Until the time visitors are allowed in, Herzog's film about the cave paintings at Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave in the Ardeche is the next best thing. Photo / Supplied
Until the time visitors are allowed in, Herzog's film about the cave paintings at Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave in the Ardeche is the next best thing. Photo / Supplied
The visual trick that is 3D cinema is designed to heighten reality but, in my experience, makes it less convincing. Presumably it will one day become the norm and it will seem less jarringly hyperreal to brains adjusted to two-dimensional moving images.
But for German director Herzog's trip below groundinto the Chauvet-Pont-d'Arc Cave in the Ardeche, just north of Marseille, the technology is thrillingly, dizzyingly useful. The sensuous curves of wall daubed with ravishing paintings that have been carbon-dated at up to 34,000 years old seem close enough to touch.
The flickering lamplight on images of eight-legged bison create the inescapable impression of movement and sustain Herzog's claim that these painters were the first animators. (Picasso was even more enthusiastic, remarking when he was led through Lascaux, "they invented everything").
This cave was discovered only in 1994, by three explorers who, fortunately, knew the significance of what they had found. So unlike Altamira in northern Spain or Lascaux in the Dordogne, the wonders it contained were not subjected to the damage inflicted by casual intruders and organised sightseers. It was immediately closed to all but scientific investigation.
Plans are afoot for a precise replica, based on 3D digital mapping, and the French authorities' willingness to collaborate with Herzog is doubtless part of the long-term marketing plan of what will become a major tourist attraction. In the meantime, we have a film that is as good as being there.
At times and irritatingly, Herzog indulges himself in flights of fancy that seem entirely perverse.
It's a big claim to say that the modern human soul (whatever that is) was invented here, if we don't know what remains undiscovered. Likewise, his asking whether the artists "dream and cry at night" seems less useful than discussing why they scrupulously avoided both landscape and self-portrait. And a sequence at the end involving an albino crocodile is among the nuttiest this fabulously nutty film-maker has ever devised.
But I found every second of it enthralling and dazzling. It's not often you get invited into a room nearly 20 times older than Christendom. Strap yourself in and enjoy the ride.
Stars: 4.5/5 Director: Werner Herzog Running time: 90 mins Rating: G Verdict: The invention of art
* Cave of Forgotten Dreams has previews this weekend and opens on Thursday. Check with cinemas about availability of 3D screenings as some will only be showing it in a conventional format.
