INCIDENT AT LOCH NESS

It can definitely be said that the audiences at the screening of Incident at Loch Ness at the Seattle International Film Festival were in for a pleasant surprise. Without much fanfare or film description available, let's just say they we were all treated to a fascinating and quite often hilarious account of documentary filmmaking gone wrong.

German filmmaker Werner Herzog, known for such arty and acclaimed films as Fitzcarraldo and Aguirre, Wrath of God, set about making a documentary about the Loch Ness monster. With his film crew and cryptozoologist in hand, he went to Scotland to film his doc The Enigma of Loch Ness. What was unusual about the shoot was that Herzog's crew was followed by another documentary film crew who were making a film about Herzog himself called Herzog in Wonderland. Throw two film crews together, that each have their own agenda, into the murky, foggy, mysterious and spooky Loch Ness, and chaos was bound to ensue.

See screenwriter-turned-producer Zak Penn become unhinged when things don't go his way. See the qualifications of "experts" come into question. See the unwelcoming locals become hostile with the film crews. See Herzog, famous for being a perfectionist, slowly lose control of his film. And maybe see... the Loch Ness monster?

Without giving away anything more about this film, let's just say that it ended up being one of my favorites of the festival. The less you know going into the film, the more you are apt to enjoy it. If you are interested in the behind-the-scenes aspect of the filmmaking process, you will find this film a real treat.