Director: Werner Herzog
Writer: Werner Herzog, Judith Thurman
Starring: Werner Herzog, Dominique Baffier, Jean Clottes
Released: September 22, 2011
Rating: (G)
Runtime: 90 minutes
Websites:
Story: Following his previous documentary "Encounters at the End of the World", iconic director Werner Herzog once again takes us deep behind the frontier of an extraordinary place. Having gained unprecedented access through the tightest of restrictions and overcome considerable technical challenges, he has captured on film, with specially designed 3D cameras, the interior of the Chauvet Cave in southern France.
This is where the world's oldest cave paintings - hundreds in number - were discovered in 1994. In this mesmerising movie, he reveals to us a breathtaking subterranean world and leads us to the 32,000-year-old artworks. In that deeply moving moment of encounter, we come face to face with pristine and astonishingly realistic drawings of horses, cattle and lions, which for the briefest second come alive in the torchlight.
In true Herzogian fashion, his hypnotically engaging narration weaves in wider metaphysical contemplations as we learn more about the Paleolithic art and its creators. Through his understated and gently humorous voiceover, we are invited to reflect on our primal desire to communicate and represent the world around us, evolution and our place within it, and ultimately what it means to be human.
Cast:
Werner Herzog Himself (also Narrator)
Dominique Baffier Herself
Jean Clottes Himself
Jean-Michel Geneste Himself
Carole Fritz Herself
Gilles Tosello Himself
Michel Philippe Himself
Julien Monney Himself
Nicholas Conard Himself
Wulf Hein Himself
Maria Malina Herself
Maurice Maurin Himself
Charles Fathy Interpreter (voice)