Garnet's Gold (2014) User Reviews

Existential and beautifully made

[robd-43089 · 8/10 · 30 July 2020]

A rare piece where you witness hope, disillusionment, heartbreak and beauty all in one.

The cinematography and filming are wonderful. The directing and editing tell them story of a lost soul but a man who never stops dreaming and searching for joy, without realising it's right in front of him.

Worth watching to recapture how great life can be and is, because you may not realise what you have around you. This film will help establish that.

Emotional, thought provoking & powerful

[binns-78865 · 10/10 · 23 March 2015]

I stumbled across this Storyville film on BBC4 by chance. Without doubt it has a most profound affect on me which I struggle to explain. I am not moved easily but found this film has been with me since I viewed it last week. Perhaps it is because we can all see parts of ourselves within Garnet that it captures our inner imaginations and emotions. I particularly liked his interaction with his elderly mother, who proves to be a captivating woman to watch and listen to her words of wisdom. Garnet has entered my world now and I want to see and hear more of, and from, him. I hope Ed Perkins can find time to do a follow-up that has the same magic. Please watch and make your own judgment. Full marks to the writer and director Ed Perkins for his vision and wonderful photography to take the chance to share this story.

Outstanding

[debbiethrower · 10/10 · 28 March 2015]

This is quite the best piece of television I have seen in ages. Garnet and his mother will live long in the memory. The filming was beautiful, witty, and affectionate. Garnet's musings on life and love were the thoughts of an Everyman but also showed his uniquely eccentric (and poetic) talent surfacing irrepressibly. Watching his story unfold we are each challenged as to what constitutes success, the value of investing in our relationships and what's meant by leading 'a good life.' Blessed are the poor in spirit all right. Garnet's painfully honest self assessment puts him only "a little lower than the angels." There are nuggets of pure gold wisdom hidden in these 75 minutes. Well done Ed Perkins.

Schmaltzy view of an unremarkable situation

[cscigu · 4/10 · 15 April 2021]

Really nothing to gawk at here. A very typical man that has shirked responsibility and failed to work toward any goal now finds himself rather hollow as his older years set in. He's reaping what he has sown. I guess some can identify with, or hope to avoid this regret. My regret is having wasted some of my time with it.

The main goal here is to go on a trek to recreate a happenstance event that he has inflated to the nth degree in his mind.

Lots of expansive camera work showing this unremarkable man standing with the horizon at his back. Purely the natural outcome of one's reactions set among some scenic, sometimes dreary Scottish landscapes.

A story that will bring you the compassionate facet of all of us

[phdgillon · 10/10 · 22 March 2015]

In a world...yes, it sounds like a movie, but, in a world of sometimes too much cacophony with adverts and sensationalistic images, we may forget the true meaning of the Human condition: to do the best with who you are and what you have and to love and be loved. Garnet frost story is unbelievable touching as it is someone redeeming himself for some unresolved finished actions towards jobs or even trying his dream. Without to tell the story, what I can say it that from the cinematography to the insight of someone's uniqueness sprinkled with a good dose of eccentricity, you will be just in awe of this film: it should be on any college curriculum to show how special people can be, even when it might not be obvious from the start.The genius of Director Ed Perkins in humbling, the passion for that project of Producers Simon Chinn and John Battsek are inspiring. The editing of Paul Carlin is masterful and the music of J. Ralph is mesmerizing: a must to uplift your soul and touch your heart forever...

Great camera work

[Erik_Stone · 2/10 · 24 April 2022]

The summery is part of what makes it so awful.

It has nothing to do with gold or treasure. It's about a crazy man's journey. It seems like it might be completely fabricated.

In the end, it's boring and strings you along making you hope there is gold at the end of the journey, but there isn't.

It reminds me of "Blair Witch Project," but with much better camera work. Still just a scam production.

