The subject matter: 35 thousand year-old cave paintings in the Chaveut Cave in southern France--a cave that was only discovered in 1994. Permitted to use a small crew with cold-lit battery powered lights and forced to stay on a narrow steel walkway and touch nothing-- Werner Herzog shows us both the images left by these pre-historic human beings as best he can,(horses, bison, mammoths, now extinct cave lions, bears, human hand prints) and the particular geological beauty of the cave itself while juxtaposing all that with interviews of the various scientists who are engaged in studying the cave in all its many facets.
The traces of human activity adorned on these cavern walls should be of interest to most human beings who are even remotely curious as to what being a human was like 35,000 years ago. Herzog calls the cave paintings 'art' but these cave dwellers didn't have any notion of 'art for art's sake. These images were their lives and exhibited a closeness to animals that I don't think we can really comprehend in modern times.
There is certainly great mystery instilled in these pictures. Mysteries that have to do with what it meant to be alive and interacting with your natural environment as this early day and age. We still don't know why exactly they painted a horse, one lapping over the other in a row of about five. Or why a bear skull is found up on raised platform. Were these depictions part of a spiritual ritual? The Chaveut Cave is without a doubt one of the most significant archeological sites in the world and from this we can ruminate on our great ancestors but all of this is not to say that 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams' is a great cinematic experience.The 3-D is at times kinda cool but more often it dims everything too much. The lighting in the cave from the filmmakers lights are pale and cold to begin with so at times it just made for a discomforting visual. And then Herzog adds his quirky and sometimes silly voice-over narration making dubious claims here and there for example that some of the depictions could be seen as a proto-type for cinema. Maybe. Doubtful.
And then a scene where everyone gets quiet and we're deep in a chamber--and we hear heart beats getting louder and louder and Herzog loves these hokey dramatic effects but really, it's kinda dumb. For people that already adore this man's films,(or the mythology surrounding the man himself) you will prolly love this as well. (You should also know that a few seats away from where I was sitting a man had dozed off so what does that tell you.) It may be the case that there are parts of the film that just come off as too repetitious and a lil' boring.
Now because it was in 3D it cost 17 Dollars for one ticket.(This was at IFC Center.) That is one expensive movie to go see. And I'm also left with the feeling that like all great art that has to do with painting, if its to be truly experienced and appreciated you need to be there and see it in person. Maybe for the youtube generation this is close enough. 3-D is no savior. And there's not a chance in hell the French Government would let me or you get inside. So I guess if this was a typical movie review I would say if you got 17 bucks to throw around, go ahead and see it.
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