At some point in its history, a landslide sealed off the cave, creating a time capsule.
At the time of the renown German filmmaker Werner Herzog's visit to Chauvet Cave with a camera crew, we see the entrance to the cave protected by a massive steel door "like a bank vault."
Lascaux Cave, well-known worldwide for the similar paintings by Paleolithic artists, was shut down because tourist breath caused mold to grow on the walls.
Herzog's visit to Chauvet is limited by a time constraint and the stipulation that no one touch anything inside the cave, nor step off of the two foot-wide metal walkway.
Inside, painting of animals "look so fresh, there were initial doubts to their authenticity."
Mammoths, cave bear, horses, bison, lions, and more dance across the walls, contours of the rock taken into account to create greater effect.
The play of light and shadow from flickering torches might have been intended by the artists to help bring the renderings to life, but in some cases illusions of movement were definitely included. A bison on one panel painted with eight legs gives the impression of movement in nearly "a form of proto-cinema," and a wooly rhino with lines of multiple horns looks "like frames in an animated film."
Using lasers, scientists have mapped the cave so well, the "position of every feature in the cave is known."
We see wavering lines of delicate rock curtains, stalactites and stalagmites shining with otherworldly crystals, cave bear skulls littering the floor covered in tens of thousands of years of calcite deposits incorporating the bones like candle wax. For the viewer, Cave of Forgotten Dreams is an opportunity to visit the past without hurting it.
In his 71 films, Herzog, who was born in Bavaria, has directed such other notable documentaries as Encounters at the End of the World (2007), his Antarctic adventure, and Wheel of Time (2003), wherein Herzog goes to India to film the world's largest Buddhist ritual.
In addition to making unforgettable documentaries, Herzog directs major motion pictures featuring intense performances, such as Aguirre, Wrath of God and Rescue Dawn.
To see "one of the greatest works of art in the world" through the camera of the visionary auteur, look for the 2010 film available on Netflix.
CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS
Starring Werner Herzog,
Jean Clottes,
Julien Monney,
Jean-Michel Geneste,
Michel Philippe,
Carole Fritz,
Dominique Baffier
Written and directed by Werner Herzog
Runtime 90 minutes
Stewart Kirby writes for
THE INDEPENDENT
and
TWO RIVERS TRIBUNE
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