Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010)
Genre: Documentary
Duration: 95 minuten
Country:
Canada / United States / France / Germany / United Kingdom
Directed by: Werner Herzog
Stars: Werner Herzog, Dominique Baffier and Jean Clottes
IMDb score:
7,4 (18.712)
Releasedate: 10 September 2010
Cave of Forgotten Dreams plot
"Humanity's Lost Masterpiece... in 3D"
In this documentary, Werner Herzog has exclusive access to one of the most beautiful and fascinating places in the world: the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc caves in the south of France, where the uneven walls contain the oldest pictorial creations. The walls are covered with painted and drawn horses, bison, rhinoceroses and predators such as lions, panthers and bears. For the first time since the discovery of these cave paintings in 1994 by a group of speleologists, a small camera crew led by Herzog is allowed to capture this 30,000-year-old art. Herzog interviews the speleologists who discovered the cave in 1994, and a team of researchers and archaeologists, who provide the film with background information. This gives the viewer exclusive access to the hidden Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc caves, and the story behind these historic works of art in the so-called 'Cave of Forgotten Dreams'.
Actors and actresses
Reviews & comments
boozebelly
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- 1428 messages
- 1921 votes
Mediocre, long documentary.
The cave itself with its rock paintings is fascinating and beautiful to see, but it really doesn't have to take as long as it does here. At some point you've already seen it all.
The images in the cave are interspersed with short chats with researchers, who in turn do not have much news to report, except mainly some speculations. Those interviews also looked gray and amateurish.
Also the spiritual cow parsley music got on my nerves at some point and the point of that argument at the end with the albino crocodile completely escaped me. It must be something profound, but personally I prefer to label it as gibberish in space.
No, an average EO film crew could have made this as well, probably even shorter and more concise.
2.0 - 2.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
Spetie
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- 38871 messages
- 8284 votes
Werner Herzog is a director who usually knows how to captivate me. He likes to make documentaries, has a great interest in unusual, striking matters, usually knows how to portray everything nicely and often tells it in a fascinating way.
This is the first documentary for me where that doesn't seem to work. In any case, it is a beautiful cave and all the drawings and everything that has survived from ancient times is certainly beautiful to see. However, it is a subject that you have largely seen again after about three quarters of an hour. Here and there, a few people are given a chance to speak, who try to tell something about the history of the cave and about those who made the drawings. But I had seen and heard that at some point too. I am not really a painting lover by nature. It is because Herzog films everything beautifully and manages to provide some much-needed variation here and there, which makes the second half flow along somewhat.
In my opinion, it does not compare to his better documentaries. I appreciate the enthusiasm and the way in which Herzog works, but this is a slight disappointment for me and actually the first time that I have to give Herzog a (small) insufficient.
2.5*
Translated from Dutch · View original
mrklm
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- 11752 messages
- 10118 votes
Herzog and three crew members were given exclusive access to the Grotte Chauvet near Vallon-Pont-d'Arc near the Ardèche river in France. This cave, discovered in 1994, is only open to scientific research in order to preserve the climate in the cave as much as possible. The cave drawings are by far the oldest in the world and, combined with countless other archaeological finds, put the history of mankind and their culture in a new perspective. Herzog begins with a detailed account of the discovery of the cave, the meticulous preparation for the expedition and thus recreates a sense of exploration. Despite the technical limitations, the images are impressive and experts provide background information with visible enthusiasm. If you want to get young people excited about archaeology, paleontology or art history, this is a must. The impressive musical score is by Dutch cellist/composer Ernst Reijseger (Ajax: Daar Hoorden Zij Engelen Zingen). Dedicated to Jean-Marie Chauvet, Éliette Brunel and Christian Hillaire, the discoverers of Grotte Chauvet.
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