Cave of Forgotten Dreams
Year: 2010
Rating: G
Length: 90 minutes / 1.50 hours
Every once in a while, ideal conditions align to preserve a piece of ancient human history. Time and the march of civilization have destroyed plenty of important artifacts of our past, but occasionally something happens that protects this history for future generations to find. In Cave of Forgotten Dreams (2010), the audience gets a breathtaking look into an amazing discovery that has a cultural impact stretching back eons to the origins of our species. It’s a shame that most will never be able to visit this cave, but this documentary is practically the next best thing.
Interspersing first footage and high-quality video of the cave, the music and narration in this film create a mesmerizing quality as we are introduced to cave drawings and other artifacts that haven’t been seen by human eyes in a very long time. The expansive nature of the art and the level of preservation are quite awe-inspiring. I was also impressed by how careful the archeologist teams were in documenting this monumental find. It’s clear that they wanted to study as much of it as they could while also keeping it as pristine as possible in the process.
My only qualm with this documentary is that it failed to give some additional context to the find. Where else have we found these drawings? What other cave discoveries have led to similar finds? How rare was this discovery? Sure, Cave of Forgotten Dreams does manage to thoroughly explain the discovery and what we’ve learned from it. However, sometimes it gets so caught up in itself that it doesn’t take as much time to pull back and show how unique it is. In the end, it’s still worth a watch for the beauty of nature and the awe of how far we’ve come as a species.
A mystically beautiful examination of an extraordinary cultural discovery, I give Cave of Forgotten Dreams 4.0 stars out of 5.
