Eureka! An Aha! Moment

In reading Plato's Allegory of the Cave we saw the central idea as that of an awakening, a nirvana, an aha moment. When the one stray prisoner leaves the cave for the first time he is overwhelmed with what had previously been hidden from him. We translated this idea of enlightenment into the story of cavemen and their discovery of fire. Prior to discovering fire, our cavemen are uncivilized and speak through grunts and hand motion. When one caveman miraculously discovers fire he is instantly transformed into modern man and speaks fluent English. This transformation (consisting of both a change in language and dress) symbolically represents the caveman's nirvana - a similar nirvana to that of the stray prisoner within Plato's allegory. Upon returning to his fellow cavemen however, our modern man meets hostility as the cavemen refuse to accept this change (resistance to change is a common theme throughout history and one that is presented within Plato's Allegory of the Cave). The ending is left suspended without a final conclusion in order to suggest the mystery the future holds as the situation can turn either way. It is therefore left to the viewers to decide the modern caveman's fate and to muse over the success of enlightenment in a society resistant to change.

Here is a link to our video: http://www.vimeo.com/10019694