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Friday, December 16, 2011

THE TEN BEST FILMS OF 2011     10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
Cave Of Forgotten Dreams       9



Werner Herzog leaning forward, directed the documentary "Cave Of Forgotten Dreams" (3D). 
IFC Films
  

Werner Herzog
, director, writer
1 hour 29 minutes
Rated G for general audiences
(IFC Films)
May 2011
Blu-Ray/DVD (U.S., Canada)

"This cave had been perfectly sealed for tens of thousands of years."

by Omar P.L. Moore/PopcornReel.com        Follow popcornreel on Twitter FOLLOW                                           
Friday, December 16, 2011


Werner Herzog had a fine big screen year with two thought-provoking and fascinating documentaries, and one of them, "Cave Of Forgotten Dreams" did more with 3D and the enhancement of the format than any other film released in 2011.  This brilliant documentary is what 3D is ideally meant for, and when the format shines best.  We are taken on a tour guide in the Chauvet caves hidden in the bowels of mountains in southern France and Mr. Herzog narrates with a wonderment and curiosity that crystallizes the scope and breadth of his and two other explorers' expedition of caves which are believed to have humankind's oldest existing pictorial art on them. 

Mr. Herzog's film serves as a document that presents ancient history and gives it a vivid gloss through relatively new technology without tainting or compromising the authenticity and originality of the caves, a tapestry of striking imagery in a vast but tightly coiled series of caves.  The director squeezes his way through them and what we see is dreamlike.

"Cave Of Forgotten Dreams" is mystical.  We are transported via 3D through another realm of history and for an all-too-brief 90 minutes I felt as if I was being slowly tethered in my seat throughout the Chauvet caves on a magic carpet ride.  Mr. Herzog had exclusive access to the caves, and gives us a look at time and art in a way that is absorbing and marvelous.  I got caught up in Mr. Herzog's infectious zeal for intrepidness, discovery, philosophy and revelation.  This alone -- even more so than the amazing visions his 3D cameras capture -- was worth the price of admission.

Full written review here

NEXT: NUMBER 8

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