Hacker Cinema
Quest for Fire
La Guerre du feu
1981 · Film · 100 min
Directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud
In the prehistoric world, a Cro-Magnon tribe depends on an ever-burning source of fire, which eventually extinguishes. Lacking the knowledge to start a new fire, the tribe sends three warriors on a quest for more. With the tribe's future at stake, the warriors make their way across a treacherous landscape full of hostile tribes and monstrous beasts. On their journey, they encounter Ika, a woman who has the knowledge they seek.
8 positive4 neutralfrom 12 commenters
Where to watch
No streaming data for this title.
12 comments on Hacker News
Little tidbit that isn't mentioned in the article: he was a consultant on the film Quest for Fire and developed movement patterns and gestures for the actors.
ah, there's a very good movie about this exact topic (not scientifically accurate, one presumes, but still very good)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Fire_(film)
The English title is 'Quest for Fire'.
There are actually two distinct languages (a kind of Proto-Proto-Proto-Indo-European and Proto-Proto-Proto-Uralic) spoken in the movie, created by Anthony Burgess. He later wrote an essay (the title of which escapes me ATM) about the thinking behind it.
Some background: https://www.anthonyburgess.org/quest-for-fire/about-quest-for-fire/
i just saw this video yesterday: "The Magic Of 80s Fantasy Movies Before The Lord of the Rings | Top 10 Most Underrated Fantasy Movies" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xLarGiXN864
the movie you speak of is the first on the list: Quest for Fire (1981)
I would love to see some kind of TV series that took place across generations of mammoth hunters as they cross the Bering Straight, becoming, unknowingly, the first peoples of the Americas. With smart contributors/consultants it could be educational as well dramatic.
A series holding to what "Quest For Fire" tried to do (an underrated, unique and, sadly, seemingly forgotten film).
As mentioned in another comment, Quest for Fire is a great film that tries to explain exactly this.
It follows the path of a group of Neanderthals in Paleolithic Europe (80,000 years ago), that try to tame fire, and their contact with homo-sapiens and other humanoid species.
It is outdated/inaccurate, given our today's knowledge, but We know The authors tried to do as much justice as they could, given the knowledge of the time.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Fire_(film)
It was one of those slow but very captivating movies of the era. Movies like this (both indy feel and very high quality), are just are not made anymore.
You might enjoy this film - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Fire_(film)
The original title is "La guerre du feu" (The war of fire). The film is enjoyable and generally faithful to the book of Rosny l'aîné.
"La guerre du feu" was written more than a century ago, and the author was more interested in romance and adventure (and selling books) than in scientific accuracy. The film removes or softens the colonialist and dated perspective (tribes of inferior humans, fully domesticating mammoth, fighting for a woman...) and portrays the cooperation between tribes.
Suggestion of non scientifically accurate related movie: La guerre du feu: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Fire_(film)
Available in: https://archive.org/details/QuestforFire.1981.720p.BluRay.X2647SinS
This was actually the premise for the film "La Guerre de Feu" or "Quest for Fire".
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quest_for_Fire_(film)
Regarding the opening... No, the heroes of Quest for Fire were not Neanderthals. They were modern humans, though from a less technically advanced tribe than the one from which they ultimately learned fire-making. At least one other hominin species appears in the movie, though - possibly intended to be Neanderthals...
It's a historical storyboard for a “Quest for Fire 2”, sequel to one of the greatest romance films ever!