Werner Herzog’s exploration of the miraculous Chauvel Cave comes with it evidence that human kind is indeed wired to believe in the hypnotic and poignant Cave of Forgotten Dreams.

The Chauvet Cave, located in Southern France, was discovered in 1994. In a sense it is a natural time capsule, sealing within it the oldest cave paintings known to man with carbon dating tracing it back 35,000 years.

The cave was also proven to be a place of religious worship and gathering. When that fact is coupled with the artistic expression adorned on its walls and the quiet hush of those lucky few to venture inside, the cave becomes less a place of artistic exploration and more a primitive church.

Herzog states in the film that the Chauvet Cave is the place where “the human soul was born” and it’s hard to deny that. It is where primitive man broke from the ranks of its ancestors and began to express themselves artistically and spiritually. In religion both art and worship are intertwined. From indigenous cave paintings to the Vatican, there is no doubt that mankind’s yearning for something greater is expressed through the soul enriching experiencing of creating art, and the Chauvel Cave is indeed the ancient temple of such creativity.

Of course Herzog views the cave’s many wondrous discoveries in a different light, opting for the philosophical over theological with his eccentric musings providing narration.

Herzog received permission from the French minister of culture to film the cave. Restrictions were placed, with only three crew allowed at one time, to films one hour a day, over the course of a week.

The results are simply magical. Herzog clearly adores the history and spectre which the cave projects, and in turn so do we. With every turn there is a new discovery, with every painting a hypothesis. Herzog keeps his lens in a transfixed state on every painting, utilising the 3D technology at his disposal to bring the pictures to life and have them sink in.

Yet even in 2D (which is the version this critic watched), Cave of Forgotten Dreams is a triumph of visual filmmaking. More important though is that it makes us contemplate what it is to be human, to be creative, and to know the soul.