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There’s some great material in this film. Unfortunately, all of the good material is visual, and almost none of it is in the story telling. This would make an interesting 30-minute TV show, or a pretty good picture book, but it falls pretty flat as a feature-length film.
Director Werner Herzog and a small production team are given permission to film the inside of the Chauvet Cave, in Cave of Forgotten Dreams. This cave was discovered in 1994 by three explorers, and once they got inside they uncovered the oldest paintings in the world. The cave art is estimated through carbon dating to have artwork older than 30,000 B.C. |
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The French government now manages the cave, and allowed few geologists, paleontologists, and other scientists to work inside the cave. Once inside, access is still limited - everyone has to walk on a metal pathway that has been installed in the cave, and time is limited inside the cave to prevent too much moisture from the breath of people causing a mold buildup and destroying the artwork.
To keep it simple – this cave is one of the most protected places on the planet. But, instead of focusing the facts, this movie embraces a pantheist view focusing on the connectedness of souls from the time of the painting and modern day. Herzog narrates a boring tale that shares little history, but plenty of conjecture of how life may have been during the days of the painters, while pondering what the painters were trying to share with us. In a disconnected postscript he ponders whether we are like the genetically altered albino crocodiles in a world that we don’t belong. And no, that thought doesn’t make any more sense in context.
The film starts strong, and is captivating from the beginning, but suffers a slow and painful death for the remainder of the 90-minute running time. Occasionally brought back to life by a really creative use of light, the film immediately suffers with shots that hold their place for three times as long as they should, and revisiting a horse drawing every time it loses its place.
A less subjective look at the subject would have made it better. Cutting 30 minutes would have made it better. A more focused look at the subject matter would have made it better. 2 out of 5 stars. |
