"Herzog in the lands of Kilt"

Title: Incident at Loch Ness

Year: 2004

Genre: Adventure, Comedy, Horror

Director: Zack Penn

Writer: Werner Herzog, Zack Penn

Runtime: 94min

Cast: Werner Herzog, Zack Penn, Gabriel Beristain, Russell Williams II, Kitana Baker, Michael Karnow, David A. Davidson, Robert O'Meara, Steven Gardner

Produc.: Eden Rock Media

Budget: $1.400.000 million approx.

In Incident at Loch Ness, Werner Herzog and a group of filmmakers embark themselves into the waters of the famous scottish lake, to be documented by John Bailey.

Year 2004. Los Angeles. A cameraman records every movement of the veteran german director, who, in his house, gets ready with his wife, all the preparations to welcome the guests. John Bailey, who is the man behind the camera, follows Werner while they make dinner, and also when in his office, Werner tells both, to him and to us, what is this movie exactly about.

For the occasion have been invited Zack Penn, Jeff Goldblum, Crispin Glover, Gabriel Beristain, Ricky Jay or Russell Williams II, among several important personalities, all linked to the world of cinema. Not all, although some of them, will travel to Europe with Herzog and Penn, to see if the Loch Ness monster is it or not, just a myth.

At first glance, many might see this as a teasing. Being this the case of a serious person as Herzog, than what he has for us were to be a documentary about a creature, whose inexistence, at this point, has been, for most, more than confirmed.

Then, if so: What the hell would we see? This is precisely where we must take a pause and dig a bit more. None of this is more than just a big game to have fun for a little while. A typical "mockumentary".

Something that is interesting, is that from the beginning it is Herzog who runns the show, who is always followed by the camera and who leads the expedition, when it is actually Zack Penn who holds the reins, because in the end credits he is who directs. Herzog does not come to be more than the "false head" of a "fictional crew."

The utmost importance has been given to, that the line between fiction and reality is not easily detectable. What is clearly seen as Beristain and Williams are both true professionals in their respective areas. The first is a cameraman and cinematographer, and the second, a sound engineer and sound mixer, and both are going to be crewmen in this fantasy, in which they play themselves.

Also among the members of the Discovery IV (the vessel) will be seen Kitana Baker as the sonar operator and Michael Karnow as the cryptographer on board, both hired by Zack, as "part of the fiction." They will also have a direct involvement in some of the conflicts that are lived on board, as they give to the movie, comical (for us), while terrible and insulting (for Herzog), twists in the plot.

But if it is not yet understood, let's briefly review.

Incident at Loch Ness is a "mockumentary" directed by Zack Penn, written by Herzog and Penn (this, I add it now), and starring people that all play themselves. Herzog, who in turn plays the documentary´s director, "within" the fiction of this mockumentary. Penn, who plays the producer of the documentary, both, in and out of fiction. With the rest of the cast (the other crew members), the same happens in near all. Although there are some details that I do best, not to reveal.

Herzog and Penn combine comedy, suspense and horror, but mostly it should be noted that they parody themselves and the film industry itself. The comedy, in this case may be seen, for example, when Herzog intends to shoot a take, talking to the camera, and the cryptologist, who he has not invited to appear, gets with him in the frame. Or it is simply enough, to just have a look at the curves of the girl Penn has put in charge of the sonar. Really, it seems like a bad joke.

There is, to complete, a self-reference to an alleged incident in an earlier Herzog film, which involved a firearm.

Anyway. Penn and Herzog show us how the crewmembers of a ship may begin to have frictions between them, when disagreen on how to do things. All of this, while also routed to an even worse fate, including a very moved end and an angry Nessie. A beast, that if few have seen, maybe that is for a reason.

Incident at Loch Ness is not a great movie, but it entertains, and that, I beleve, is good enough.

My rating: 6/10

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"Living other´s lives"

Title: The Final Cut

Year: 2004

Genre: C. Fiction, Thriller

Director: Omar Naim

Writer: Omar Naim

Runtime: 104min

Cast: Robin Williams, Mira Sorvino, Jim Caviezel, Mimi Kuzyk, Stephanie Romanov, Michael St. John Smith

Produc.: Lions Gate Entertainment, Cinerenta Medienbeteiligungs KG, Industry Entertainment, Final Cut Productions

In The final cut, in a world where memories are retained by memory implants, Alan Hakman is a cutter specialized in compressing thousands of hours of material to only reduced segments, once we have died.

Sometimes a film goes unnoticed. What ends up being a real injustice, if the argument had been good, as in the case of director Omar Naim, who would have to be satisfied with only four weeks in the theaters.

In October of 2004, this is what would happen with the latest of Robin Williams, who personified Alan Hakman, a cutter of other lives memories. Something very, very delicate.

The film took us into an imaginary reality, where only some, those who could afford it, would have the access to memory implants, invention developed by the program Zoe, whose function was to record everything captured by our eyes, since our birth until our death. Hence, that the big question here were of an ethical issue.

Coexist all life with a sort of chip, device, or whatever one wish to call it, had initially got a fairly useful purpose. When we died, the implant would be delivered to a cutter (in this case, Robin Williams), who, from his editting room would see the material, would select what believed to be more enjoyable and appropriate, and delete everything else. The chosen selection would be projected at the funeral´s "rememorial", a couple of hours screening, where those present would see the deceased loved one, to remember him in the best way.

The idea in itself, did not appear to be bad. Attending to a relative or friend´s velatory, in a moment when we were wrecked, and suddenly see him laughing one last time. To enjoy the best of his childhood, adolescence or adulthood. All very nice.

But none of this took away, that the experiences recorded in the chip would no longer be personal. Whatever we did, from the most trivial to the least, or even the most horrible things, everything would be, in the end, a great movie to be seen by a cutter, who have to avoid any kind of value judgment and never speak up about it. The question here, then would be, with what right?

If the deceased had been, for example, a murderer or a rapist, it would just be enough to push a button to dismiss all the evidence, thereby creating a false image of someone who would be remembered, not for what he had been, but for what would be seen in the lie of his montaje.

In the film, Mira Sorvino would be Delila, and Jim Caviezel, Fletcher. She would work to Allan as an emotional support, and he, as a problem. Of Delila could be added, that we missed to know more about her character. About Fletcher, just that, he is who would endeavor to purchase the latest implant obtained by Alan, corresponding to some Charles Bannister (Michael St. John Smith), a deceased offender.

Finally, it could be emphasized, that while it has been a quite original concept, the story written by Omar Naim has a small inconsistency. Since the chip keeps such long records, it is intriguing how a cutter might be able to see all this stuff in such a short notice, before a funeral. A mistake that, although takes away some realism to the plot, it is more convenient to ignore it and give the approval to the director,  given his attempt.

As a curiosity, only to say that this would be the second of Robin Williams´s forays in the science fiction genre, in a feature film, but, above all, touching controversial matters. He had earlier been an extraterrestrial in the serie Mork and Mindy (1978-1982), but this, being a comedy. However, his previous dramatic work, also on issues in dispute, had been the 1999, Chris Columbus flick, Bicentennial Man, where Williams was a robot.

My rating: 7/10

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