Warmth and quirkiness in one man's quest

[chilliwin · 10/10 · 23 March 2015]

Great story, Garnet Frost is an English gem. Beautifully filmed with some wonderful Scottish landscapes the photography is stunning. A quirky, intelligent, interesting man's journey handled by the film maker's with what felt like a genuine warmth. How nice these days to see a persons life treated with dignity and interest rather than the shoddy, "let's laugh at someone different" TV we're mostly served up. I thought this is really about a quest by a man to find his place in the world with a subplot of his search for lost gold. We see the ups and downs of an ordinary/extraordinary man's life as he struggles with love lost, the health of his mum, finances and his passionate search for Bonny Prince Charlie's lost gold ! Along the way there are pub singalongs, marauding midges, weather balloons and a marvellous taste of his poetry. As far as I'm concerned it's a little treasure !

A beautifully painted portrait of a man's search for himself.

[oliver_neilson-61618 · 10/10 · 20 March 2015]

I caught this while channel hopping under it's alternative title 'The Lost Gold of the Highlands'and gave it a go expecting a history documentary...and wasn't prepared for what I got instead. From the opening few moments you fully buy into the story of Garnet, an ageing man who has never let go of a dream that has fixated him since a near death experience twenty years previously. His search for his gold is as much a search for his place in life, a yardstick to measure his own worth and his success as a man and as a human. The intimacy achieved by the filmmakers gets closer than ever and is matched only by Garnet's openness and conspires to construct a warts and all portrait that is at once about the man, and about everybody in the same breath. The cinematography and editing make this visually stunning as shots switch from extreme close up, to the wide open vistas of the Scottish Highlands. I have never seen anything quite like this, and may wait a long time until I do. Seek it out.

NOT the greatest film...... but it's free with Amazon Prime

[driansutherland · 5/10 · 20 July 2020]

Sometimes reviews like "Outstanding" and "One of the best documentaries ever made" can only lead to disappointment, and this is what happened to me here when I checked imdb before settling down to watch this on amazon prime. The outstanding thing about Garnet's Gold is how the film-maker got a feature length film out of....well.... not very much material. The cinematography of Scotland is I agree very moody and atmospheric, but the central story is as threadbare as Garnet's cardigan - treasure seeking oddball returns to Scotland 20 years after finding a stick in a rocky river bank which he concluded marked the location of a lost hoard of Jacobite treasure. (The lack of world headlines in regards to this in 2014 or since hints at the material success of the expedition). Yes, there is a subplot that some may find poignant, Garnet being the male equivalent of the spinster daughter who gives up her life to be the live in carer of an elderly parent. Also the woman-who-might-have-been-the-love-of-his-life-but-wasn't makes some appearances, but it's all pretty boring unless you search with the same zeal for the human interest angle as Garnet uses to prepare for his expedition. The one outstanding success of the endeavor was the tethered Heath Robinson helium balloon-drone-camera contraption which seems to have had no difficulty in locating the curious spindle-shaped drystone dyke feature that was the main location marker of the lost treasure stream- congratulations to Garnet for that. Once he was there however apart from some floundering about in the cold, brown cascades and a cursory peep under rocks with a waterproof selfie camera, that was it. He even sent the other expedition members away (I don't trust people either Garnet). He seems to have given up quite quickly, with no signs of the metal detector seen during his prep, or any picks to break open rocks, or even a tent to extend his stay on location. The mysterious staff seems to have been replaced for someone else to find and trigger their own fantasies in future- no explanation of why someone had attached a metal band round it, or anything beyond the vaguest details of Garnet's apparent escape from certain death 20 years earlier after getting lost here. (I'm not sure what would have killed him at this location anyway- it wouldn't have been lack of drinking water). Back home to round off the film with it should be said a pretty good poem musing on the sad possibility that Garnet may have failed to tap his potential and wasted his life. Well I'm sorry to say Gareth, but yes you have, and 75 minutes of mine.

Superb

[ect3 · 10/10 · 31 March 2015]

I was recommended this documentary by a friend and am I glad I was directed towards it. It had me totally gripped from the first take and I can only agree with what the other reviewers felt on watching it. It is both emotionally and visually stunning. As for Garnet what a character. Why he would ever see himself as a failure is beyond me. The depth of feeling which he portrayed for both his Mother and his passions was priceless. He is a real gem in life's rich tapestry. I wish him peace and contentment in whatever the future has in store for him. It was a documentary worth its own weight in gold in so many ways.Brilliant stuff Ed I look forward to your next documentary.

