Quest for Fire

"Quest For Fire," a movie which came out in the 1980's, may be the best dramatized documentary in film history, although it was released as a regular fiction movie.

I've watched many depictions of how prehistoric man, hominid and ape may have moved, socialized, fought, used tools. I've watched many nature shows that captured behavior the casual observer would never have seen, and listened to Jane Goodall and others describe family life of gorillas, bonobos, chimps and orangs. I've also viewed apes living in fairly comfortable environments at the Columbus, Ohio zoo and the San Diego zoo. That includes their sexual behavior, at times.

Some of the behavior of the fictional tribe members matched ape behaviors uncannily. Meticulous, sustained thought and work went into maintaining the illusion throughout the story, so that we seemed to be present at transitions and breakthroughs as new realizations dawned on early humankind.

The chief advisor on body language was Desmond Morris. While his conclusions in "The Naked Ape," are not now honored, he and the other zoologists and anthropologists were honest and tireless observers and gave a lot to the fascination of the story.

At the Zoo

Overheard at the San Diego Zoo: Dad: "Look, look, the baby siamang did a flip!"
Unimpressed 7 year old boy: "I can do that."

A three year old asked why two orangutans had paper bags on their heads: "Well, maybe those are party hats," says a parent. "They're having a birthday party!"

The Absolutely Apes area with its shade trees and brooks was pleasant for people as well as apes. The orangs munched fresh romaine lettuce. Josephine evaded the frolicsome baby siamang and crossed the area stiffly, eating lettuce. She has arthritis and at 47 is elderly for an orang. She found a cool spot in the little dell and curled up with a paper bag over her head.

I enjoy the visitors as much as the animals. I left smiling.