In the realm of primitive man

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Movie
German title In the realm of primitive man
Original title Walking with Cavemen
Country of production United Kingdom
original language English
Publishing year 2003
Rod
Director Richard Dale
Pierre de Lespinois
script Michael Olmert
production Richard Dale
music Alan Parker
cut David W. Foster
Tim Murrell
Peter Parnham

In the realm of prehistoric men (original title: Walking with Cavemen ) is a documentary by the British broadcaster BBC from 2003. These are cartoons in which computer-animated elements were integrated into real landscape shots.

action

In the realm of prehistoric humans describes the evolution from simple apes to early humans based on scientific research. The film is divided into two chapters, each with a playing time of 45 minutes. The film introduces the most important ancestors and relatives of Homo sapiens and describes their development and decline. The focus is on the differences between apes and humans and their missing link . In the documentary itself, the British doctor Robert Winston makes a fictional journey through time and accompanies the viewer through the ages. The actor Otto Clemens is the narrator of the German version.

Part 1 - Forerunners or Blood Brothers

The first part can be divided into two parts. One deals with Australopithecus afarensis and roughly explains the differences between it and the monkeys. The main character is Lucy and her family, who are in conflict with another family. It shows the benefits of walking upright and something like family care as Lucy's eldest daughter adopts the baby after her mother dies.

The second part shows how many different species of early humans existed in parallel. You can see Homo habilis , Paranthropus boisei and Homo rudolfensis living side by side. Paranthropus boisei is referred to as Boisei in the film and is an example of specialization that works successfully, but when nature changes, it means extinction of this species. Homo habilis is described as an adaptable all-rounder and is described as the first living being that makes simple stone tools. Homo rudolfensis is only mentioned briefly as a competitor of the habilis and makes his big entrance when it comes to a confrontation with a habilis herd.

Since both stories take place in almost the same time zone, landscapes and other animal species are quite similar. In addition to primitive humans, the following animals are shown or mentioned:

Part 2 - The Conquerors of the Future

The second part begins with the introduction of Homo ergaster . A clan is shown hunting. For the first time, the ancestor looks more like a human than a monkey. "Human" qualities such as language and sweating are mentioned. Ergaster is portrayed as a hunter and gatherer. There is also no longer one dominant male who claims all females for himself, but pairs. It should be noted that the stone tool has hardly developed any further since Homo habilis and Homo rudolfensis . Then it is shown how Ergaster left the African continent and went to Asia . The ergaster is later referred to as Homo erectus because it is very different from the actual ergaster. A group of hunters is shown traversing a bamboo forest. Here again the high adaptability of humans is pointed out, since most tools are no longer made of stones, but of the existing bamboo . It also becomes clear in one scene how human Erectus is when the group surprises a Gigantopithecus while it is eating. Then the scenery changes back to the Ergaster living in Africa and shows how man came to fire.

The following animals occur:

In the fourth part the modern people are shown. You accompany a group of Homo heidelbergensis , consisting of three brothers and a woman, on their hunt. They attack a Megaloceros , with the youngest of the brothers seriously injured. Despite the care and attention of the others, he dies that night. In the morning the group moves on and just leaves the dead man behind. This is to make it clear that these people had medical knowledge, but had no idea of ​​life after death. Then it is said that the Heidelbergensis split: some went south to Africa, some stayed in Europe. Homo neanderthalensis developed from the latter . A family is accompanied and you can see everyday behavior in the cave, a hunt for a mammoth herd, as well as the decline by another species of people. The Neanderthals are denied fantasy and imagination of an afterlife, as well as a life in the here and now. Then the former Heidelbergensis in Africa, which were on the verge of extinction due to a drought, are treated. These Homo sapiens idaltu survived through natural selection: only the strongest and most intelligent survived and thus ensured the continued existence of the whole species. It is also shown that these people planned for the future. Then the conflict with the Neanderthals and Homo sapiens ( Cro-Magnon man ) is scratched. It is also shown that they did cave painting and had an after-death performance.

The following animals occur:

background

In contrast to the other documentaries in the Walking with ... series, neither Jasper James nor Tim Haines are involved in this documentary. Only the prehistoric mammals Ancylotherium , Deinotherium , Dinofelis , Megaloceros or the woolly mammoth were taken over from The Heirs of the Saurians .

The prehistoric men were almost entirely represented by costumed actors. They wore diapers in their costumes as it was impossible to take off the costume while filming.

In the original version Robert Winston is also the narrator of the documentary, in the US version the actor and voice actor Alec Baldwin acts as narrator . Otto Clemens repeatedly acted as narrator for the German-language edition .

Trivia

Web links