Werner Herzog hugs Orlando Bloom. “Who is this? It’s the first time I’ve seen him,” says the director as he pulls Bloom even closer. It’s Wednesday evening, and we’re on the terrace of the Gritti hotel, with the Basilica della Salute across the way and a glimpse of the Grand Canal opening up toward Punta della Dogana. It’s the first Cartier Cinema Club event, hosted by Vanity Fair in honor of Bucking Fastard, Herzog’s film in competition at the Venice Film Festival, starring Kate and Rooney Mara, Bloom, and Domhnall Gleeson. Its premiere is Thursday at the Lido, but before the highly anticipated screening, there’s a sunset toast with the cast.
The first to arrive is the 83-year-old German director. He’s wearing a tuxedo. “Right now I was supposed to be in the Sala Grande,” for the festival’s opening ceremony, “but I slipped right out the backdoor after walking the red carpet with Alberto Barbera, film critic and director of the Venice Film Festival. But he knew—I’d told him just before: ‘I’ll walk the red carpet as your mascot, but then I’ll disappear right away,’” Herzog tells Vanity Fair before adding that he “slipped away with a paparazzo.”
Herzog is excited about Thursday—after all, the last time he was in the festival’s main competition was 17 years ago, and last year, he received the Golden Lion for Lifetime Achievement. “I want tomorrow to come, for it to arrive,” he says. When asked how he would describe Bucking Fastard, he replies with a single word: “Wild,” and then adds that “we’ve never seen a film like this before.”
