{"id":15052,"date":"2011-04-29T21:40:32","date_gmt":"2011-04-30T05:40:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=15052"},"modified":"2011-04-29T21:40:32","modified_gmt":"2011-04-30T05:40:32","slug":"the-cave-of-forgotten-dreams-werner-herzog-2010-canada-usa-uk-france-germany","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/?p=15052","title":{"rendered":"The Cave of Forgotten Dreams (Werner Herzog, 2010): Canada, USA, UK, France, Germany"},"content":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Richard Feilden<\/a>. \u00a0Viewed at Raleigh Studios, Hollywood.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n

This is it.\u00a0 It\u2019s make or break time for my relationship with 3D films.\u00a0 We did not get off to a good start with a frankly off-putting first date<\/a>.\u00a0 Pointy things were thrown at me, the dialog was forced and I really felt that my would-be seducer was simply going through the motions, putting on a show for me that was all sparkle with no substance.\u00a0 It left me feeling a little blue.<\/p>\n

But a sultry temptress with a Bavarian accent has make me an offer I can\u2019t refuse, promising me culture, excitement and just a little hint of crazy.\u00a0 So, can Cave of Forgotten Dreams<\/a> thrill me, stimulate me, and take me places I\u2019ve never been before?\u00a0 Or will Werner Herzog\u2019s latest documentary reveal 3D to be no more than distracting arm-candy?<\/p>\n

The film itself, extra-dimensional frippery aside, is a journey into the Chauvet cave, which lies in southern France.\u00a0 There, sealed away from the world for around twenty five thousand years, exist the earliest works of art yet discovered, most of it thirty to thirty two thousand years old. \u00a0\u00a0The cave\u2019s discovery in 1994 opened up a new chapter in our knowledge of our ancestors.<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, the very presence of people in the caves threatens the delicate impressions of ancient man that it holds.\u00a0 Our very breath can cause mould to grow on the walls and destroy the images.\u00a0 Conversely, the caves themselves are hazardous to those who explore them, as they contain dangerous levels of radon gas.\u00a0 For these reasons, access to the cave is strictly limited.\u00a0 Neither you nor I will ever get the chance to set foot on the narrow walkways to which Herzog and his team were restricted.\u00a0 It is for that reason that he chose to make the film in 3D, to get the audience as close to the awe inspiring experience of being there as possible.<\/p>\n

The cave itself is the focus for a large part of the film.\u00a0 The images on the walls defy expectation with their complexity and beauty.\u00a0 In one spot a group of horses comes to life with delicate shading.\u00a0 In others animals are depicted with many legs, or as a series of staggered, ghostly images, lending a sense of movement to the beasts.\u00a0 These are not primitive scratchings, crude representations of the hunt.\u00a0 They truly are art.\u00a0 Breathtaking, beautiful art.\u00a0 You can hear the awe in the breathy exclamations of Herzog\u2019s voice over, a hint of excitement revealed in his usually controlled (if you aren\u2019t familiar with his Germanic tones, have a hunt on YouTube for the footage of him shrugging off being shot<\/a> mid-interview) pronouncements.\u00a0 His passion is infectious, pulling you into this forbidden kingdom.<\/p>\n

In these sections the promise of 3D comes closest to being fulfilled.\u00a0 The sense of depth it provides does bring the cave to life.\u00a0 In particular, it helps reveal the structure of the walls of the cave, which Herzog was only able to light with small LED rigs for fear of damaging the paintings.\u00a0 Without 3D, their undulations, often integrated into the structure of the artwork, would have been lost.\u00a0 It really is worth popping the glasses on for this, though there is a price to pay, above and beyond the theater\u2019s 3D \u2018tax\u2019.<\/p>\n

The cost is color.\u00a0 Now, modern polarized 3D is a long way from the red and blue filter days of the last 3D push, but you still sacrifice brightness and the true colors of the film when you go Buddy Holly.\u00a0 I removed the supplied specs at one point and was amazed at the brightness and whiteness of the cave wall on the screen.\u00a0 The parts of the shot that were at the \u2018front\u2019 of the 3D screen, and thus not distorted by overlapping images, shone with a clarity that the glasses robbed from them.\u00a0 Sadly, there is no solution to this with today\u2019s technology.\u00a0 It\u2019s 3D or true color \u2013 take your pick.<\/p>\n

Once the film takes us out of the cave itself, the 3D becomes distraction once more.\u00a0 It simply isn\u2019t necessary to show us someone\u2019s 2D computer screen in 3D!\u00a0 There are also some problems with fine detail, where thin objects (the branches of a bush for example) shimmer on the screen as the cameras struggle to resolve them.\u00a0 It does however give Herzog a chance to poke a little fun at the usual 3D fare though, as well as demonstrate his unerring ability to find the crazy (suicidal penguins, Klaus Kinski) out there.\u00a0 As a college professor ineptly attempts to demonstrate a Paleolithic spear throwing technique (it\u2019d would be much more impressive, he urges, in the hands of a skilled hunter!) you can imagine Herzog\u2019s glee.\u00a0 \u201cLook\u201d, he seems to be chiding Hollywood\u2019s directors, \u201cI too can throw pointy things around in 3D.\u00a0 But doesn\u2019t it look ridiculous?\u201d<\/p>\n

So this wasn\u2019t a perfect date then, but close enough.\u00a0 To be honest, I never expected anything less from Herzog.\u00a0 Yes, the film goes \u2018full Herzog\u2019 in the closing moments (what would albino crocodiles make of the caves?), but that won\u2019t be what you remember when you walk out into the sunlight.\u00a0 Nor will it be the bumbling professor hurling sticks in a field.\u00a0 It will be the magical Chauvet cave, frozen in time, hidden from sight, illuminated by Herzog.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

This film was screened for the press.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Reviewed by Richard Feilden. \u00a0Viewed at Raleigh Studios, Hollywood. This is it.\u00a0 It\u2019s make or break time for my relationship with 3D films.\u00a0 We did not get off to a good start with a frankly off-putting first date.\u00a0 Pointy things were thrown at me, the dialog was forced and I really felt that my would-be […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[75,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-15052","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-documentary","category-films"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15052","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=15052"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/15052\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=15052"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=15052"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/studentfilmreviews.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=15052"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}