The film depicts a young Cro-Magnon woman (Hannah) who is separated from her family and orphaned during an earthquake. She is found and adopted by a group of Neanderthals. As the years go by, her intelligence causes disaster for the entire tribe, especially its future chief, Broud (Waites). Dialogue is conducted mostly through a form of sign language which is translated for the audience with subtitles.
Plot
After losing her mother in an earthquake in Paleolithic Europe, 5-year-old Cro-Magnon Ayla is left alone in the woods. She then suffers a severe injury to her legs from a nearby cave lion. After suffering from starvation, exhaustion, and infection of her wounds, she collapses, on the verge of death. She is rescued by Iza, the healer of a group of Neanderthals who call themselves "The Clan," against the orders for her to be left to die by the clan's chief, Brun, because she is clearly a member of "the Others", the distrusted antagonists of the Clan. Brun refuses to accept Ayla when Iza adopts her, only allowing her to stay with the Clan because Iza refuses to abandon her.
Through meditation, Iza's brother, Creb (the group's shaman), comes to believe that the child may be protected by the spirit of the cave lion, a powerful "totem that is never given to a woman and very few men. He cites the cave lion attack the girl experienced shortly before being discovered as proof that its spirit marked her so that she could be adopted into the Clan. After traveling with them for a while and starting to heal, Ayla wanders away from the group when they stop to discuss what they should do and she discovers a huge, beautiful cave, perfect for their needs; many of the people begin to regard Ayla as lucky, especially since good fortune continues to come their way as they begin to accept her in the fold.
Ayla's different thought processes lead her to break important Clan customs, particularly the taboo against females handling weapons. She is self-willed and spirited, but tries hard to fit in with the Neanderthals, although she has to learn everything first-hand; she does not possess the ancestral memories of the Clan which enable them to do certain tasks after being shown only once.
Iza reflects how ugly Ayla is (her unusual appearance compared to the rest of the Clan and Neanderthal standards). Iza is concerned that when Ayla grows up nobody will want her as their mate, making her a burden to the Clan. Seeking to increase Ayla's value and status, Iza trains her to be a medicine woman which will garner respect. Even without a mate, Ayla will have status.
Broud, the son of the tribe's leader Brun, has disdain for Ayla, and when they both reach adulthood, Broud brutally rapes Ayla in an impulsive bid to demonstrate his control over her. Broud continues to assault Ayla constantly, leaving her despondent, and she becomes pregnant. Ayla witnesses Broud trying to master a sling with no success, she then takes it and secretly practices, soon becoming skilled with it. When a wolf attacks and is carrying off a small boy, Ayla is desperate to save the child and successfully kills the wolf with the sling. Grateful for her action, the clan reduces her punishment for using a weapon. Instead of killing her, they banish her from their settlement for a month, effectively a death sentence anyway. However, she finds shelter in another cave. Following a difficult childbirth, Ayla rejoices in the birth of a son. Struggling but able to survive harsh winter conditions, she returns to the tribe after her banishment period ends. She learns that her infant son Durc will be killed, as his appearance (being an amalgamation of Clan and Other features) is considered deformed and a precipitant of bad luck. However, Creb intervenes, appealing to Brun that Creb's deformities also qualified him as a burden but he was spared and grew to become a well-regarded tribe member and shaman. Ayla, having proven her survival and hunting skills, is allowed to keep her son.
After Iza's death, Broud is named chief by Brun. Broud's first order is to take Ayla for himself and separate her from her son, giving him to another couple. Broud also exiles the elderly Creb as another shaman has been designated. Ayla opposes and fights Broud, defeating him. Brun confronts Broud, shaming Broud. Thus a humiliated Broud agrees to keep Creb with the clan. Ayla still chooses to leave, saying goodbye to her son, in search of Others..
