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There was a sort of dream sequence where the hunter remembered being with his pregnant mate – it was a beautiful scene beside a small creek, and was colored with a very light and airy hue. This certainly makes sense to have a happy memory appear so visually, and it was in stark contrast to the very dark images that comprise the majority of the film. Many of the exterior shots were very dark and lacking in contrast and I wondered if that was a deliberate choice to make a clear distinction between the sadness of the hunter’s present reality and the happiness of his memory. However, even in these exteriors, I still found myself squinting. The musical score gives a good enough indication of the moods of these scenes, so the exteriors could use a bit more light and contrast to make it easier on the audience.
Use of Audio
As mentioned above, this film had to rely very strongly on its visuals. Fortunately, they also took advantage of a score to help set each scene. There was some beautiful music throughout the film, and it was not overdone either.
Although there was no dialogue, other than a few noises made by the characters, I still did not notice any problems with sound mixing.
Use of Budget
Primevil used almost $600 of their budget on makeup effects, wigs, and costuming. In my opinion, this was an excellent choice as the realistic look of the characters is one of this film’s strongest points. The $100 spent on music rights was also a good choice, as the music added a lot to the mood. In addition, they spent $150 for gas driving back and forth to remote locations. While the recent upsurge in gas prices has caused a hardship for all of us, it seems to hit microfilmmakers especially – one may want to shoot at the perfect location 50 miles away, but with $40+ to fill a tank, it could be very tempting to use the mediocre one in the backyard. As much as I love to promote thriftiness and saving money, in this particular case the use of remote locations was an excellent choice – even if it meant shelling out a lot more money.
My only complaint would be that more attention should have been paid to getting proper lighting and contrast, as mentioned before. While contrast could possibly be adjusted in the exterior scenes, the interior cave shots may need to be re-shot.
Lasting Appeal
The greatest advantage of the film medium is to give a glimpse of a life other than our own. While a great amount of pressure exists on the historical film to get things “just right,” the era that Primevil looks at has remained relatively untouched. Other than several documentaries, the recent epic 10,000 BC, and a handful of B-movies that ended up as Mystery Science Theatre 3000 fodder, very few movies have been made about pre-recorded history.
While there are a few visual issues that still need addressing, it is great that they were able to find such a unique subject matter and be brave enough to tackle it.
Overall Comment
Revenge and retribution is as old as time itself, so it is doubly poignant to set a film about this topic in what is essentially the beginning of time. These filmmakers were both daring and creative to tackle a challenging time period, and the result was very impressive.
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Content |
8.8 |
Visual
Look |
8.2 |
Use
of Audio |
9.0 |
Use
of Budget |
8.5 |
Lasting
Appeal |
8.6 |
Overall
Score |
8.6 |
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The
author of half a dozen screen plays, two novels, and a proficient
camera-woman in her own right, Monika
DeLeeuw-Taylor is Microfilmmaker's lead writing analyst and
one of our top film reviewers. When she's not writing a critique for
Microfilmmaker, she's writing screenplays for Viking Productions.
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