Director Werner Herzog‘s infatuation with the moving image began with the notorious theft of a 35mm camera from the Munich Film School at the tender age of fourteen. His early films, such as Aguirre Wrath of God or Fitzcarraldo, depict heroes with impossible dreams, many in direct conflict with their landscape. This distinctive style has trickled into the field of documentary, where he explores mans’ continuing battle with nature, such films as Grizzly Man. But here, in Cave of Forgotten Dreams, Herzog portrays just the opposite. Instead of conflict, he explores the innate bond between man and earth, illustrated by the discovery of The Chauvet Cave’s enigmatic pictographs, the earliest known cave paintings. Once again Herzog has brought to screen a breathtaking insight into humankind.
The film opens with the familiar and comforting voice of Herzog relaying the discovery. The Chauvet Cave, located in the South of France, is named after Jean-Marie Chauvet the explorer who, in 1994, encountered this strange and awe-inspiring artefact of mankind’s past. The cave is considered to be one of the greatest relics of prehistoric art and Herzog uses muted 3D to display it’s wonder. The bizarre location proved constricting for the director with minimal visits permitted and limited space for crew and equipment. But Herzog faced that challenge with his customary injections of kind humour.
This incredible passion and devotion has produced a spectacular ninety-minute documentary that underpins mans’ overriding instinct to communicate. Herzog undertook this cinematic journey to tell a complex and ancient story, a story which is over thirty-two thousand years old. He sees this hidden cathedral of art as ‘the beginnings of the modern human soul’. In watching you can’t help but feel an intimate connection with these magnificent images and also with the ancient artists who crafted them. This stunning film further confirms Herzog position as one of the world’s greatest directors of portraying the intricate relationship between man and his environment.
Rebecca Bermingham
