Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Name: Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Genre: History, Documentary
Released: April 29, 2011
Duration: 89 min
Rating: 86

2011

METASCORE

Universal acclaim based on 34 Critic Reviews

See All

USER SCORE

Generally favorable reviews based on 53 Ratings

See All

6.8

VOTE NOW

0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10

6.8	Your Score
6.8	User Score Generally favorable reviews based on 53 Ratings

Would you like to write a review?

There is a 75 character minimum for reviews. If your review contains spoilers, please check the Spoiler box. Please do not use ALL CAPS. There is no linking or other HTML allowed. Your review may be edited for content. 0/5000

Check box if your review contains spoilers

Play Sound

Please enter your birth date to watch this video:

You are not allowed to view this material at this time.

Cave Of Forgotten Dreams

Now Playing: Cave Of Forgotten Dreams

Movie Details & Credits

IFC Films | Release Date: April 29, 2011 | Not Rated

Summary: For over 20,000 years, Chauvet Cave has been completely sealed off by a fallen rock face, its crystal-encrusted interior as large as a football field and strewn with the petrified remains of giant ice age mammals. In 1994, scientists discovered the caverns, and found hundreds of pristine paintings within, spectacular artwork dating backFor over 20,000 years, Chauvet Cave has been completely sealed off by a fallen rock face, its crystal-encrusted interior as large as a football field and strewn with the petrified remains of giant ice age mammals. In 1994, scientists discovered the caverns, and found hundreds of pristine paintings within, spectacular artwork dating back over 30,000 years (almost twice as old as any previous finds) to a time when Neanderthals still roamed the earth and cave bears, mammoths, and ice age lions were the dominant populations of Europe. Since then, only a handful of specialists have stepped foot in the cave, and the true scope of its contents had largely gone unfelt—until Werner Herzog managed to gain access. Filming in 3D, Herzog captures the wonder and beauty of one of the most awe-inspiring sites on earth, all the while musing in his inimitable fashion about its original inhabitants, the birth of art, and the curious people surrounding the caves today. (IFC Films)

… Expand

Director: Werner Herzog

Genre(s): History, Documentary

Rating: Not Rated

Runtime: 89 min

See All Details and Credits

Watch Now

Buy on

Stream On

Expand

Metascore

Positive:

Mixed:

Negative:

Critic Reviews

100

Joe Neumaier

Apr 29, 2011

Director Werner Herzog's latest cinematic mind trip blows you away with its beauty. Read full review

100

Manohla Dargis

Apr 28, 2011

The 3-D is sometimes less than transporting, and the chanting voices in the composer Ernst Reijseger's new-agey score tended to remind me of my last spa massage. Yet what a small price to pay for such time traveling! Read full review

Lisa Schwarzbaum

Apr 27, 2011

This truly intimate film invites viewers to commune as well and feel a profound living connection with fellow humans of 30,000 years ago. Read full review

Joe Williams

May 6, 2011

Imagine an opulent movie palace that was 30,000 years old, with posters preserved on the curving walls and the bones of the Stone Age patrons peacefully sleeping in the fairy dust. That's essentially what archeologists found in a French canyon in 1994 and what Werner Herzog brings back to life in the extraordinary documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams. Read full review

Shawn Levy

May 6, 2011

It is, in a way, the first glimpse of the cinema, right there at the dawn of humankind. And it is utterly remarkable to see. Read full review

Empire Adam Smith

Apr 25, 2011

A typically quixotic documentary in which great unknown artists from 35,000 years ago collaborate with one in 2011. Profound, mysterious and utterly absorbing. Read full review

J. Hoberman

Apr 26, 2011

For better or worse, the movie does for Chauvet what Baudrillard complained an on-site replica did for Lascaux-render the real thing false. Read full review

SEE ALL 34 REVIEWS

Write a Review

User Reviews

Phil_D

Jan 3, 2013

Yet another inspired talk-o-mentary by master Herzog. This time about a 32 000-year window into the past of our ancestors. Like nothing out there. The footage itself musto be on its way to the UNESCO. Must-see.