La guerre du feu

I caught this in Boston back in 1981. They played it in the biggest cinema they had in 70mm and in stereo sound. I had only the slightest idea of what it was about but it sounded interesting. When I realized it was a caveman movie I almost left, but the beautiful wide screen cinematography kept me in my seat. Slowly it worked on me and by the end I was mesmerized.

There's not really much of a plot--the caveman discover fire and different sexual positions--and there's no dialogue that we could understand but it didn't matter. The whole cast was excellent--especially Ron Perelman and Rae Dawn Chong (who had guts to do this). Their whole performances had to be done using some foreign language and body movement but they pulled it off. I heard Anthony Burgess was called in to develop the language used and coach the cast in how to use it. The cinematography is just breath-taking and the prehistoric animals look realistic all the way. I can't exactly say why I loved this movie but I did.

20th Century Fox deserves credit for actually acquiring the film and releasing it. Naturally it bombed badly here in the US but it seems I'm not the only one who likes it--when I mention it to friends I just get a blank look back. I haven't seen it since 1981 but it's never left me. Try to see it on a big screen TV. I give it an 8.