Ao, le dernier Néandertal

Jacques Malaterre, a maker of TV fiction (mainly TV films and series episodes), discovered prehistory and more generally speaking - the history of man - when he was chosen to direct the highly successful documentary "L'odyssée de l'espèce" (2003). He was so captivated by the matter he was assigned to explore that he gradually became a specialist of the subject himself. With the help of famed paleoanthropologist Yves Coppens as a co-writer and scientific adviser he also directed "Homo Sapiens" (2005) and "Le sacre de l'homme" (2009). So it is hardly surprising to see him further explore his favorite subject in a new work, the difference this time being that he has chosen the big screen to express himself in preference to television.

"Ao, le dernier Neandertal", which illustrates the thesis (confirmed by recent discoveries based on DNA analysis) that some Neandertal and Homo Sapiens had offspring together) undoubtedly benefits from this change of scope, which does not mean that it is the best in Malaterre's four-installment saga. Very spectacular indeed, the film has epic qualities when it comes to Ao's struggle for survival in all weather conditions, aesthetic assets when it describes the beauty and cruelty of nature of wild life. And actor Simon Paul Sutton is very believable as Ao, the desperate creature who sees all the members of his clan die around him, managing to express his feelings mostly through looks, grunts and body language. Which is some kind of a feat. Last but not least is the creation of a consistent specific language (that the viewer does not understand with the exception of one or two words). Too bad then that Malaterre resorted to a commentary in modern language to explain exactly what happens. Jean-Jacques Annaud had been able to do without such an expedient in his amazing "Guerre du feu".

On the other hand, for all the modernity of its scientific approach, the film is nothing else but a boy meets girl story, complete with the usual clichés: boy and girl don't get on/ love is born/ and they live happily ever after. Worse, the female lead, Aruna Shields, is too pretty to be true. Luckily, her acting is good, which partly compensates for the initial mistake, but you need a good dose of suspension of disbelief to really come into this aspect of the story.

Despite this weak point, "Ao" remains worth watching. Even if a few details leave to be desired, you really feel you are living a long long time ago constantly asking yourself whether YOU could have survived in such a hostile environment. This is enough to justify the price of your movie ticket, I think.

AO: THE LAST HUNTER is the latest in a line of prehistoric epics. These films seemed to originate with the cheesy back-projected movies of the 1940s before Hammer had a mini resurgence of them in the 1960s with ONE MILLION YEARS B.C. and its follow-ups. They were back in the 1980s with the likes of the influential QUEST FOR FIRE, but since then the genre has been a little quiet.

This film is French and unsurprisingly for the French it plays out as a love story for the most part. The hero is a wandering Neanderthal hunter who meets up with a woman who just so happens to be a Homo Sapien. The two fall in love, but not before the surprisingly modern plot elements play out. And that's the main problem with AO: it feels very modern in places, particularly with a modern-language voice over narration which really feels out of place, and the usual gender issues which would play out on a modern romantic comedy.

As a film, this does have a fair few strengths. The visual look is strong with fine cinematography bringing to life the snowbound terrain. The effects are strong and the look of the Neanderthals is an authentic one. There are some truly exciting moments, like the polar bear fight. It's so unfortunate, then, that most of the running time is wasted with romantic nonsense, when the director had the change to make something so much more profound.

First of all , the narration ruins everything. From the first scene . The film then seems to be a documentary . Not anything else . Maybe it was intended so but still they could have found a better voice too. More cinematic . Too bad for the money . The lead Ao is great as performance but Aki is a bit ''too much '' in her performance. The director seems to not see this . Two . For this kind of money they could get much better cinematography . Which is a big part of any movie . (See Alpha 2018 ) . The story is interesting and brilliant at times though . Three. Music ,again , for this money is bad too . Sound seems to be good enough though. Anyway ,it shows why the movie didn't make money . And it feels too unreal at times too. I guess the director wanted a lot of accuracy of the era but then again we can't know exactly how they lived back then . We never will . Worth watching anyway . Cheers!

Perfect dentistry and cosmetics galore in the land before time.

Ao. The Last Hunter is a story about a Neanderthal hunter who following the death of his wife and child and with disease ravaging his clan leaves to find his birthplace.

Along the way his path clashes with Homo Sapiens and in particular a heavily pregnant young girl and her baby. An unlikely bond grows between the two as they journey south whilst being chased by a tribe they escape from.

The story of the film is simple but it's strength lies in the great depiction of our distant ancestors. Obviously no-one knows for sure if Neanderthals ever even met Homo Sapiens but I like to think that this is a pretty accurate depiction of life in that time. The make up artists certainly did wonders transforming the lead actor into looking like a Neanderthal.

It is beautifully filmed with some great scenery and it seems like a lot of research was done prior to filming as it goes someway to debunking a few Neanderthal myths.

If you're on the look out for something a bit different and have any interest in prehistoric life then this is well worth watching.