Oh dear Lordy, did I ever see Cave of Forgotten Dreams at full price, in 3D, on a bustling Friday night at the movies. I tell you this: I would absolutely make the same choice again. I stayed until the VERY END of the credits because I did not want to leave. When we finally made our way out, my dear partner had the gall to refer to the film as artsy-fartsy, a decision that I strongly objected to.
We then proceeded to have a discussion about what it means to be artsy-fartsy. My point (which is the only one I will convey) is that things that are truly thought-provoking and beautifully done shouldn’t be considered artsy-fartsy just because half (or 90%, whatever) of America will not like them (because my fellow country-men have been trained to eschew thinking for bright colors and a fast pace in film). To me, artsy-fartsy is something like Black Swan, which was all metaphor and high concept and done that way on purpose. CoFD was weird, yes—Werner Herzog has a way of bringing out the odd in everyone he meets (“...and were your dreams scary?”), and the documentary was about cave paintings—but the central question was so dreamy and straight forward that there was no confusion over “representation” or “meaning”. Herzog made the meaning abundantly clear--what does it mean to be human? At what point, evolutionarily, did we have a soul and all of the things that the soul produces--in this case, art and music? Do we acknowledge and incorporate into our lives the connection we have to the others before and after us in the story of life on this planet?
Highlights:
1. His interviews with an “experimental archaeologist”, “master perfumer” and “former circus performer”
2. The revelation that not only did Paleolithic people paint, they also made flutes out of the bones of vultures (and other animals).
3. When I found out this was in 3D, I just though it was a part of Herzog’s weirdness. After seeing the movie, I can say that this is perhaps the only movie I’ve ever seen that had a legitimate reason to be 3D. The paintings are on uneven rock and often curve around the cave. Since the cave isn’t open to the public, it’s the only way to approximate the real experience.
4. The ending of the film involved a reflection on a nuclear power plant and an albino alligator and revealed just how twisted modernity can be (and Herzog’s apparent environmentalism).
On a personal note, seeing CoFD made me feel very peaceful. The recent loss of Pumpkin has been devastating, but CoFD allowed me to see how enormous time and life are, and to feel how natural it is for humans and animals to intermingle, and then separate when one of their bodies fails (or is needed for survival). It’s clear that Paleolithic people revered animals in a way that some people still do (probably not Tyson and other titans of big Ag) and seeing the tributes they created to their animal kingdom colleagues reminded me of why we take pictures.
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