Cave of Forgotten Dreams (G). Director: Werner Herzog. 90 minutes
At more than 30,000 years old, the paintings in southern France's Chauvet Cave are by far the oldest known examples of cave art. They have been preserved in near pristine condition due to a rock slide that sealed the cave 20,000 years ago, and to severe restrictions that since the cave's rediscovery in 1994 have limited human access except by a select team of scientists and academics.
More recenlty, German filmmaker Herzog was granted unprecedented access, accompanied by a diminutive production crew. The result of their visit is this extraordinary documentary, which, with the added benefit of 3-D, aims and largely succeeds at evoking the, for most of us, virtually unattainable experience of being physically present at this incredible location.
We are guided during our cinematic tour by a flock of sometimes endearingly eccentric experts: a paleontologist who exuberantly lists the many species whose skeletal remains are in the cave; an archaeologist who wears Palaeolithic era clothing and plays 'The Star Spangled Banner' on a replica bone flute; art historians who elucidate the artistic merit and technique of the cave's artists.
Footage of the cave's interior would, in itself, make a fascinating film. The hundreds of paintings that clamour upon the undulating walls are more than simply interesting relics. They are remarkable artworks, both technically and aesthetically. Subtleties of shape and shading give depth and character to ostensibly simple animal figures, immaculately etched upon the rippling canvas.
But it is no accident that the promotional poster for Cave of Forgotten Dreams includes the sillhouette of Herzog, the veteran maverick filmmaker himself, cast alongside a detail from one of this prehistoric gallery's more famous pieces, the 'panel of horses'. For better and worse, Herzog is a presence in the film, serving as a sort of narrator-cum-quasi-philosopher.
The best of Herzog's intrusions are profound. He notes the illusion of movement in the art, effected by blurred edges or ghosts of multiple limbs, and enhanced by electric torchlight that churns against the rocky contours, mimicking the firelight of the paintings' original 'audience'. This was, he postulates, a type of 'proto-cinema'; indeed the thread of human artistry that connects the cave's Palaeolithic storytellers to Herzog and his contemporary film crew is alluded to at other times.
On the other hand, the film contains a bizarre postscript during which Herzog daydreams about what the mutant albino