Quest for Fire

source: Quest for Fire

Trailer—La guerre du feu

La guerre du feu

I saw this film on the big screen when I was a pre-teen. I recently saw it again and was reminded what a great movie this is. You don't need to know the languages to understand what is going on. (The characters from different tribes don't know the other languages and they often act out what they need.) This is a movie about the primal fight to survive and how even though they are forced to travel to find a new fire, their experiences expand their horizons in ways they could never have anticipated. If their own fire hadn't gone out they would never have met the cannibals or the clay people, who ultimately hold the key to their survival. At its core, this is a movie about how although we may look different and have different customs we are all human and what we can learn from each other is irreplaceable.

I saw this film (on VHS rental) so long ago I might have been in it. My (ex) wife & friends thought it was stupid - "What's going on? Nobody's saying anything". I found it mesmerising and have been looking for it ever since (car boot sales, Ebay etc). OK, if you've two adjacent brain cells, you'll spot the anachronisms and the cheap effects, but credit where it's due for originality and balls - to the director and the backers. If you're sick of hype and tripe, find it. If you're hooked intravenously to Hollywood pap (as 99.999% of the world's population seem to be) then give it a miss. Just my 2p.

If you do not have an insight into human nature or if you only have the mentality of a fourth grader, this movie is not for you; but if you have sensibility and introspect, then revel in it with this underrated masterpiece. Human nature has not changed since the beginning of man's existence....only gadgets have been added. "Quest For Fire" beats anything that has ever been produced in a "caveman" movie....and it doesn't matter what language you understand....and it doesn't matter what culture you are from....the themes are archetypic....and you won't even have to worry about subtitles.

This story takes place in prehistoric time when three prehistoric tribesmen search for a new fire source. What a strange movie. Somehow it came my way off of a list of horror films. This is not, by any stretch of the imagination, a horror film. But then, some folks like Mike Mayo think "The Wizard of Oz" can be seen as horror, so I guess it is open to debate. What we have is over 90 minutes of characters with no names who never speak -- at least not in any language we can recognize. And yet, it makes sense and has a real plot. This is a fun movie, and shows (if nothing else) that silent films can still be powerful today, even if they are done in a slightly different way.

80,000 years ago, fire had the meaning of power; when a tribe is attacked by another aggressive tribe and their source of fire is stolen, three tribesmen travels in a quest for fire. They retrieve the source of fire from a primitive group of cannibals and a female prisoner escapes from death. She follows the trio, and they discover that she belongs to a tribe in a higher stage of evolution that is able to create fire. Their contact promotes an evolution of their own tribe. This is the third time that I watch this fascinating and unique "La Guerre du Feu", which is an unforgettable masterpiece of the great director Jean-Jacques Annaud, now on DVD. The story is awesome with amazing performances without words but with a wonderful choreography, and in my opinion Rae Dawn Chong and Ron Perlman deserved nominations to the Oscar in this earlier works. My vote is nine. Title (Brazil): "A Guerra do Fogo" ("The War of the Fire")

Many of my friends laugh at me when I mention this movie. I don't know what makes so many of them hate it so.. Perhaps the lack of understandable dialogue? Too much like thinking to understand what is going on? Whatever it is, I am one of the few I know who feel this is a very underrated movie.. I know it is not accurate from a scientific perspective... The time line is all messed up.. but so what? I sat there in the theater just thinking.. "suppose live in our distant past WAS something like this movie. Fire=Life=Fire. Along comes a superior tribe and I realize that I could summon the flames at MY WILL. How powerful I would feel.. Almost G-d like! The photography is lush and there is a tinge of humor when the backward tribe learns to laugh. I enjoyed the story and the acting... everything. Rent it! See it twice if you must. Just maybe... we ARE looking back at ourselves.

This is an extremely overlooked film many people should learn about. First, it tells you a very complex story without a single line of dialog successfully. Second, the story is universal: Every civilization on earth can pick up this film and understand it, because it goes to the most basic, primitive issues of a species (mainly, survival). Third, it makes the beginning of man interesting. Fourth, it reminds us we were once as savage as any other animal on earth. Fifth, it's like no other movie you've seen before. That one I can guarantee you.