LE DERNIER PASSAGE
THE FINAL PASSAGE
Pascal Magontier / France / 2015 / 28 min / Colour
36,000 years ago, in the setting of Chauvet Cave - Pont D'Arc, in southern France, the hands of unknown prehistoric artists drew with surprising skill extraordinary images of lions, rhinoceros, bison, horses, and bears. These images, drawn with just a few, secure lines and with extraordinary evocative power, come to life thanks to the flickering lights of the fires and the protrusions of the rocks on which they were drawn. Due to the director's use of a single long sequence, the modern viewer can relive the marvel and admiration that perhaps moved the last, prehistoric inhabitants of these places, when they turned around for the last time to observe the magnificence of this work, which would remain in obscurity for thousands of years.
Pascal Magontier
A documentarist, he devotes his work above all to historical documentaries, dealing with subject from the origins of man to the modern age, which have been screened at the most important international festivals. He made the series Les Gestes de la Préhistoire (2003), Le dernier passage (2015) and Les Enfants de Sam (2002), which earned him the Prix du patrimoine at Cinéma du Réel in Paris.
Credits
Cinematography Hugo BarbierSound Antoine GervaisMusic Clément Aichelbaum, Damien VandesandeProducer Martin MarquetProduction company Guy Perazio Engineering, Rup'Art Production