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This is a
documentary shot by director Werner Herzog (Bad
Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans, Rescue Dawn) in 3D. With only limited
time and access, he explores the Chauvet Caves in southern France. He exposes
us to the ancient cave paintings left by the Neanderthals, who belonged to what
Herzog calls a distant world. At ninety minutes long this is strictly for
academic lovers of art, cave aficionados and possible cave dwellers. Herzog,
who narrates much of the film, has made this as a purely factual documentary.
Unlike other documentarians, like wannabe comedians Michael Moore and Morgan
Spurlock, there’s less emphasis on personality or an attempt to inject Herzog’s
self into the frame. You don’t learn about him or his crew. It’s just the
facts. What there is of Herzog, mostly his voice over, projects him as deeply
passionate about the subject matter. Some will relish his input but I find
parts of his narration to be a little too colourful and long-winded, like when
he compares the landscapes to a Wagner opera or starts marking parallels
between humans and mutated albino crocodiles right at the end of the film. When
the film focuses specifically on the cave art it’s more satisfying. There are
interesting points here such as how the rock faces were used like an easel to
work on or how archaeologists learnt to track one artist because of the
irregular shape of his finger imprint that he left behind. The fragility of the
environment is intriguing too. Did you know that the doorway to the caves has
to be shut tight so that they can preserve the temperature of the caves? Some
things never change. Or that you can’t walk off the metal tracks and onto the
dust because of how unstable the ground is and the necessity to preserve the
prints? I can’t say I didn’t learn anything. I also liked the scene where a
scientist describes the interior craft of a spear and then rather hilarious
attempts to throw it.
A lot of this
material is very professionally photographed and made by someone who
understands films. It’s not like some documentaries that are highly informative
but also amateurish in their presentation. However, unless you’re especially
interested in cave paintings you might as well wait for it to be on TV. The
film does make for an intelligent 3D vehicle. The film looks very sharp and the
3D subtly adds the appropriate touches of depth to long drawn passageways. For
once it’s actually very noticeable. But I find it difficult to ever recommend
3D by itself. It works here but also comes in patches and you can expect a ticket
price hike. There are long scenes that really don’t benefit from 3D, such as
the ones in the scientists office or in the long close-up shots of a cave wall,
with the camera scanning for an age. And though Herzog doesn’t make himself the
focus of the film, his consistent narration and classical soundtrack deprives us
of those tense silences walking through the cave and just letting the
surroundings immerse you and wash over you. There is one scene though where he
briefly asks for silence so that you can listen to the sounds of the cave and
the heartbeats. If your cave knowledge like mine begins and ends with Batman,
wait for this to be on television. But if the subject matter stands out then
you’ll find this to be very professionally photographed and mostly informative,
in a strictly academic sense.
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