‘The Mandalorian’ Is “Cinema”, According To Agent Of Chaos Werner Herzog
After a full month of folks obsessing over Martin Scorsese declaring that Marvel movies aren’t “cinema”, filmmaker and agent of chaosWerner Herzoghas decided to shift the “cinema” conversation elsewhere. Herzog has a part in the new Disney+Star WarsTV seriesThe Mandalorian. And even though everyone agrees thatThe Mandalorianis part of the TV landscape, Herzog just went ahead and referred to it as “cinema.”
We all love Werner Herzog. He’s a delightfully bleak man who makes powerful, uncompromising movies that can often be quiet soul-crushing, and he also happens to love watching wrestling. He’s everything you want him to be, and more. When Herzog isn’t directing documentaries and features that make you ponder existential questions he occasionally pops-up as an actor in unlikely places. He was the villain inJack Reacher. He had a funny cameo as a man selling a haunted house so he could move closer to Disney World inParks and Recreation. And currently, you can catch him inThe Mandalorianas the mysterious figure The Client.
Herzog has said in the past that he hasn’t actually seen aStar Warsmovie. But he has seenThe Mandalorian, and he had very positive things to say about it during a recentQ&A.“I enjoyed every single moment of it,” Herzog said. “It’s beyond what we are seeing on the screen. It’s cinema back at its best.”
Referring toThe Mandalorianas “cinema” will no doubt cause the denizens of Film Twitter to launch into all sorts of endless discussions. However, it’s worth noting that Herzog seems to be specifically referring to the wayThe Mandalorianwas filmed. Specifically, the tech being employed to create the show’s sci-fi-fantasy landscapes.
“On the big fantasy films, actors were acting almost like robots in front of green screens, you didn’t see the world that you were inhabiting,” he said. “Here the actors see the entire universe in which they are operating and the camera does the same.”
The Mandalorianis shooting in something called “The Volume.“Mandalorianco-star Giancarlo Espositopreviouslyoffered some insight into the tech:
And at the center of it all is Werner Herzog, sitting there saying dialogue like, “We can only give you a tracking fob.” If that isn’t cinema, then I don’t know what is.
