Bogman Palmjaguar

The portrayal of this so-called hermit, whose life decisions are not without interest, is compromised by the man himself.

The Bogman became a conservationist, specialising in the Flow Country, a waterlogged expanse of marshland, in which people are not supposed to want to live. Bogman Palmjaguar, as he likes to be known, proved them wrong, before moving to Sutherland to be within half a day’s bus ride from his mother who had taken up residence in a mental institution near Inverness.

The film consists of camera pans of flat, dull, wet countryside, irritating trick photography, pictures of the aged protagonist as a nice looking schoolboy in Herts and occasional sightings of a man, attempting to hide his face behind a feather mask.

Snatches from a longer interview are used as the voice-over narrative. This is difficult to comprehend. Visually, Luke Fowler’s film takes risks and loses. Intellectually, it leaves holes deeper than depression.