Movie You Should See...

I went to see this movie last night with my dad. This is the first movie he's wanted to see in theatres since talkies were invented. So, me, my dad and his utterly-cute belief that popcorn still costs $2.50, all went to a picture-show. And what a picture show it was.

Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a  3-D documentary film by Werner Herzog, about the Chauvet Cave in southern France.

So it's a movie about a cave. A cave that just happens to hold the most well-preserved and earliest-known cave-paintings in the discovered world. These images look like they've just been etched onto the walls. The charcol is that fresh, preserved for over 30,000 years by a landslide that sealed this art off to outside elements. 30,000 years. Just let that sink in a minute. Less than 20 years ago, we didn't even have the internet. I can't even begin to think about time in that capacity.

This panel is one of the most famous; it is a smaller section of a large wall covered in animals.

The movie itself is a technical wonder, the filming was limited to a few hours a day due to dangerous conditions within the cave (gases, etc) and the French government's strict laws around impacting the historical site. The public is not allowed access to the Chaveut Cave due to the damaging effects our presence has on these works of art. So this is the closest most of us will ever get to experiencing this wonder first-hand.

3-D technology has never seen a better use in this luddite's opinion-- for the first time I really found value in having a third dimension in film; you can see how the artists used the caves udulating walls as the canvas for their incredibly realistic paintings.

Look at the way the artist created movement with the repetition of the rhino's horn. Amazing.

The images leap off the screen, animated by both the filming style and the artistry of the paintings themselves. They aren't simple scratches at a cave face... these are pristine, beautifully rendered artworks done by people who had not only real artistic perspective but self-awareness, humanity and I believe, distinct, spiritual souls.  

Go see this movie. And bring snack money, because your hungry dad wants popcorn.