8. Cave Of Forgotten Dreams
What's it about? Having distanced himself from narrative filmmaking for some time now, Werner Herzog continued his run of fascinating documentaries with Cave Of Forgotten Dreams. Taking his cameras deep inside Chauvet Cave in France, he examines some of the oldest human paintings ever discovered, thought to date back to over 30,000 years ago. What makes it groundbreaking? While Godard was reinventing the use of 3D in the ostensibly fictional movie Goodbye To Language, Herzog opted to play to the format's strengths by pointing the cameras at ancient art which can only truly be appreciated in 3D. The cave paintings on display are painted on curved and jagged rocks which change the viewer's perception of them depending on the angle. Just as using 3D for this end was unprecedented, so too was the access Herzog managed to secure to these precious testaments to mankind's artistic past.