OWF's Rob Beames also reviewed the film at the Berlin Film Festival. Through his documentaries
Werner Herzog has dared to confront natural disasters first hand - such as the imminent eruption of a volcano (La Soufriere - Warten auf eine Unausweichlishe Katastrophe) or the flaming Kuwaitian Oil Fields (Lessons of Darkness). He has taken us on dare devil adventures - like the airship exploration of the rainforest canopy (The White Diamond) and the Antarctica (Encounters at the End of the World). And he has even pondered quasi-sci-fi futuristic endeavours (The Wild Blue Yonder) - such as exploring new planets for humankind to prosper. Now he ventures where few people have ventured before to present to us "one of the great recent discoveries in the history of human culture". In
Cave of Forgotten Dreams Herzog has gained exclusive access to film inside the Chauvet caves of Southern France to glimpse at the oldest known artistic creations of humankind within their natural setting. The paintings in question have been locked inside this cave for 32 thousand years, creating, in the filmmaker's words "the perfect time capsule". It's a fundamentally impressive discovery and one which Herzog brings vividly to life in 3-D - in one of the most valid uses of the filmic medium yet. You gain such a real, hands on feel for the contours and dimensions of the cave and the paintings that you almost feel that you are delving into the claustrophobic confines yourself. Even anti-3-D campaigner Mark Kermode would have a tough time criticising the admiral use of the medium here, which brings texture and movement to the paintings.
The score - ranging from pipes, harps and piano - is almost Kubrickian in fascination, working seamlessly with the 3-D to absorb the viewer into the fascinating near spiritual artistic discoveries. There is humour at hand too, with Herzog commenting that the "natives would have done it better" when an archaeologist rather cumbersomely demonstrates pre-historic spear-throwing, while at another point he analyses a voluptuous curve-some statue and hilariously gibes that there "seems to have existed a visual convention extending all the way beyond Baywatch". Added bonus comes in the form of the restrictions imposed on filming in such a limited geographical space. You occasionally glimpse the three-man crew during filming and gain a valuable insight into how Herzog directs. As with any Herzog endeavour this adds to the texture and authenticity of the film. But it is the paintings themselves that are the real source of inspiration. Herzog is quick to contextualise and relate the paintings as a form of proto-cinema, observing how many of the animals were painted with more legs to suggest the illusion of movement - like frames in an animated film. And he is always quick to ponder philosophically, such as when considering how the artwork speaks to us from a familiar but distant universe and looking at the artist's perspective as not being locked in history as we fundementally are. The final philosophical question relating to what constitutes humanness may be a weighty one, that is perhaps best left to the experts, but one cannot fault Herzog's determination and resourceful take on one of the most sublime discovers in recent years.
Oliver Pfeiffer, our man in Oz attending the Sydney Film Festival. Check out all his reviews HERE.