Werner Herzog provides a rare look at some of humankind’s earliest artworks.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams transports its audience into another world, on an intimate visit to France’s Chauvet Cave, where only a handful of modern humans have ever been. It’s one of the most significant 3-D films to ever hit the screen. I was lucky enough to see it in New York City when it opened in 2010, and the images and feeling of gliding through the caves still haunt me.
Our tour guide is the German auteur Werner Herzog, elder statesman of documentary, whose extensive catalogue of more than 50 offbeat (and occasionally soporific) films is not for everyone. But even if you enter the UW Cinematheque screening on Jan. 28 a Herzog skeptic, you’ll see why he inspires passionate devotion.
The story behind the story is priceless. Inspired by a New Yorker article, Herzog convinces the authorities he needs to visit the cave in southern France; the site is strictly protected to avoid degradation of the art. Once he sees the wonders within, he decides 3-D is the only way for audiences to experience what it feels like to be inside the cave. After extensive negotiation, Herzog is allowed to bring three people in, and they are limited to four-hour shoots for six days. They have to don special suits and shoes, and they build custom equipment to minimize the impact on the treasures.
The result is mesmerizing. The complex etchings and paintings, created more than 32,000 years ago, jump off the screen. Cave lions, panthers, hyenas, horses and wooly rhinos gallop across the undulating surfaces. There are stenciled handprints and a child’s footprints. A partial “Venus” shows a vulva and legs, which may or may not be connected to a nearby bison head.
Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a masterwork that could only have been created by Herzog. When you see it, you’ll understand why the soft-spoken filmmaker was so determined to share the experience.
