During a pivotal moment in Incident at Loch Ness, Zak Penn repeats something Werner Herzog supposedly once told him: “Cinema is lies.” This comes after the discovery of Penn’s meddling on Herzog’s latest project. The filmmaker then tells Penn he should become a talk show host or lawyer if he can’t understand the distinction here. While these two storytellers both aim to make a good movie, they are worlds apart in their methods. Herzog seeks utmost accuracy and has a staunch sense of integrity. Penn, on the other hand, is a man of Hollywood’s conditioning. He believes audiences will never be satisfied by just the truth.
Deception is the central theme of this 2004 movie. Even before the camera ever started rolling, the minds behind Incident at Loch Ness had people fooled; outlets back then reported Herzog was shooting a mere documentary called “The Enigma of Loch Ness”. As everyone later realized, Herzog and his team were all along making a pseudo-documentary about Scotland’s most famous lake. Attaching a name like Herzog lends credibility to any project, so it’s understandable why no one suspected “Enigma” to be anything but legitimate.
The elaborate ruse begins with Herzog having a casual gathering of friends and colleagues at his home in Los Angeles before leaving for Scotland. There’s some business in the mix as well, seeing as producer Penn shows up along with cinematographer Gabriel Beristain. Herzog and his co-stars mainly improvise and work off a “scriptment” to avoid coming across as over-rehearsed. And no one is more devoted to the veil of artifice than the star himself; Herzog tells Beristain there won’t be any need for a “lighting package” because this is, after all, a documentary.
Incident at Loch Ness arouses suspicions after Herzog reaches the Scottish Highlands. Between a growing cast of oddballs and a music score to match, the movie gradually abandons the sincerity seen earlier on, only to then feel like a toned-down episode of Curb Your Enthusiasm. Everyone keeps a straight face through it all, yet their performances are undermined by a number of things that betray Penn’s ultimate ploy. The dishonest producer (really the director) is in fact orchestrating this entire production, and it’s not long before he lets the audience in on the secret. Meanwhile, Herzog remains in the dark until it’s too late to abandon the whole project.
Any hope for a bona-fide documentary is apparently off the table as soon as Herzog realizes his producer has been deceiving him. From having a Playboy model (Kitana Baker) play a “sonar expert” to passing a cryptid fanatic (Michael Karnow) off as a real professor, Incident at Loch Ness steers farther and farther away from shore. This movie-within-a-movie-within-a-movie only resumes operations once there’s an actual sighting in the loch; Penn swears he didn’t stage this. And with that suspicious wake in the water, the story gets back on track as well as takes on an urgent tone.
Everyone, but especially Penn, gets a karmic surprise when their antics on the loch have stirred up more than the truth. No, the Discovery IV — Penn renamed the rental boat so it would sound “more authentic” — has attracted the attention of something big beneath the surface. And Penn throwing a Nessie-shaped prop into the water for some easy money shots has only turned the boat and crew into moving targets. The murky aesthetic of Loch Ness comes into full swing as the Discovery IV struggles to escape the unseen hunter on its tail; the boat can’t go very fast since Penn, all for the sake of filming, foolishly replaced the original engine with a smaller and quieter one.
Incident at Loch Ness works diligently to keep the audience trustful, even as the trickery becomes obvious. And much like a captain who goes down with the ship, Herzog neither shows signs of fatigue nor cracks a smile as the grim conclusion draws near. The movie owes much of its success to Herzog’s commitment to the bit. The movie started off as an amusing carousel of quirky characters and feasible nonsense, but the last act finally delivers a surprising horror element. The digital effects are impressive enough to be passed off as genuine, and Penn, as the director, understands the value of the “less is more” approach.
Herzog has been vocal about his feelings toward cinéma-vérité, a style of filmmaking he accuses of reaching “a merely superficial truth.” From his 1999 manifesto called The Minnesota Declaration, Herzog said “filmmakers of cinéma-vérité resemble tourists who take pictures amid ancient ruins of facts.” Knowing this, Incident at Loch Ness is even more entertaining to watch. The movie not only prods the contentious style but it’s also a joke at Herzog’s expense. The filmmaker is regarded for his ability to dig well below the surface of people and situations, yet he’s become the victim of half-truths for most of his career. This phony voyage to find the Loch Ness monster ends up being a clever satire rather than a shallow case of hypocrisy.
Incident at Loch Ness is the most unique movie about Nessie largely because it’s not about Nessie at all. This is a meeting of two larger-than-life myths, not to mention a demonstration of the scrutiny each one has faced. People today may see through Herzog’s attempt at verisimilitude after having watched their fair share of found footage and deepfakes since this movie’s release. However, knowing it’s a total sham doesn’t take away from one’s enjoyment. If anything, understanding it’s an exercise in hoaxes makes the movie even better.
Horrors Elsewhere is a recurring column that spotlights a variety of movies from all around the globe, particularly those not from the United States. Fears may not be universal, but one thing is for sure — a scream is understood, always and everywhere.
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