Quest for Fire on DVD

Jean-Jacques Annaud’s epic tale of early man is a remarkable movie, thoughtful and interesting as well as highly entertaining.

And very convincing, too, thanks in part to the verbal “language” developed for the film by Anthony Burgess (of “A Clockwork Orange” fame) and the body language courtesy of anthropologist Desmond Morris. The actors who use these tools, despite the fact that not a word of English (or any other modern language) slips from their lips, always make their intentions clear.

If you doubt actors can pull this off, check out Annaud’s beautiful “The Bear,” where there’s very little dialogue at all and the lion’s share (well, bear’s share) of the film is carried by a bear cub - and thanks to snuffles and grunts and body language you always know what he’s thinking.

Anywy, Quest For Fire tells the tale of three warriors, from a tribe of early humans who have learned how to use fire but not how to create it. Therefore, they must capture fire from nature or steal it from other humans. One of the the tribe's members appears to be the designated “Fireman” charged with keeping the flame lest it be lost from them and they be forced to go out and look for jobs.

They appear to be a pretty peaceful lot when the movie opens with them lounging in their cave. Life is good, their stomachs are full, and things seem pretty idyllic. But then they’re attacked by a more primitive tribe, suffer a brutal defeat and the remnants of the tribe are sent running from their home.

As they head across some marshy land the unthinkable happens and their flame is doused. In fear and anguish, they send our three heroes (Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nameer El-Kadi) off on a Quest for Fire and we not only have a movie, but a movie title as well.

Their journeys bring them into conflict with four legged critters such as sabretoothed cats, and two legged critters from other societies. Life 80,000 years ago was short, tough, and brutal and some civilizations had learned that two legged quarry were easier to hunt and, subsequently, eat than some of the fleeter four leggers.

Other societies had actually learned to build above ground homes, such as they are, and upon encountering one our heroes are flabbergasted when a miracle is performed right in front of their eyes - fire is created out of nothing!

Re-armed with their precious flame, they head home, accompanied by a female (Rae Dawn Chong) they’d saved from cannibals and who appears to have taken a shine to the leader (McGill). When they eventually return home it’s to a hero’s welcome and all ends happily.

There’s a lot more to it than this, of course. For one thing, as our three musty steers solemnly trek across the ancient world they learn, and they become more civilized. Talk about having your characters grow!

All of the actors are totally believable, and they must have been really dedicated to have put up with the rigors that filming undoubtedly took. After all, they’re either naked or nearly naked and some of the locations (this review is being written within about an hour’s drive of the Alberta badlands where the film opens and closes) would have been a tad chilly for such parading around unless the movie was shot at the height of summer.

There are some gorgeous locations, too, not only from Alberta but from British Columbia, Scotland, and Kenya. The wooly mammoths and the saber tooth lions are about the weakest things in this film (we associate saber teeth with tigers, though that could be a shortcoming in our education, and the mammoths are obviously costumed elephants - well duh!), but there’s far more strength than weakness and it easily helps us maintain our suspension of disbelief.

The DVD is pretty good. The picture is presented in anamorphic widescreen (16x9 TV compatible) and though it’s a tad grainy and/or soft it’s still eminently watchable overall. Audio is Dolby Digital 5.1 surround and, though there isn’t much surround, the audio quality is pretty good.

For extras you get a running commentary featuring director Annaud, executive producer Michael Gruskoff and stars Perlman and Chong. There are also 15 video galleries with commentary and a half hour TV documentary (well, 22 minutes without commercials) narrated by the late Orson Welles that puts the movie into historical and artistic perspective. You also get the trailer.

Quest for Fire, from 20th Century Fox Home Video
10 min. anamorphic widescreen (2.35:1), 16x9 TV compatible, Dolby Digital 5.1 surround
Starring Everett McGill, Rae Dawn Chong, Ron Perlman, Nameer El-Kadi
Produced by John Kemeny and Denis Heroux
Written by Gerard Brach, Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud.

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