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Neo-opsis Review
Incident at Loch Ness
When famed film director Werner
Herzog (Fitzcarraldo) decides to make a documentary on the enigma that
is the Loch Ness monster, the film crew that has been trailing Herzog for a
documentary about his own life tag along to capture the master at work on a
project. We see Herzog team-up with producer Zak Penn (X-Men 2, Last
Action Hero), and we follow the crew to Scotland, where Herzog and Penn
prep the production. We soon learn that they have differing views on the
project. Herzog sees this as a quiet personal film, a psychological study of
why people need to believe in a mythological monster, while Penn, author of
many Hollywood blockbusters, wants a monster movie and insists on a little more
razzmatazz, going so far as to hire a crazy crypto zoologist, and a former
Playboy model as the sonar operator. As the conflict between Herzog and Penn
builds to a crisis and the crew begins filming, intrigue and disaster wait on
the surface, and something mysterious lurks in the deep gloomy waters of the
dark Scottish lake.
To say much more would ruin
the story. Suffice it to say it is similar to Lost in La Mancha, the
documentary of Terry Gilliam’s effort to film a version of Don Quixote
that goes disastrously wrong and is never completed, and the only footage that
survives to any degree is the on-set documentary footage. Similarly here,
Herzog’s film is overtaken by deadly disaster and abandoned, and the only
record that survives is the footage that was shot by the documentary crew
following Herzog.
Herzog has an amazing
on-camera presence (we’re talking serious gravitas here), and his
disappointment and fatigue as his project collapses around him is palpable, and
as the battle of vision with Penn grows, his frustration boils over. Herzog is
clearly the star of this film, and brings to it a weight and a seriousness that
serve the film well. It would be much less of a movie without him. Penn, who is
no Klaus Kinski, has to be given credit for allowing himself to be portrayed on
film as a class-A Hollywood schmuck. Penn’s enthusiasm for the project
overwhelms his sensibility, and as his dealings with Herzog become more
strained, he becomes all the more desperate.
Shot digitally, the film
looks great for a budget of less than $1,000,000. (And it would take a lot of
work to make any film shot on the scenic Scottish Lochs look bad.) The film
itself is uneven; clearly the best part is the middle act as Herzog’s film
dissolves before his eyes. There are no really big surprises in the film, save
perhaps one, but there are plenty of laughs in Penn’s increasingly pathetic
attempts to spice up Herzog’s film.
The DVD has a bunch of
deleted scenes, most of which were cut for good reason. But a few are
interesting. There’s also the obligatory commentary track:
Penn: Werner, I just want to
say I’m glad, given all the legal problems, that you could come do this. It
means a lot to me— Herzog: Yes, okay,
it’s one of those rituals of DVDs. Let’s just get it over with. It’s
okay. I try to be a good sport.
The DVD is also loaded with Easter Eggs, at least 13 by my
reckoning, including two other commentary tracks, and a documentary.
Incident at Loch Ness could be viewed as a metaphor
for the modern movie industry: a talented director, working with a talented
group of artists, has his work destroyed by the mindless interference of a
moronic Hollywood powerbroker.
Golly, one might even think the whole thing is a satire.
Review by John W. Herbert.
Originally Published in Neo-opsis # 8.
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