Quest for Fire

The movie Quest for Fire came out in 1981 and is probably known, if at all, and somewhat notoriously at that, for the scene in the film when the human male takes that giant leap forward from engaging in coitus doggy-style to doing it in a more "civilized" manner. Meaning the missionary position.

Having watched the movie the other day when it came on television, however, I was struck by the rather tender love story at the heart of the movie.

A brief synopsis. Quest for Fire takes place 80,000 years ago. A tribe of Paleothic humans, as a result of an attack by a more animalistic tribe, lose not only their cave but their precious fire, which they do not know how to make but rather is carefully tended by a somewhat inept fire-keeper who manages to douse the fire trying to cross a river.

Three warriors are sent out on a quest to find another source of fire, which means they must either stumble across it, perhaps from a lightning strike, or steal it from another tribe.

The hero of the movie, Naoh, is also the leader of the trio. He's the best fighter and comes across as the more thoughtful of the three. They eventually find another tribe of cannibalistic animal-humans who have captured the heroine, Ika, and are about to dine on her. She is the most human looking of the cast and appears to belong to, despite her nakedness, a more advanced tribe.

Naoh and his companions, however, are interested only in the fire the cannibals have in their possession. They subseqeuntly defeat the cannibals and steal the fire. Meanwhile, Ika, who has managed to free herself, decides to follow Naoh and the others.

Why? It's never fully explained but I think it's because Naoh was certainly strutting his Alpha male qualities when he defeated the leader of the cannibal trible in full view of Ika. However, Naoh and the others have no interest in Ika and try to scare her away by throwing rocks and snarling at her.

Ika doesn't give up and eventually manages to insuniate herself with the trio. Naoh soon claims Ika as his. Initially it's nothing more than animal rutting on his part. However, as the movie progresses, you begin to see signs that Naoh perceives Ika as more than just a sexual release.


Ika soon becomes homesick and, while Naoh and the others are sleeping, slips away to return to her own tribe. Naoh wakes up, reaches out for her and realizes she's no longer lying next to him. He jumps her and sees her running off into the distance. He howls angrily, then turns his back on her and kicks dirt behind his heels as if to say: Fine. Leave. See If I Care.

But, when he and the others resume their trek back to their tribe with the fire, Naoh stops. And he looks back. And there's a confused look on his face as if he doesn't know quite what it is he's feeling but he feels it. Deeply.

He turns around and goes back to where he and Ika had last lain togther. His companions follow him, clearly dumbfounded by his strange behavior. Once Naoh reaches the spot where Ika had been, he picks up the grass she had slept on, holds it to his face and breathes deeply of it.

Of her.

He lies on the ground and wallows around in the grass as if trying to wrap himself with the scent and the memory of Ika, while his companions look on totally not understanding what the heck is up with their leader.

Eventually, Naoh gets up off the ground and his friends are probably thinking: Okay. Great. He's got that out of his sytem. Now let's get back to the tribe.

But Naoh does not go back to the tribe. He goes in search of Ika.

Now, all the actors in the movie spoke a language that was created by Anthony Burgess and there are no subtitles, so it's almost like watching a silent movie.

Maybe that's why I was so struck by that pure and simple expression of yearning that Naoh has for Ika. Prior to the attack on his tribe, we see his people in their natural state and they pretty much follow the precept that the strongest survive and the weak perish.

So, for Naoh to not only find himself missing Ika, but forsaking his duty to bring fire back to the tribe in order to find her; well, that's no minor thing.

It's a step forward toward a more human expression of tenderness and yearning and, yes, love. You sense that he's not even sure what it is that is compelling him to find her. He just knows that he must find her.

Naoh's friends are totally baffled by now and refuse to follow him. They take the fire and head back to the tribe, while Naoh continues his search for Ika alone.

The point of this post? I guess it is, as I said. It was that totally pure expression of yearning and longing on Naoh's part, when he returns to the place where he and Ika had last lain together and basically wallowed in her scent, that just struck me for some reason.

Naoh had no words for what he felt for Ika. He just felt it and he acted on it. I liked that.