Werner Herzog in Glorious 3D: Cave of Forgotten Dreams

Oops!  Okay, this is the the last Werner Herzog left to be covered now (I'm pretty sure haha).  Anyway, this is a going to be a fun one for me, because it's the first 3D blu-ray to be covered on DVDExotica.  I'm talking, of course, about the 2010 documentary Cave of Forgotten Dreams, released on DVD and blu by MPI Home Video as a new release in 2011.  The blu-ray has the rare distinction of including the 2D and 3D versions on the same BD (typically, releases that feature both versions are doing so by including two separate discs).  That made it my first 3D blu.

This is a documentary about the earliest known cave paintings - over 30,000 years old - discovered in France.  And some of them don't look as simplistically primitive as you might expect.  A lot of tests had to be conducted to prove it wasn't an elaborate hoax.  Herzog and his small film crew are the first people allowed in by the scientists to film, and he apparently decided to shoot in 3D because of how the artwork incorporates the the bumps and crevices in the natural rock formations.  And a lot of time is dedicated to demonstrating how the paintings look under different light conditions and from different angles.  So the three dimensional element is meant to bring out additional nuance and stylistic decisions of these ancient artists.

And it's not all just ogling cave paintings... which is good, because there are only so many of them, and even as is, it starts to hit you, alright, this is the third or fourth look at the same pictures.  Herzog interviews the scientists and local historians who talk about the complex work involved in documenting and protecting the delicate art, and the history of the land and the early people who would've done the work.  And it's Herzog, so you can be sure he's also them about their dreams and life stories, as well as capturing producing gorgeous nature photography set to a powerful, original score.  There's also a wild prologue on the surrounding area and the consequences of modern man taking over ancient spaces.  So he guides a fascinating exploration even if you don't have a predisposed interest in cave paintings.

3D side-by-side: left eye left; right eye right.

So yeah, since this is my first 3D disc, I thought I'd take the opportunity to pull it apart and explore the dual-stream aspect.  So the third set of shots are the dual images you would see to make each from 3D.  Briefly, how it works is that a 3D camera shoots the film with two lens, side by side (y'know, like human eyes) and literally shoots the exact same film twice, simultaneously, from slightly different perspectives.  Your 3D set then plays the image at double speed - so two 24fps streams intercutting every single frame: left eye, right eye, left eye, right) and your glasses are synced to the TV so they each eye only sees the frame they're supposed to see, leaving your mind to compile them as a 3D image.  So above, the bottom two shots side-by-side may look identical, but they're not - they're filmed at slightly different angles.  And the 2D version, then, is actually just the left eye stream, as you can see below.

2011 MPI DVD; 2011 MPI BD.

Anyway, the film is presented in 1.78:1, anamorphic, and of varying quality, because Herzog clearly shot different parts of the film with different cameras.  The early footage of Herzog first entering the cave (the first screenshot on this page) was clearly interlaced and had to be de-interlaced, leaving ugly ghosted frames and stuttering camera pans.  But that's just the nature of the film, not a fault of the discs, and the picture improves as the film goes on.  They're both presumably taken direct from the DCP, and are identical in terms of color timing, framing, etc.  But unfortunately for those who hadn't yet upgraded to HD in 2011, the DVD interlaces recurring frames throughout the whole movie; but the properly progressive BD and doesn't have that problem.  And it's naturally clearer and less fuzzy than the DVD by virtue of being higher resolution.

Another difference is that the BD features lossless audio, bumping up the same 5.1 mix to DTS-HD.  Both discs also include optional English and Spanish subtitles.

Ode To the Dawn Of Man

I wouldn't say MPI's release qualifies as a special edition, but it has one very good special feature (on both the DVD and blu): a roughly 45-minute first-hand documentary on the creation of the music for this film by conductor Jason Solomons.  Ode To the Dawn Of Man is directed by Herzog himself, so you'll sometimes see it listed in his filmography as an original short film of his, which it legitimately.  It's also in HD on the blu, and includes optional English and Spanish subtitles, though the audio is lossy either way.  So that's a nice treat, though some other kind of extra, like a director interview, about all the other aspects of this movie would've been nice.  But that's all we get apart from the trailer and some bonus trailers.

This disc has always made me daydream about the day every TV is 3D.  I think Sony was pushing in that direction, but it never happened, and now that 3D discs are on the hard decline, I guess it never will.  Oh well; I would've loved to see Herzog's full three dimensional vision.  But even if you're not 3D capable, it's definitely worth picking up this blu, and even double-dipping from the DVD if you haven't already.