If you’re planning to see Incident
at Loch Ness(Saturday, January 22, 8 p.m., Dryden Theatre, 271-4090), don’t
read beyond this paragraph. Seriously, the less you know about the film, the
more you’ll probably enjoy it. And if you decide to continue with this review,
you’ll hopefully be persuaded to see Incident but you’ll come across the spoiler that will harm the already tenuous magic of
this entertaining film. So don’t say I didn’t warn you.
We’re welcomed into the California home
of acclaimed German auteur Werner Herzog during a dinner party to kick off his
latest project, a documentary called The
Enigma of Loch Ness, in which he plans to explore the legend of the Loch
Ness Monster. Herzog’s producer Zak Penn (writer of X-Men 2) is there, as is the film’s director of photography,
Gabriel Beristain (he shot S.W.A.T.).
This is all captured on film because cinematographer John Bailey (As Good As It Gets) is, in turn, making
a documentary on Herzog called Herzog in
Wonderland.
Both productions head for Scotland,
where Penn has assembled a capable crew including a humorless boat captain and
a crypto-zoologist with a reassuring beard who definitely believes in the Loch
Ness Monster. The scientist has odd theories regarding laundry, carries an
unidentifiable tentacle with him at all times, and challenges the Nessie
naysayers to prove their point: “Where are the books written about the
non-evidence?” Their boat, the Discovery IV, doesn’t have a I, II, or III that
preceded it, but Penn thought “Discovery IV” sounded cool. And then the
impossibly hot sonar operator in the tiny yet patriotic bikini shows up.
Herzog and the audience realize at
about the same time that Penn has been tinkering with the production, just in
case there’s no actual Loch Ness Monster. But Penn convinces Herzog to stay on,
although Herzog admits, “I should have quit right then and there, and I should
have quit the day after, or the next day.” Some crew members decide to leave,
others stick around to bicker, and… wait a second. What just rammed the boat?
There are pros and cons to understanding
what’s happening here. Knowing that you’re watching a Spinal Tap/Blair Witch-type creation directed by Zak Penn and
co-written by Herzog and Penn allows you to take pleasure in this funny
mockumentary from the beginning without having to solve the film’s mysteries.
You’re able to look for the telltale signs that give the film away, and it may
make you question the authenticity of documentaries past.
But there’s also something to be said
for letting a movie happen and going along for the ride. Too bad you no longer
have that option. I warned you, remember?
In the Peony Pavilion, a
sumptuous entertainment house (read: brothel) in 9th-century China, a blind
courtesan named Mei (Zhang Ziyi, Hero)
and a cop named Leo (Andy Lau, Infernal
Affairs — a worthy rental) are playing the Echo Game. He throws a stone
at a drum and she answers by hitting that same drum with her sleeve.
By the time he empties the entire bowl
of stones in one shot, the Echo Game has turned into a kinetic, gravity-defying
ballet. That’s only one of the mindblowing set pieces in House of Flying Daggers,
a breathtaking but ultimately distant film from director Zhang Yimou.
Leo and fellow cop Jin (Takeshi Kaneshiro
from Wong Kar-Wai’s awesome Chungking
Express) arrest Mei after receiving a tip that she is actually a member of
the House of Flying Daggers, a rebel organization doing battle with the corrupt
powers-that-be. Jin goes undercover and breaks Mei out of jail so he can
infiltrate the group. What follows could be described as a road movie, with
predictabilities like infatuations and double-crosses, but it’s done in such a
way that makes looking away from the screen completely out of the question.
I should be getting tired of these
martial arts lollapawuxias, but I’m not. The camerawork continues to amaze (and
distract from the melodramatic acting, thankfully) while the inventive
choreography of the fight scenes is taken to new heights — often literally,
in the case of the skirmish in the jewel-green bamboo forest. And when it actually
changes seasons during the final showdown, you want to scoff but somehow you
just can’t.
I’ve had issues with Zhang Ziyi ever
since her breakout role as Jen in Crouching
Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The camera obviously adores her, but she’s always
seemed impenetrable. Her flawless, doll-like features haven’t yet expressed the
kind of believable emotion that is required when one’s face is 10 feet tall and
the only thing visible in a darkened room. Finally, on his third try (after The Road Home and Hero), Yimou is able to geppetto her into a real woman. Her Mei is
all flesh-and-blood human, with a vulnerability and eroticism that can only
come with experience.
It’s hard not to compare Daggers to Hero, Yimou’s previous film. Both are profoundly gorgeous,
technical marvels, but Hero conveyed
a stirring passion that Daggers strangely lacks. Maybe that was because it was difficult to comprehend who
ultimately cared about what and why, in light of the fact that everyone had
something to hide.
So while my eyes and brain loved Daggers, it failed to engage my heart.
And considering what an easily manipulated, lovestruck fool I am, that is damn
near impossible.
House of
Flying Daggers (PG-13), starring Zhang Ziyi, Andy Lau, Takeshi Kaneshiro;
directed by Zhang Yimou. Little Theatres
This article appears in Jan 19-25, 2005.
