法国南部的Chauvet岩洞里,有三万年前的原始壁画,还有冰河时期的哺乳动物化石,但洞口一直被落石封住,直到1994年被科学家偶然发现。这个宝贵的洞穴被严密保护着,赫尔佐格只获准进洞拍摄六天,每天四小时,他还采访了相关研究的科学家们,用他特有的方式,探索史前人类对事物的认知和表达方式、艺术和文明史的诞生、以及现今围绕在洞穴四周的好奇人群。他还注意到现代工业对史前遗迹的侵蚀——Chauvet岩洞附近恰有一个核电站,已经因为温水汇流形成生态圈,里面连鳄鱼都有了,Chauvet未来可能受到被淹没的威胁。 这是沃纳·赫尔佐格首次用3D形式拍摄他最热衷的纪录片。In 1994, a group of scientists discovered a cave in Southern France perfectly preserved for over 20,000 years and containing the earliest known human paintings. Knowing the cultural significance that the Chauvet Cave holds, the French government immediately cut-off all access to it, save a few archaeologists and paleontologists. But documentary filmmaker, Werner Herzog, has been given limited access, and now we get to go inside examining beautiful artwork created by our ancient ancestors around 32,000 years ago. He asks questions to various historians and scientists about what these humans would have been like and trying to build a bridge from the past to the present.