Werner Herzog presents new film Bucking Fastard in Venice
In Italy, at the Venice Film Festival, German director Werner Herzog presented the feature film Bucking Fastard — his first drama in seven years. The film stars sisters Kate and Rooney Mara, while Orlando Bloom plays the man loved by the heroines.
As Deutsche Welle English reports, the plot centers on sisters Jean and Joan Holbrook. They speak, think and move in sync, have the same dreams and are in love with the same man. After their beloved rejects them, the sisters head into the Irish wilderness and begin digging a tunnel in a cave, believing they can reach the Orkney Islands — an imaginary place where true love is possible.
Inspiration for the plot
The film is partly inspired by the story of real-life twin sisters Freda and Greta Chaplin, who became subjects of British tabloids in the 1980s. The title Bucking Fastard refers to an unintentional verbal mistake they made simultaneously in court while describing a former lover.
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Herzog compared the concept of the new film to his 1982 movie Fitzcarraldo — the story of a man who dreams of building an opera house in the jungle and transports a ship over a mountain. According to the director, Bucking Fastard tells of a dream about an ideal country that does not actually exist.
Reaction in Venice
The Venice audience gave the film a warm reception, but critics were divided: some reviewers praised Herzog's new work, while others called it confusing, clumsy and senseless.
The 84-year-old director also said that he does not draw a clear line between feature and documentary cinema and seeks “ecstatic truth” that goes beyond simple reality. Herzog is already working on post-production for his next film, preparing a photo book for Taschen and has not abandoned the idea of making a film in space.
