Review of Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010) by Michael M — 10 Jan 2013

This is an awesome documentary of the prehistoric paintings in the Chauvet cave in Southern France, but with a few flaws. One of the best features, unlike most wide release films, is that filming the cave in 3D really added something to the documentary.

Rather than seeing the artwork flat, 3D was very good at depicting how the prehistoric humans used the curves in the cave as the foundation canvas of their artwork. While the film is replete with scientists who could tell us something about the caves, it is not primarily a film about science.

Werner Herzog tries to make the cave come alive and he succeeds quite well. Though the caves and paintings are dated, the geology touched upon, and the archaeology of the bones and other objects found in the caves discussed, the film wonders at the "forgotten dreams" of the people who painted here.

What doesn't work as well is the music, which is atonal and creates more of a feeling of being disturbed than of wonder and awe. Similarly, the "postscript", about albino alligators in a man made tropical habitat 20 miles away, has nothing whatsoever to do with Chauvet and the film would have been far better had they left it out.

It doesn't end on a high note, so much as leave you wondering if Herzog didn't know what to do with the ending of the film. Nevertheless and in spite of the film's flaws, the movie is a wonderful insight into a place rarely seen by the human eye.