Customer Reviews

The Clan of the Cave Bear

5 star:		(30)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(22)
2 star:		(13)
1 star:		(14)

 

 

I have read all of the books based on Ayla and loved them all, have read them many many times. There is no possible way that you could take the book and make it into a movie without leaving out a lot of details. I feel they did a wonderful job with the movie and I have watched it many times. To be more true and accurate to the book you would have to make a Mini-series and I for one would love to see that!!! It would make for a much more interesting night of television than most of the junk that they have on now. Daryl Hannah was an excellent Ayla but the entire cast had their work cut out for them but I was also very impressed with James Remar as Creb, wow did he bring Creb to life. For those that nit picked this movie apart then I suggest that you don't watch it again, for myself I will watch it again and again. Would really like to see a sequel!!

The film captures the essence of the book of the same title by Jean Auel. I liked the book very much, which is what prompted me to buy the movie. In agreement with another reviewer, if you are going to watch it to nit-pick about plot inconsistencies, the film is not for you. But all of the book's characterization and polemical elements are there in flying colors in the movie.

What was most startling for me was the performance given by Daryl Hannah. I am not a frequent movie viewer, so her name immediately brought to mind "Splash" - which this definitely is NOT. Her portrayal of Ayla was one of the finest acting performances I have seen... especially given (or because of) the language / sign language handicap. Auel spent a lot of time in the book describing the modes of non-verbal communication of the Clan, and it is clear that Hannah was up to the challenge of communicating the character of Ayla through action, gesture, expression, and posture. Her subtly was amazing and is appreciated more upon a second or third viewing.

The movie's feel is a little minimalist because of the lack of dialog, especially as compared with the lush descriptive passages of the book. However, the scenery and acting in this big-screen version more than compensate for the lack of the book's strong narrative.

I would also mention that the "over eighteen" rating of this movie seemed a little inappropriate to me. For those familiar with the book, the rape scene is done in the spirit of supporting the story and characterization - emotionally / spiritually anguishing but not overtly violent or sexual.

I read the whole series long before I saw the movie, and as a person who frequently reads before she sees any movie editions, I can be disappointed at times, and not for nitpicking reasons.

However, this time I was not only plesantly surprised, I was blessed with this movie. I happen to think that many film adaptations of books are not very well done because of how much has to be cut out, rewritten, etc, for the sake of a movie.

This one, however, was wonderful. Yes, some things were changed, but the book managed to keep Auel's talents alive within the film. I loved the genuine-feeling prehistoric atmosphere the movie portrayed, and the sign language mixed with the type of verbal words that would be typical of the Clan as described by Auel--it's excellent. There was not even a large need for subtitles, the body language says it all. Unlike Splash, Daryl Hannah did a superb job with this movie. I would reccomend it to anyone unless they feel like doing the old nitpick. If you do, this movie's not for you.

For the viewer who hasn't read the corresponding books, and I must speak from this perspective only because that is my condition, this movie is quite amazing. "Clan of the Cave Bear" is an excellent, touching movie that uniquely communicates through the establishment of a cast that is made up of neanderthals. It's beautiful and unusual and acted with extraordinary tenderness and perception; what a challenge it must have been to act out a story about cavepeople. After seeing this, it's reasonable to believe that this may just have been what life was like among prehistoric humans. I found this movie to be well, well worth watching.

As so often happens with screen adaptations of books this one is a real loser. From start to finish the writers/producers seem to have taken the general plot outline and characters and dropped most of the actual story.
It will do all right as a way to spend an afternoon if you haven't read the book (at this writing the paperback is $2 cheaper)but too much is so unlike what Ms. Auel wrote. I know that lot's of detail had to be removed for times sake but at what cost to the story? Little Ayla's orphaning resembles the book as does her discovery by the Clan but the way the Neanderthals behave isn't like the book. I don't even remember all of the scenes but when Ayla gives birth to her son Durc, that's conpletely different, although good. Later in the story when Ayla's adoptive mother Iza (Pamela Reed unrocognizable in makeup)is too old and frail to go to the CLan Gathering Ayla is sent in her place, they made a real mess of that one.
Daryl Hannah is very well cast as the adult Ayla, she's the best reason to watch ths movie.

I seem to be one of few dissenters, but watching the film adaptation of The Clan of the Cave Bear shortly after reading the book makes me appreciate Jean Auel's detailed writing and keen humanistic approach to the Neanderthals and the Cro-Magnon girl, Ayla, even more. This film lacks the tenderness and true compassion that members of the Clan show Ayla in the book. The Clan's form of communication, hand gestures and occasional muted sounds, do not translate well onto celluloid. Also, where are the emotion, love, and connection that Iza, Creb, and Uba have for Ayla in the novel? Where are the amazement and incredulity over Ayla's hunting skill and lucky masculine totem, the Cave Lion? Where are Ayla's feats of bravery other than attending to a wounded man at the Ceremony of the Bear?

I am also annoyed over major changes in the plot: The birth of Ayla's son is completely changed; Ayla's skills as a medicine woman are downplayed; the events of the Clan gathering and the ending are altered. Furthermore, if I had not read the book upon viewing this film, I think I would have been confused as to who the characters are and their importance in Ayla's life.

