Fata Morgana

Fata Morgana – Werner Herzog – A film that revolves, literally (with plenty of 360 pans), around and along a travelogue of deserts. A voiceover warbles on, describing the Mayan Creation myth (from a text that Herzog himself wrote) in an account that aims for aphorism but is always more fun when it opts for the simply baffling. Meanwhile the camera ambles through dunes, the wreckage of a plane, the dried out emaciated carcasses of animals, candid shots of villagers and the most entertainingly bizarre musical performance I’ve seen in a while…a man at the drums and a woman on the piano… both do battle with a god awful microphone, an apparently (at least audibly) non existent audience, and an inspiring lack of talent…all the while they soldier on, pounding and crashing through their limited repertoire with admirable and stoic commitment. One of the few moments of dialogue heard (excluding the mumbling Mayan myth) is a man who regales the camera with his lizard hunting techniques…while grappling with a large, captured lizard. Truly Herzog-ian. 6.5/10