Why?

[enquiries-530-246436 · 2/10 · 22 July 2020]

An utterly pointless documentary about an irrelevant man's uneventful quest to find gold that the viewer almost immediately knows just doesn't exist.......

Poignant, yet cathartic

[DanielMatten · 10/10 · 13 July 2020]

Simply the best film I have watched in years. Such a beautiful, pure, honest and ultimately wise film whose central reflection is on the question that probably everybody ponders but rarely dares to fully explore or share with others - have I wasted my life? You will not waste one second watching this film.

One of the best documentary ever made.

[ffuente78 · 10/10 · 5 August 2015]

The previous 6 reviews on this documentary are truly spot on. I cannot add anything else to these wonderful reviews except that I have seen this MASTERPIECE a few months ago and still cannot stop recommending it to all. In fact I will keep on recommending it forever. (Moreover it shows Scotland so beautiful therefore a tempting destination even when the weather is appalling like right now this summer). Man on Wire documentary was as excellent, what a gifted Documentary team. I hope they are going to give us some more jewels documentaries. The characters in this story are so endearing and so human. The soul searching and landscapes magnificent.

Beautifully Shot but Unnecessary Glimpse Into Life of a Selfish Deluded Loser

[thebigsee · 2/10 · 22 December 2022]

Ignore the "best documentary every made" reviews you see here -- the truth lies in the reviews that are 5 stars or less. I was seduced on Amazon Prime by the title, description and nice camera work in the preview, but don't repeat my mistake.

This documentary reminded me strongly of another documentary I watched by an actor/aspiring indie filmmaker friend of mine. He was fascinated by his grandfather and spent months following this poor man around filming him. When it was all done he catered a big party at a producer/friend's mansion for a premiere. About a hundred people were there and there was much anticipation about this film that my friend had been hyping for months. And in the end we all had to sit through an hour-and-a-half of his grandfather talking about his first wife, his divorce, and his career as a train conductor. Then the film ended.

That's what this film is like. You meet this eccentric, semi-charming but basically unremarkable and ultimately unlikeable bum who seems to have accomplished nothing with his life and has some obsession with a walking stick he found on a lake in Scotland and a potential connection to lost treasure. He is self-absorbed and embittered towards his 90-year-old mother (the most interesting person in the film by the way) for having the nerve of living so long and holding him back. In the end you are just left with three questions: Is this guy crazy? Or is he just a jerk? And finally, why was this film even made? One gets the impression the director knew this guy and figured there was something interesting in his life but after shooting tons of footage realizes there isn't any there there and just edits something together to justify his efforts.

Garnet's Folly more like

[darrenarmour · 3/10 · 18 June 2022]

Nice camera work is the only thing that stops this being a 1/10.

Contrived drama, contrived quirkiness, contrived editing (complete with fake "moody" thunder sound effects), all add up to a disappointing time. There's absolutely no gold at the end of this documentary for Garnet or the viewer.

Not really buying it. Typical documentary

[haug-49144 · 5/10 · 10 August 2022]

Using words like "searching for gold", "reckless", "barely surviving", just a typical pump to draw you in. It's a nice story, but I don't buy a lot of it. Unfortunately, when you dig deep, most of these documentaries are designed to sell a story, not the truth. The story itself, however much is actually real, is ok. The scenes are quite lovely.

Boring, pointless, and depressing

[rlhibdon · 2/10 · 20 June 2022]

Let me start by saying this: I love "quirky" small movies. I don't go in for Hollyweird blockbusters... however?

This is one of the most pointless.. and worse, boring stories I have ever come across. As near as I can tell, it's a pointless story, about an irrelevant man, leading a totally irrelevant life. With no meaning or purpose. The only person I found myself caring about was his invalid mother...