Cave of Forgotten Dreams

A cave was found in the south of France in 1994 containing wall paintings thirty thousand years old. Because a landslide had sealed the entrance, the air and humidity never changed; on the day they were found the paintings were almost as they had been. Werner Herzog obtained permission to go in with a camera. The subject is not archaeology but why someone thirty thousand years ago made pictures. Herzog puts the question to the scientists and is not satisfied with the answers; the narration keeps sliding into speculation, which puts some viewers off. The form was set by the shooting conditions. Only a few people could be inside at once, they were limited to a few hours a day, stepping off a narrow metal walkway was forbidden, and no heat-producing light could be used. The crew worked with cold light and small cameras. It was shot in three dimensions, and that is not a display choice: the walls are not flat but bulging, and the paintings use those bulges. A horse's head falls on a swelling in the rock and without depth it cannot be seen. The film's third dimension is necessary for that reason. Who it is for: viewers who like prehistoric art and Herzog's narration. Who it is not for: anyone expecting plain information; the director keeps stepping in and foregrounding his own questions.