History Film / QuestForFire

* * TheDiscoveryOfFire: A variation: The Ulam have a basic understanding of how to control fire but their inability to actually start a fire condemns them once the fire they keep burning at all times is extinguished. Naoh is moved to tears when he sees a fire being started from scratch for the first time.

''Quest for Fire'' (French: ''La Guerre du feu'', "The War of Fire") is a 1981 film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud. It is based off the book of the same name by Belgian author J.H. Rosny aîné. It is set in Paleolithic Europe, around 80,000 years ago, and concerns a small group of cavemen as they search for the fire their tribe needs to survive, not knowing how to produce it themselves.

Everett [=McGill=], Creator/RonPerlman, Nicholas Kadi, and Creator/RaeDawnChong appear as the primary group of cavemen followed by the film.

* AdaptationSpeciesChange: The cave lion and tigress that menace the trio in the novel are changed to two sabertooths in the film, albeit they are played by lions wearing false fangs.

* RaceLift: The Ulam are all played by white actors in contrast to the tawny Oulhamr of the novel.

* AdaptationNameChange: Nam becomes Amoukar and the Wahs become the Ivaka.

* ShaggyDogStory: Barely averted. The Ulam go through hell to get fire, only for Naoh to accidentally douse it when they return home. Fortunately Ika knows how to make it herself.

* AdaptationalWimp: Naoh is a formidable and respected warrior in the novel who single-handedly slaughters many of the cannibals. Here, he is comically defeated with a GroinAttack.

* AgeLift: Amouker and Gaw's novel equivalents are adolescents but they're clearly grown men here.

* AmbiguouslyBrown: In contrast to the light-skinned Ulam and Kzamm, Ika and the Ivaka tribe cover their entire bodies in paint and have noticeably non-Caucasian features. Ika is played by Creator/RaeDawnChong, who is mixed raced. The director wanted the Ivaka to not conform to the appearance of any single ethnic group, in that they're a tribe of Cro-Magnons who predate modern ethnicities.

* QuestionableConsent: Given the culture of the setting, and the generally animalistic behavior it's unclear to what extent consent is given, if at all, and some of the sex scenes definitely resemble rape.

* {{Slurpasaur}}: As stated above, the aforementioned sabre-toothed cats are played by trained lions with prosthetic teeth.

* HotterAndSexier: The book was written in 1911 for young readers so naturally it merely makes vague references to sex. The film is rated R and features several graphic sex scenes and a leading lady who spends most of her screen time completely naked.

* ImAHumanitarian: The Kzamm are a cannibalistic tribe of Neanderthals. TruthInTelevision, as many anthropologists think that at least some Neanderthals practiced some form of cannibalism.

* AllCavemenWereNeanderthals: Averted: The Kzamm are definitely Neanderthals, but the Ulam are more ambiguous, and the Ivaka are clearly ''Homo sapiens''. The Wagabu are shaggy and bestial, suggesting a more primitive species of hominid.

** The Wagabu are portrayed as a more primitive, ape-like species covered in shaggy hair. In the traditional view of human evolution, the idea of such a primitive species living alongside Neanderthals and modern humans seemed unlikely but the recently-discovered [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Red_Deer_Cave_people#cite_note-5 Red Deer Cave people]] seem to share features in common with early species like ''Homo habilis'', and given the sketchy nature of the fossil record, it is entirely possible than many such archaic species may have survived until recent times in habitats where fossilization doesn't occur.

* AdaptationExpansion: Of a sort. The novel presented two human species: ''Homo neandertalensis'' (Wagabu and Kzamm) and ''Homo sapiens'' (Ulam and Ivaka). In the film, there seems to be several different species running around, with the Ulam looking and behaving much more primitive than ''H. sapiens''.

* BiTheWay, SituationalSexuality: After watching Naoh and Ika copulate face-to-face for the first time, Amouker approaches Gaw for sex, but is rebuffed.

* DoYouWantToCopulate: Sex in the paleolithic is extremely open and casual. TruthInTelevision: even today, people in hunter-gatherer societies live in very close quarters with little if any privacy, so sex often occurs in full view of other clan members, [[ValuesDissonance including children]].

* HumansAreSpecial: The Ivaka (anatomically modern humans) are initially the only people capable of understanding humour, starting their own fires, constructing free-standing shelters, and copulating face-to-face. ScienceMarchesOn, and it is now thought that all, or most, ''Homo'' species shared these abilities to some degree (even great apes like chimps and gorillas are known to understand humour and mate face-to-face).

* MamaBear: A literal example: Gaw and Ika tamper with a Cave bear cub with the expected result.
* ManicPixieDreamGirl: Ika who teaches Naoh and the other Ulam males to laugh and love.

* QuestionableConsent: Given the culture of the setting, and the generally animalistic behaviour it's unclear to what extent consent is given, if at all, and some of the sex scenes definitely resemble rape.

* TruthInTelevision: As mentioned under ScienceMarchesOn, this film got many things wrong, but it got a few things right as well:

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: The film did an excellent job of showing that life for people at the time was basically a daily fight for survival and that humans were also not the dominant species on the planet. However, it is unlikely there would be such differently evolved tribes living in such close proximity to each other and there is some MisplacedWildlife. That being said, [[TropesAreTools had this not been written in it would've likely been a very dull story]].

* GoryDiscretionShot: Subverted. The film is quite bloody and gory in places, most notably the scene where a spear is thrust through a Wagabu's mouth and out through the back of his head.

* ShaggydogStory: Barely averted. The Ulam go through hell to get fire, only for Naoh to accidentally douse it when they return home. Fortunately Ika knows how to make it herself.

* AcceptableBreaksFromReality: The film did an excellent job of showing that life for people at the time was basically a daily fight for survival and that humans were also not the dominant species on the planet. However, it is unlikely there would be such differently evolved tribes living in such close proximity to each other and there is some misplaced wildlife. Had this not been written in it would've likely been a very dull story.

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