Stan Rogow obtained the rights to the book saying "I was able to convince Jean that I understood the material." Co-producer Gerald Isenberg originally conceived the film as a television film but was rejected by NBC.[4]
He eventually obtained finance from the Producers Sales Organisation, which wanted to make two films simultaneously, based on Clan of the Cave Bear and The Valley of Horses. John Sayles was hired to write the script and the job of directing was offered to Lewis Teague - who had worked twice before with Sayles. Teague said he turned down the project as "I didn't think it was possible to make a good film out of Valley and I thought the production problems in trying to make two films would have been impossible." Eventually Michael Chapman was hired to direct, after which the producers decided just to make the one movie.[5]
Universal then dropped the project; however, it was quickly picked up by Warner Bros.
Michael Burke, who won an Oscar for Quest for Fire did make up. The actors endured scenes located in mountains but wearing minimal clothing of animal pelts in temperatures as low as 5°F (−15°C). The makeup for actors portraying Neanderthals took 3.5 hours to apply.[6]
The film opened on one screen in New York City (Loews N.Y. Twin 2) and grossed $25,428 in its opening weekend.[8][9] Due to the production budget of US$15 million earning back only US$1.9 million in the United States and Canada, the film was unanimously considered a financial failure.
The film holds a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes, based on ten reviews.[10] However, The Encyclopedia of Fantasy states "It is hard to see why TCOTCB has drawn such critical contempt, unless for its tacit feminism: although the narration is overexpository and the equation of mental versatility with leggy blonde Cro-Magnons, as opposed to shabby Neanderthals, is a cliché, the movie is beautifully shot, well scripted and finely acted."[11]
Colin Greenland reviewed The Clan of the Cave Bear for White Dwarf magazine and stated that "there's a movie starring Daryl Hannah, whom I still like a lot, though she doesn't stand a chance amid all the picture-postcard photography, tacky mysticism and shaggy-browed sentimentality. But Ayla is unafraid, for she knows there are five more books to go yet."[12]
Jean Marie Auel is an American writer who wrote the Earth's Children books, a series of novels set in prehistoric Europe that explores human activities during this time, and touches on the interactions of Cro-Magnon people with Neanderthals. Her books have sold more than 45 million copies worldwide.
"The Ugly Little Boy" is a science fiction short story by American writer Isaac Asimov. The story first appeared in the September 1958 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction under the title "Lastborn", and was reprinted under its current title in the 1959 collection Nine Tomorrows. The story deals with a Homo neanderthalensis child which is brought to the future by means of time travel. Robert Silverberg later expanded it into a novel with the same title published in 1992.
Ayla is a common feminine Turkish given name.
The Clan of the Cave Bear is a 1980 novel and epic work of prehistoric fiction by Jean M. Auel about prehistoric times. It is the first book in the Earth's Children book series, which speculates on the possibilities of interactions between Neanderthal and modern Cro-Magnon humans.
Dino-Riders is an animated television series that first aired in 1988. The cartoon was primarily a promotional show to launch a new Tyco toy line. Only fourteen episodes were produced, three of which were produced on VHS for the United States. The show aired in the U.S. as part of the Marvel Action Universe programming block.
Pamela Reed is an American actress. She is known for playing Arnold Schwarzenegger's hypoglycemic police partner in the 1990 film Kindergarten Cop and portraying the matriarch Gail Green in Jericho. She appeared as Marlene Griggs-Knope on the NBC sitcom Parks and Recreation. She is also well known as the exasperated wife in Bean.
The Valley of Horses is a historical fiction novel by Jean M. Auel. It is the sequel to The Clan of the Cave Bear and second in the Earth's Children series.
The Mammoth Hunters is an historical fiction novel by Jean M. Auel released in 1985. It is the sequel to The Valley of Horses and third in the Earth's Children series.
The Shelters of Stone is a historical fiction novel by Jean M. Auel published in April 2002. It is the sequel to The Plains of Passage – published 12 years earlier – and fifth in the Earth's Children series. It describes the return of Jondalar to his homeland along with Ayla.
Earth's Children is a series of epic historical fiction novels written by Jean M. Auel set circa 30,000 years before the present day. There are six novels in the series. Although Auel had previously mentioned in interviews that there would be a seventh novel, publicity announcements for the sixth confirmed it would be the final book in the sequence.
