Werner Herzog Says ‘Bucking Fastard' Completes A Trilogy After ‘Fitzcarraldo' and ‘Grizzly Man'

Orlando Bloom and Domhnall Gleeson have joined Kate and Rooney Mara in Werner Herzog’s film “Bucking Fastard,” which will complete filming in Europe on April 26.

This marks the first time the Mara sisters will share the screen. The film tells the story of Jean and Joan Holbrooke, "two sisters so deeply connected that they speak in unison, are in love with the same man, and share identical dreams. They even make the same verbal slips at the same time. Driven by a longing for a mythical place called the Orkneys—where they believe true love exists—they begin digging a tunnel through a vast mountain range in search of it."

Bloom takes on the role of Gareth Mulroney, the sisters’ unruly former lover, while Gleeson portrays Timothy, a government-assigned social worker and emotional mediator tasked with helping them adjust to contemporary life after their bizarre story catapults them into the tabloid spotlight.

More intriguingly, Herzog has finally spoken, for the first time, about this project, which could very well debut in the fall as it will be looking for buyers at the Cannes market next month. He’s saying “Bucking Fastard” completes a trilogy that started with two of his most well-known films.

“Bucking Fastard” is a film that, for me, completes a circle in an operatic triptych with my previous films, “Fitzcarraldo” and “Grizzly Man.” We cannot see the world as Jean and Joan Holbrooke see it, but we do see how the world reacts to them — through the courts and the press, through those that want to help and those who want to use them, through the eyes of beasts both tame and wild, and even through their own echoes in the core of the earth.

Since 1968, Herzog has directed 20 fiction feature films and 34 documentaries. Some of his most iconic works include “Aguirre: The Wrath of God,” “Fitzcarraldo,” “Lessons of Darkness,” and “Grizzly Man.”

The last fiction film Herzog released was 2019’s “Family Romance, LLC.” However, his last great one was 2009’s gonzo take on ‘Bad Lieutenant,” starring a deranged Nicolas Cage. “Bucking Fastard,” on paper, at least, looks like his most fascinating project in eons.