I'll tell ya one thing...

Cave of Forgotten Dreams ain't no Encounters at the End of the World !!!


I was bitterly disappointed in Werner Herzog tonight. Usually his offbeat style and ghoulish eye for detail yield a tale of unimaginable delights, but here everything seems faked. (I wouldn't be surprised to hear that the scientists and artists featured in this film didn't prepare by watching all Herzog's recent filmography to build up a defence plan for themselves so as not to allow themselves to look too ridiculous.)

The whole dubbing craziness was too much - - sure, it's fun and weird for a moment to hear a German woman dubbed by a German woman speaking English with a heavy German accent. But that's the style for the whole damn film! Subtitles would have been much preferred.

Worst of all, the trumpeted 3D was simply unnecessary. I would easily have preferred the sharp bright precision of 2D to witness this subject.

(Actually, it made me pine for of all things... Superman Returns. When I saw that movie in first run IMAX, it was screened primarily in 2D, but featured twenty minutes of 3D scenes divided up in short sequences that acted as a pleasant little FX palate cleanser for the adrenal gland. No need to go cross-eyed from two and a half straight hours of wearing cross-polarized sunglasses in a dark room with a wall-sized light shined in your face. Just a few choice and blessedly brief minutes and your back to full IMAX 2D crystal purity. Cave of Forgotten Dreams is definitely one film that would have perfectly suited to this selective technique of using 3D!)

But please note: If I seem to have a negative tone about this movie, remember that I have extraordinarily high standards for a Werner Herzog film. I'll admit, I'm a ZogBoy. This is a rare misfire for this master of documentarians.

And especially, please further note: Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a must-see movie. The Chauvet cave is absolutely mind-blowing. I'm not exaggerating - - it is an absolute treasure. And discovered only 16 years before the making of this film. Every human owes itself to see this record of their direct ancestors. Go see your great-great-grampa's hunting murals ingeniously painted to take artistic advantage of the contours of the walls and amazingly even early examples of:



For all it's faults and low rung on the Herzog ladder, it contains breathtaking images from life 28,000 years ago that are so untouched they could have been made yesterday. My suggestion is to find the time to turn your local cinema into your neighborhood's own Cave of Forgotten Dreams for an hour and half, then walk back out into the light of the world of today and rejoice in our continued hominid heritage!


2 out of 5.