I am very disappointed by the lacking script, but I am probably even more dismayed by the less than dazzling scenery--it is nowhere near as resplendent as Auel describes with her words. My boyfriend and I were joking that it looked like the producers chose to film the movie in suburban Massachusetts or a Hollywood backlot, not in frigid northern Europe.

All in all, I do not suggest this film, but I do suggest Jean Auel's novel, The Clan of the Cave Bear.

"The Clan of the Cave Bear" brings us into the prehistory world based on Jean M. Auel's novel with the same name. It is a story of a Cro-Magnon girl named Ayla who is raised by a Neanderthal tribe. We see a full look at her young life from how she became separated from her mother and found by the Neanderthals to her growing up to become a spirited young woman (Daryl Hannah).

She stands out from the tribe in many ways. From her looks, with blond hair, she truly is different than all the others with brown or dark hair. Her actions also make her different. She doesn't follow all of the clan's rules, such as the one about women being forbidden to touch a weapon. She really is, in a way, an early feminist and rebel. As the society is male dominated and all the women are subservient to the men, she does run into some troubles due to her nature. Even with her differences, she does find a place with them, but always remaining partially an outsider.

As the Neanderthals use a combination of sign language and spoken word, I found it clever how the film was in subtitles, which added a sense of realism. I personally do not take the film to be a documentary, so I do not get caught up in any of the details that might make an anthropologist go into a tizzy. For example, the film mentions what could be called genetic memory, of how the Neanderthals can remember places their ancestors were in the past. Perhaps one of the most interesting aspects of the movie is watching the interaction of the personalities of the tribe. We get to see their various superstitions, nearly every aspect of their daily life, as well as their crude mating practices where just a hand gesture tells the female to get in position.

This is one of my favorite movies. Jean Auel wrote, I think, six books in this series. This is based on the first and the best. It all went downhill gradually from here. The movie appeals to my belief in evolution and to me is very plausible. Of course there are a few weak scenes but for the most part it is a well done rendition of a great book.

I love it, watch it over and over (and have since it was first released), and recommend it. For a movie with absolutely no intelligible dialogue it amazingly speaks clearly and with sensitivity.

The captivating story of Ayla and the Clan is translated from book to film. In many respects, I thought this translation was successful, but I felt that much of it was not.

As can be expected with all book-to-film projects, many of the finer details and even plot points have been left out in order to make a film that people can watch in one sitting. This film does a decent job of jamming an heavy volume into a normal length screen film.

The film has to tackle the difficulty of conveying a story of people who only speak with signs, not with voices resulting in subtitles that tell the story throughout the movie. Although this is a literal adaptation, it is simply impossible to convey characters' state of mind through body language alone (which is easily done through the third person POV in the book). The result is a story on film that has become so simplified that there is no depth left. We cannot successfully "see" the culture, the differences of the society that Ayla becomes part of but remains an outcast. More creativity in the screen writing could have led to a more successful film.

The film did much to represent an accurate setting - the cave man era, I thought, was well done. There was also a clear difference between Ayla herself and the rest of the people, and I must hail Daryl Hannah for a supreme effort to play an awkward, gangly child/young woman who is considered head strong and strange among the Clan.

In general, the acting, such as it was (largely restricted to grunts and hand waving) was a true challenge for the actors and all-in-all pretty good. Some of the more emotional scenes are gruelling to watch, as they were gruelling to read in the book. The characters were more black and white than in the book, but this is also to be expected in adaptations since nuance is easily lost. The characters are easily identifiable and the audience can keep track of them.

All in all, I was disappointed with the effort. It is not an easy story to translate to film. I knew this before I watched the movie. Nevertheless, this film will remain to me one of those that will never live up to the book which is undoubtedly deserves a 5-star rating. And in spite of its plus points, I can only give the film a 2-star rating. It's not dismal, but not great either.
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I was in my late teens when this movie came out and I saw it on cable. When I first saw it, I absolutely loved it! The costumes, cinematography, and music created a very realistic primitive atmosphere with depth. I thought it was great, and when I saw that it was based on the book Clan of The Cave Bear by Jean M Auel, I ran out a got the book.

I read the entire book in less then two days straight (I couldn't put it down!) The book is the best. Such imaginative creative deep writing! That's when I realized that the movie sucked. The movie totally butchers the story in the book, and does not even capture a little of the essence and plight of Ayla and the Clan.

Compared to the book, the movie is the worst movie in the history of the world. Seriously. Now if you look at the movie separate from the book, then I think it is pretty good. I can appreciate it for all the things I liked about it in the first place. If you are a fan of the Earth Children series by Jean M. Auel, and are hoping for a even miniscule well done rendering of the book, then pass this by. But if you want to just enjoy a unique film that explores the primitive ancestors of man, then check it out. Separate from the book, it is pretty good (not great).

Even though it totally butchers the book, I still can enjoy the movie for itself. I suggest renting before you buy, depending on what you are looking to get out of the movie.