German veteran filmmaker Werner Herzog, now in his early 80s, is making the film festival rounds with his latest scripted feature film “Bucking Fastard” and is also doing some interviews, where he’s now shared his impressions on the film “About A Hero,” and as you’d expect he’s being extremely blunt with his sentiments on the film.
The well-respected director shared his thoughts with IndieWire about the AI-generated hybrid documentary from Piotr Winiewicz that attempted to mimic his style of documentaries and called it a “failure” without having any desire to participate in it when approached to do so.
“The intention of this young filmmaker was never to remake any [of my films], but making something in the spirit. And I immediately said, ‘You will fail. It is such a stupid idea. It’s phenomenally, abysmally stupid. I will not take part in it.’ He wanted me to explain things and have my voice in it. I said, ‘You are alone. There’s such a thing as free speech, which I respect. So go ahead and fail.’ And it is a failure, period,” Herzog told the outlet during their interview.
He continued, “It’s so standardized that AI can step in because there’s not real storytelling. It’s mimicry of something that has happened before. And I welcome AI to replace all the idiots who are into nothing but repeating, repeating, repeating until it’s ad nauseam. When it’s ad nauseam, please, please, please let AI step in and do the job.”
That’s certainly a take on AI from Herzog and the film itself, and we shouldn’t expect the director to mince words when he justifiably disagrees with a sentiment, filmmaking choice, or criticisms of a project. With that said, you can read The Playlist’s thoughts on Herzog’s new film “Bucking Fastard” as part of our coverage of the Venice Film Festival. The new pic stars acting siblings Kate and Rooney Mara, and is also making bows at Telluride, the Toronto International Film Festival, and the New York Film Festival.
Also, without naming a title, cast, or major plot details, Herzog says he’s finished another movie: “Well, while we are speaking here, I’m only a few days away from finishing the next one. I have a film practically finished already.” We’ll certainly be excited to hear what that is going to be and will keep our ears out for further information when it comes in.
Herzog, who has been doing acting gigs on projects like “The Simpsons” and “Rick & Morty” in previous years, is also said to be lending his voice to an animated film, “Ally,” from Oscar-winning director Bong Joon-ho (“Parasite,” “Mickey 17”).
