Spoilers ahead.
I started watching this movie, and, after 40 minutes, packed it in. Too much "ooh ooh, ah ah," too many apparently gratuitous rape scenes, something that felt like a racist vibe, funny scenes that seemed to fail, serious scenes that came out campy, and characters who didn't come off the screen, in spite of Ron Perlman's being on it. I thought at the time a more accurate title might have been Clan of the Caveguys.
But the next day, La Guerre du Feu kept popping into my head, so I finished it. The film improves. The disturbing/campy violence ultimately yields a fairly interesting subtext. The film's aesthetic is pretty arresting. And seeing the shaman of Ika's tribe "make fire" is just plain neat.
Even the love story finally kind of works in spite of the fact it's a patriarchal/phallocentric fantasy (I mean, she asks for something new in the bedroom, and it's *missionary*?), mostly because Rae Dawn Chong acts the hell out of her (ridiculous) scenes. I would have liked the film better if we saw more of her tribe, who provided the most potential for interesting characters. But I get that that's not what the filmmakers were going for.
I started watching this movie, and, after 40 minutes, packed it in. Too much "ooh ooh, ah ah," too many apparently gratuitous rape scenes, something that felt like a racist vibe, funny scenes that seemed to fail, serious scenes that came out campy, and characters who didn't come off the screen, in spite of Ron Perlman's being on it. I thought at the time a more accurate title might have been Clan of the Caveguys.
But the next day, La Guerre du Feu kept popping into my head, so I finished it. The film improves. The disturbing/campy violence ultimately yields a fairly interesting subtext. The film's aesthetic is pretty arresting. And seeing the shaman of Ika's tribe "make fire" is just plain neat.
Even the love story finally kind of works in spite of the fact it's a patriarchal/phallocentric fantasy (I mean, she asks for something new in the bedroom, and it's *missionary*?), mostly because Rae Dawn Chong acts the hell out of her (ridiculous) scenes. I would have liked the film better if we saw more of her tribe, who provided the most potential for interesting characters. But I get that that's not what the filmmakers were going for.