First Look at Werner Herzog’s ‘Bucking Fastard’

Werner Herzog has completed filming his latest, “Bucking Fastard,” in Dublin. Is it a stretch to think that this one could screen at Venice in September? The film stars Kate and Rooney Mara as twin sisters, Joan and Jean, who live on the margins of society.

A first-look image has been released via Screen, and the Mara sisters deliver an unsettling presence in their roles. The eerie visual suggests a surreal and offbeat tone for the film.

The story is inspired by the real-life Freda and Greta Chaplin, twin sisters who made headlines in the early 1980s after developing an intense and disturbing fixation on their neighbor. Their behavior ultimately led to a court-issued restraining order. The film’s unusual title reportedly stems from a verbal slip both twins made simultaneously during court proceedings, according to The Film Stage.

In his memoir “Every Man for Himself and God Against All,” Herzog explained his fascination with the Chaplins: “In 1981, they briefly appeared in the British tabloids as the ‘sex-crazed twins’—obsessed with a lorry driver to the point that legal action was taken. Their tale is remarkable. As far as we know, they’re the only identical twins who speak in perfect unison.”

With a career spanning over five decades, Herzog has directed 20 narrative features and 34 documentaries. His notable films include “Aguirre, the Wrath of God,” “Fitzcarraldo,” “Lessons of Darkness,” and “Grizzly Man.”

Herzog’s most recent narrative feature was 2019’s “Family Romance, LLC,” though many consider his 2009 film “Bad Lieutenant: Port of Call New Orleans,” featuring Nicolas Cage in a memorably unhinged performance, to be his last standout fiction work.