Cave of Forgotten Dreams
c Cave of Forgotten Dreams Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) is a documentary created by German director Werner Herzog. The film is shot in 3-D and takes place in the Chauvet Cave found in the south of France. The film speaks of the earliest known cave paintings, as well as other evidence of Paleolithic life. Known to create perplexing and extremely pensive documentaries, Herzog takes his audience on a journey never before seen using 3-D. He transforms what he sees into his own personal view.
His way of seeing is unique and together with the 3-D imaging is quit a treat to watch. The film starts with the entering of Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc in southern France. With the permission of the French Ministry of Culture, Herzog is granted access to film inside the Chauvet cave, an ancient cave holding some of the oldest paintings known to mankind. After receiving permission Herzog and his team enter the cave, making him the lone filmmaker ever to be approved for such a request.
Inside the cave Herzog and his team come across the drawings, which are more than 32,000 years old. Throughout the documentary we learn that an avalanche sealed off the cave’s entry during the Ice Age. The avalanche helped conserve many of the paintings and most are almost perfectly preserved. The cave walls are covered with drawings of horses, bears, bison, and rhinos. Many of these drawing are unique and interesting because they contain species of animals, which are now extinct.
One of the most interesting aspects of this film is its use of 3-D imaging. Herzog, known for his old school cinema initially never had attentions on using 3-D for this film, considering it as a publicity stunt for commercial cinema. Herzog’s choice to use 3-D came after he viewed the cave and determined it was necessary to film it in 3-D in order to capture the full effect of the cave drawings. Herzog commented in the movie that drawings seemed to play across the walls and it was his intentions to uniquely bring them to life by using 3-D.
In one instance, we see the sketch of an eight-legged creature, almost certainly a horse, and it appears to be sprinting. Herzog recognized this as “proto-cinema” or the first known rendition of a moving image. Another gimmick of this film was its bizarre style. The movie carried a very informative and educational theme but had many instances were it derived from the history lessons and went on nutty tangents. For example the sudden jump from the cave paintings to the sequence featuring albino crocodiles from the waters of a nearby nuclear plant.
These bizarre jumps were classic signature moves used by Herzog and in turn would end up being vital to the spooky atmosphere he was attempting to display. Another spooky element to the movie was Herzog’s cinematography. The cinematography throughout the film was very dark, and creepy looking. The spookiness of the cave seemed to suite Herzog’s unordinary mind-set very well. Using the darkness and ancientness of the cave Herzog was able to impressively send a clear message to the audience that this cave had not seen human civilization for generations.
It was essential a cave of lost memories. Overall, the film was very satisfying giving the audience lots to ponder on things such as where we come from and what’s at the core of being human. I now consider this film to be a classic and would recommend it as a must see for any human. It is important to embrace lost history and to learn from its ancient secrets. This film is an enormous addition intended for the education and better understanding of ancient civilization.
