Something like 20,000 years ago, a rock slide sealed up the entrance to a large cave set into a limestone cliff above the Ardèche River in southern France. As far as scientists can tell, no human being entered it again until 1994, when a trio of explorers wedged themselves through a tiny aperture and made one of the most extraordinary discoveries of cultural history: Chambers upon chambers of spectacular prehistoric art, both figurative and abstract, including images of many extinct species of Ice Age animals. You and I will never see any of this, except with the help of Werner Herzog's strange, flawed and mesmerizing 3-D film "Cave of Forgotten Dreams," which premiered last fall at the Toronto film festival and is now reaching North American theaters. (It will be screened in both 3-D and 2-D versions, and while the augmented experience is certainly remarkable, the film is worth seeing in either format.)

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