AFF Screening - Walking To Werner

In the 1970's, famed director Werner Herzog (Grizzly Man) walked from Munich to Paris in the hopes that the prolonged journey would keep a dying friend alive. So novice filmmaker Linus Phillips has decided that his life will be made meaningful by emulating the act in an attempt to meet Mr. Herzog. Phillips' journey is a two-month walk from Seattle to Los Angeles, along which he meets various ruffians and eccentrics on the highway.

While it is easy to understand why the experience was important to Phillips, the results do not transfer to the screen. The camerawork is extremely rudimentary, the encounters with strangers are generally unexciting, and Mr. Phillips does not come across as a particularly engaging figure. Instead, this feels like a personal travel diary that doesn't really carry a deeper meaning. It doesn't help that very early in the film, Mr. Herzog calls to inform Mr. Phillips that he will likely be away on a shoot (for AFF entry Rescue Dawn) when the young man expects to arrive at his house. Thus, we get 90 minutes of close-ups of Phillips, multiple roadkill examinations, and interviews with drunks and people in parking lots. This grows rather tedious in repetition.

Linus Phillips' ability to endure walking the majority of the West Coast is impressive, but his ability to craft a great documentary film just isn't evident here.

Walking To Werner
Friday, October 20th
Stephen F. Austin Theater [map]
4:30pm

Additional Screening
Thursday, October 26th
7:15pm @ Dobie Theater

AFF website

Photo via Seattle International Film Festival.