A very moving documentary. Aside from the chance to discover and inspect
something which you would not otherwise get to see, the thought that
you are contemplating paintings made by our common ancestors thousands
of years ago is transcending.
However much I enjoy Herzog's filmmaking,
at times the narration is slightly overbearing and I wished I had been
left to dream more freely. The 3D is not needed: it neither accentuates
nor diminishes the beauty of the paintings, although you do understand
why it was used. The texture and the relief of the cave walls are
integrated parts of the works of art and the cavemen knew to utilise
them to construct the scenes of animals fighting, galloping
or gathering round a water hole. But either 3D technology needs to
improve or the filming conditions in the cave were too challenging,
because 3D really does not add much here.
Fortunately there is
much going for this documentary without 3D. The wonderful music and the
introduction of outsiders such as the old perfume maker all help to
create an experience in which you can really take part. There is nothing
passive about this watching: you are discovering a part of yourself you
did not know before.
There is something mystical about the
cave: it's not just a witness of the birth of humanity as we know it, it
is truly a space where our common consciousness can be accessed.
It
is bigger than each of us yet we're all in it. Our tools, our clothes,
our very homes may have changed, but the raw beauty of those painted
animals and of the nature surrounding the cave still touch us deeply to
the core of our bodies. Our minds may have grown and our intellect may
be able to rationalise our perceptions for the sole purpose of survival,
but our hearts (for lack of a better word) and our souls are not so different from the cavemen's: they are still our primary catalysts to experience the world around us - that is when we let them.
Thank you Herzog
and team for enabling us to remember that there is a cure for rational
interpreting - that you do so with a camera is fitting and evocative!
I suppose that if you can't reverse time, your only solution is to turn it back on itself.
I've always felt that black holes hold the mystery to life. Herzog, you turned a black hole inside out!
