. . . Werner Herzog's ODE TO THE DAWN OF MAN, dealing with the making of a score for his documentary feature, CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS, runs the gamut from a father-baby cello duet to a keyboardist playing a piano and an organ at the same time. Composer/featured instrumentalist Ernst Reijseger's facial contortions as he plays his custom-built five-string cello (which helps him produce tones not unlike those of the musical saw) are accentuated by his Close-Shaven Skull, putting one in mind of how Harry Potter's nemesis--Lord Voldemort--might look if the latter had a nose and cello. This 39-minute short, shot by Herzog in a Baroque-style church, is a patchwork of snippets, including a keyboards-cello duet lasting nearly ten minutes (a repetitive, seemingly improvised piece more along the lines of film composer Phillip Glass than classic jazz). Ernst's wife Djoete is a pianist herself, and their baby daughter Ea is encouraged to finger the respective parental instruments in action (which is not quite as much a case of child abuse as it may sound to those who have not yet watched ODE). Reijseger's pairing with an eight-member local choir are more Discordant than his duets with his daughter or the keyboardist, and the disgruntled-looking flutist generally gets the short end of the stick.

Ode to the Dawn of Man (2011) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Werner Herzog's companion piece to CAVE OF FORGOTTEN DREAMS features composer Ernst Reijseger in the studio recording the film's score. Herzog did this same type of short for GRIZZLY MAN but I honestly don't think it's half as entertaining as the actual film. I think these shorts can be entertaining but this here clocks in at 39-minutes and I honestly think it went on for way too long and there's really no structure behind any of it. We basically have Herzog going around with a hand held camera capturing the recording sessions. That's it. There's no doubt that the score is a pretty remarkable one as anyone who has seen the film will admit. There's also no doubt that it's interesting getting some behind-the-scenes stuff but unfortunately I thought it just went on and on and on until the point where you just didn't want to listen anymore. Still, fans of Herzog and his bizarre style will probably still want to check it out.