Month: September 2020

Cave of forgotten dreams

On Sunday 18 December 1994, Jean-Marie Chauvet and his two friends Éliette Brunel and Christian Hillaire accidentally discovered this cave. For a short period, the public could visit the cave. But it soon became evident that human intrusions were changing the atmosphere of the cave, so the French Government decided to close it for the public. The cave is 32,000 years old. Herzog gained a rare permit to bring his cameras into the Chauvet cave to document these special drawings from the Paleolithic era. Herzog was given one week time to complete his work. He could only work for 4 hours/day. Herzog used 3-D cameras to shoot the interiors of the cave. This cave contains paintings of Palaeolithic human beings. Palaeolithic humans used to live in the earliest chunk of the stone age. They used stones to make tools. Many years ago, the cave was sealed by a landslide. It helped to preserve everything perfectly. Herzog was not a fan of 3D, but he viewed it as necessary to capture paintings that made extensive use of the curves and contours of the cave’s walls. The cave contains pictures from Hynes to bison to Rhinos. They qualify as the oldest cave art ever discovered. Herzog asks a variety of scientists about the paintings in the cave. At times, he asks them absurd philosophical questions which provide a different perspective to us. The last 30 minutes of this documentary is pure bliss. Herzog reminds us these paintings represent the birth of the modern human soul. “

The Demon


Directed by-  Yoshitarô Nomura
Stars : – Ken Ogata, Shima Iwashita


Sokichi (Ken Ogata) doesn’t earn enough money, and he stops providing enough money to his long time lover Kikuyo. They have 3 children as well. In the meantime, Sokichi married another woman called Oume (Shima Iwashita). Kikuyo comes to his house and leaves 3 of their children. In one night, she mysteriously disappears. Being brainwashed by her wife Oume, Sokichi tries to get rid of his kids one by one. The Demon is one of the finest achievements of Japanese cinema in the 1970s. Its account of child abuse is made all the more unsettling by Nomura’s stylistic detachment and by the relatively sympathetic characterisation of the unwillingly abusive protagonist. First of all, this film does not show any woman in a positive light. It doesn’t hold patriarchy responsible for any actions, and it is not necessary either. In some cases, women do more harm in the family than men, and it shows that. Here the demon is “Ken Ogata” who tries to commit the crime. The film concentrates on child abuse, and it shows that without taking the help of bloodbath. Ken Ogata is a demon in his intentions, but ultimately he is a human being. Even though the film is about the child, the most helpless and tragic character of the film is the perpetrator himself. There lies this film’s success and Ken Ogata is just out of the world.