Cave of Amazing Dreams
This year has been a good one for going to the movies. I have had several short-term primary teaching jobs, so I’ve been in the money and have been able to feed my frenzy for films.
The highlight so far is undoubtedly The Cave of Forgotten Dreams, directed by veteran German Werner Herzog. This extraordinary documentary simply explores one single prehistoric cave system in southern France. The point is, however, that this cave complex holds the world’s oldest cave paintings, dating to about 30,000 years ago.
As an artist himself, albeit with the camera, Herzog was clearly awe-struck by the prehistoric art. A sense of reverence comes through the film, as the camera pans slowly, tenderly, around the walls, sometimes zeroing in for a close-up, and sometimes panning out for a wide-screen shot of an entire wall. The paintings themselves are quite simply fantastic. Prehistoric animals, some of which – like the woolly mammoth and the cave lion – are extinct, come to life with line drawings, basic colourings, and use of the contours of the cave walls.
Since human breath can contribute to the decay of cave paintings, access to this underground network is strictly controlled. Herzog and his small team were allowed in for only a few days, to coincide with an annual scientific and archaeological expedition. The floor of the cave is also a treasure-trove of archaeological knowledge, with stone tools, animal and human bones, and plant remains scattered throughout. Since access is so restricted, the archaeologists have not yet even scratched the surface of the cave’s offerings.
So a walkway was built above the floor surface. As the camera shows both scientists and film crew carefully but precariously negotiating the tricky access routes, the message that this is a precious historic site, of importance to all humanity, is reinforced again and again.
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