Cro is an American animated television series produced by the Children's Television Workshop and Film Roman. It was partially funded by the National Science Foundation. Every episode has an educational theme, introducing basic concepts of physics, mechanical engineering, and technology. The show's narrator is an orange woolly mammoth named Phil, who was found frozen in ice by a scientist named Dr. C and her assistant, Mike. After they defrost him, Phil tells both of them about life in the Ice Age, including stories about his friend Cro, a Cro-Magnon boy.
The Inheritors is a work of prehistoric fiction and the second novel by the British author William Golding, best known for his first novel, Lord of the Flies (1954). It concerns the extinction of one of the last remaining tribes of Neanderthals at the hands of the more sophisticated Homo sapiens. It was published by Faber and Faber in 1955.
Ayla is the main character of Jean Auel's Earth's Children novels, a series which started in 1980. She is a Cro-Magnon woman who was raised by Neanderthals. Ayla was played by Daryl Hannah as the older version and by Nicole Eggert as the younger version in the 1986 film The Clan of the Cave Bear. Ayla's character has been described as an example of the "rebellious primordial" that conquers adversity with wit and will.
Jondalar of the Zelandonii is the male main character of Jean Auel's Earth's Children speculative historical fiction series set in the Late Stone Age of Europe. He has long pale blond hair which he usually pulls back in a ponytail, vivid blue eyes, is six feet six inches tall, and is described as extremely handsome and skillful in many ways.
Quest for Fire is a 1981 prehistoric fantasy adventure film directed by Jean-Jacques Annaud, written by Gérard Brach and starring Everett McGill, Ron Perlman, Nameer El-Kadi and Rae Dawn Chong. The Canadian-French co-production is a film adaptation of the 1911 Belgian novel The Quest for Fire by J.-H. Rosny. The story is set "80,000 years ago", with a plot concerning the struggle for control of fire by early humans.
Windwalker is a 1981 Western film directed by Kieth Merrill and written by Ray Goldrup, based on a novel by Blaine M. Yorgason. It stars Trevor Howard and Nick Ramus.
Mists of Dawn is a juvenile science fiction novel by science fiction writer and anthropologist Chad Oliver first published in 1952 by John C. Winston, Co. as a part of the Winston Science Fiction series of juvenile novels. The story follows the adventures of adolescent Mark Nye when he is accidentally transported to the Stone Age by his uncle's time machine. It includes a factual foreword on the science of anthropology and how Oliver uses this science in the telling of his story.
Cro-Magnons or European early modern humans (EEMH) were the first early modern humans to settle in Europe, migrating from western Asia, continuously occupying the continent possibly from as early as 56,800 years ago. They interacted and interbred with the indigenous Neanderthals of Europe and Western Asia, who went extinct 40,000 to 35,000 years ago. The first wave of modern humans in Europe left no genetic legacy to modern Europeans; however, from 37,000 years ago a second wave succeeded in forming a single founder population, from which all subsequent Cro-Magnons descended and which contributes ancestry to present-day Europeans. Cro-Magnons produced Upper Palaeolithic cultures, the first major one being the Aurignacian, which was succeeded by the Gravettian by 30,000 years ago. The Gravettian split into the Epi-Gravettian in the east and Solutrean in the west, due to major climatic degradation during the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM), peaking 21,000 years ago. As Europe warmed, the Solutrean evolved into the Magdalenian by 20,000 years ago, and these peoples recolonised Europe. The Magdalenian and Epi-Gravettian gave way to Mesolithic cultures as big game animals were dying out and the Last Glacial Period drew to a close.
Ao: The Last Hunter is a 2010 French prehistoric paleoanthropological fiction film directed by Jacques Malaterre. It is loosely based on the first novel of the Marc Klapczynski trilogy Aô, l'homme ancien (2010).
Prehistoric Adventures is an anthology of prehistoric fiction short stories edited by D. M. Ritzlin. It was first published in trade paperback and ebook by DMR Books in June 2021.
References
↑ The 12th Annual Grosses Gloss Thompson, Anne. Film Comment; New York Vol. 23, Iss. 2, (Mar 1987): 62-64,66-69.
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