Cave of Forgotten Dreams 3-D – Review

Film, Reviews, Theatrical Reviews, Top Story

Herzog’s documentary shows powerful ability to use 3D.

Werner Herzog is a rare gem among filmmakers in that he is just as good at making dramatic films as he is filming documentaries. As a director he has noted documentaries like Grizzly Man and Little Dieter Needs to Fly on the same resume as Aguirre, the Wrath of God. In his latest documentary, Herzog takes us into the one of the most secret places on the planet: Chauvet Cave.

Discovered in France in 1994 and containing the oldest known cave paintings ever found dating back up to 32,000 years, Herzog was only able enter the cave with three other men and only a few hours at a time because of strict restrictions. To properly capture the texture of the cave paintings Herzog decided to shoot the film with a 3D camera. It was specifically designed and had to be built inside the cave. And it’s in the ability to use 3D where the documentary becomes much more than about a cave. It’s about being able to almost experience being inside the cave itself.

Herzog’s use of 3-D in this film if magnificent, utilizing the technology to it’s up most potential. There are moments when the viewer feels like they could reach out, grab a section of wall and pull themselves towards it so they can glimpse behind it to see what hidden spectacles Herzog is hiding from us.

Cave is a wonderful history lesson that not only tells the story of the cave but gives a well rounded understanding about the circumstances behind the cave paintings. Herzog gives us a sense of where mankind was at the time of these paintings and the scientists’ best guess at what they mean. Also found in the cave are bones and skulls of extinct cave bears, other human evidence such as the footprint of an eight year old child and charcoal markings and exquisite stalactites and stalagmites sparkling with calcite.

The images within the cave are captured in a fascinating way. With such a limited crew all the footage is handheld and the lighting is limited to the lights on the helmets and a couple soft lights. When the camera pans across a painting the lighting flickers about not always giving us the best image of the art. While this might seem annoying it actually works. There is already a certain forbidden quality to the film as no one in the public has ever seen these images, so the lights flittering across the image adds to this feeling.

Add to this the wonderfully eccentric narration of Werner Herzog. If you’ve never seen one of his documentaries then you have been missing out. Be it his eloquently worded descriptions of the paintings to the symbolism of albino crocodiles starring at their own doppelgangers, his words are always entertaining even if you don’t always understand what he’s getting at. Some of these words from anyone else might sound quite pretentious but from Herzog they are completely sincere.

There is a beautiful image towards the beginning of the film where camera peers down a long cavernous corridor. The foreground is draped in shadow and in the background the crew walks slowly about with the their lights casting even more shadows all about. It’s absolutely stunning, this description really does it no justice, but hopefully it entices you enough to want to venture to the theater and experience this awe inspiring addition to the grand history of cinema.


Director: Werner Herzog

Mike Noyes received his Masters Degree in Film from the Academy of Art University, San Francisco. A few of his short films can be viewed here: http://www.youtube.com/user/mikebnoyes. He recently published his first novel which you can buy here: https://www.amazon.com/Seven-Days-Years-Mike-Noyes-ebook/dp/B07D48NT6B/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1528774538&sr=8-1&keywords=seven+days+seven+years