INCIDENT AT
LOCH NESS
A film by Zac Penn
Featuring: Werner Herzog
Year of production :
2004
Running Time: 94 Minutes
Language: English
In the Summer of 2003, acclaimed
filmmaker Werner Herzog set out to make a
documentary about Scotland's infamous Loch Ness,
purported home of a prehistoric creature known as
"Nessie." Herzog's stated intent was "to explore
the origin and the necessity of the monster"
rather than to look for the creature itself. The
film was to be called "Enigma of Loch Ness."
At the time Herzog began production, noted
cinematographer and filmmaker John Bailey was
already directing a documentary about him,
tentatively called "Herzog in Wonderland." This
would not be the first time that Herzog would be
profiled while making a film, but it would
perhaps be the last.
What neither Bailey nor Herzog could have
predicted is that “Enigma of Loch Ness” would
never be completed. The chaos that had followed
Herzog on his other epic quests would follow him
to Loch Ness. The production ground to a halt
after a boating accident just weeks into
shooting. Charge of mismanagement, and even
criminally negligent behavior, were leveled in
multiple directions. For the first time in his
career, Herzog would shut a film down for good.
In the fall of 2003, the unfinished "Enigma of
Loch Ness" was combined with the footage John
Bailey had shot for "Herzog in Wonderland." The
resulting film, “Incident at Loch Ness,” was
completed by editors Howard Smith and Abby
Shwarzwalder, but due to numerous pending
lawsuits, the credits for that film remain
undecided.
In the ensuing legal fracas, a series of
startling film clips made their way onto the
internet. The footage was purported to be the
clearest ever taken of the elusive monster, but
it was accompanied by claims of a hoax. The
answer as to the origin and validity of these
clips remain unclear.
Incident at Loch Ness chronicles the story of the
making (and unmaking) of Herzog's film, as well
as the aftermath of that fateful effort.
Shocking, controversial, and strangely humorous,
the film raises many questions about where
reality ends and fiction begins. It is also the
portrait of a great adventurer on his most
bizarre and tragic quest.
