before present....
developed only towards the end of the Middle Paleolithic, or during the Upper Paleolithic.
Like the elements of human culture, human-Neanderthal interbreeding is likely to have happened later than the film is set. Scientists debate the extent to which H. sapiens and H. neanderthalensis ever interbred, based on continuing research, but some evidence discovered since the film's release suggests that such interbreeding did occur in Europe.
The language spoken by the Neanderthals was created by Anthony Burgess
Anthony Burgess
John Burgess Wilson – who published under the pen name Anthony Burgess – was an English author, poet, playwright, composer, linguist, translator and critic. The dystopian satire A Clockwork Orange is Burgess's most famous novel, though he dismissed it as one of his lesser works...
. The more advanced language of the Ivaka, according to Annaud's commentary on the DVD, was largely that of the Cree/Inuit native people of northern Canada, which apparently has caused some amusement among those in this group who have seen this film, since the words have little to do with the plot. The gestural and body language was overseen by Desmond Morris
Desmond Morris
Desmond John Morris, born 24 January 1928 in Purton, north Wiltshire, is a British zoologist and ethologist, as well as a popular anthropologist. He is also known as a painter, television presenter and popular author.-Life:...
, author of The Naked Ape
The Naked Ape
The Naked Ape: A Zoologist's Study of the Human Animal is a 1967 book by zoologist and anthropologist Desmond Morris which looks at humans as a species and compares them to other animals...
.
In popular culture
The band Iron MaidenIron Maiden
Iron Maiden are an English heavy metal band from Leyton in east London, formed in 1975 by bassist and primary songwriter Steve Harris. Since their inception, the band's discography has grown to include a total of thirty-six albums: fifteen studio albums; eleven live albums; four EPs; and six...
's song "Quest for Fire" (from the 1983 album "Piece of Mind
Piece of Mind
Piece of Mind is the fourth studio album by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden. It was originally released in 1983 on EMI, and on Capitol in the US; it was reissued later on Sanctuary/Columbia Records...
") is inspired by both the film and novel of the same name. An episode of Family Guy parodies the film creating a novelty porno title from it: Quest for Fur.
See also
- The Clan of the Cave BearThe Clan of the Cave BearThe Clan of the Cave Bear is an historical novel by Jean M. Auel about prehistoric times set before the extinction of the Neanderthal race after 600,000 years as a species, and at least 10-15,000 years after Homo sapiens remains are documented and dated in Europe as a viable second human species...
- Dance of the TigerDance of the TigerDance of the Tiger is a short novel, published in English in 1980, by palaeontologist Björn Kurtén that deals with the interaction between Neanderthals and Cro-Magnons...
- The Inheritors (William Golding)The Inheritors (William Golding)The Inheritors is the 1955 second novel by the British author William Golding, best known for Lord of the Flies. It was his personal favourite of all his novels and concerns the extinction of the last remaining tribe of Neanderthals at the hands of the more sophisticated Homo sapiens.-Plot...
- List of historical drama films