Werner Herzog emerges from the cave

The Cave of Forgotten Dreams premiere was a mess. The 3D cameras weren’t calibrated properly, the picture stalled briefly near the beginning, and the projector shut down completely just after the climax, forcing the theatre to turn on its houselights and bringing the audience to awkward, premature applause. It wasn’t an ideal situation in which to watch a film, but Werner Herzog’s new documentary was brilliant enough to remain completely enjoyable despite its awkward first steps. Herzog and his crew were given unprecedented access to art that has adorned the Chauvet-Pont-d’Arc cave in southern France for 32,000 years. A landslide sealed the entrance, preserving the art so that it looks as if early man brought burnt timbre to bulging stone only last week.