The Mandalorian’s Werner Herzog praises show as “Cinema back at its best”

Last Updated on July 30, 2021

There's been much talk over the last few months about what constitutes "cinema." Ever since Martin Scorsese voiced his opinion about Marvel films, seemingly everyone and their flerken have written a think piece or taken to social media to enumerate their thoughts on the subject. If we're being perfectly honest, it's a debate that's raged since WINGS took flight in 1927. To take it one step further, cinema is a form of art and humans have been debating what constitutes art ever since we started drawing on cave walls thousands of years ago.

What many people tend to forget is that in the 1980s STAR WARS received criticism very similar to what Marvel is experiencing today. So much so in fact that legendary critics Gene Siskel and Roger Ebert vigorously defended the films publicly. And let's be honest when Siskel and Ebert talked, people listened.

Another voice in the cinema world whose name carries sufficient weight, is acclaimed director Werner Herzog. The auteur of such films as NOSFERATU THE VAMPYRE and RESCUE DAWN began his career over fifty years ago. Since then the German filmmaker has also been quite adept at playing villains with nefarious turns in JACK REACHER and the television show Rick and Morty. Most recently Herzog lent his villanious capabilities to a galaxy far, far away with Disney+'s TV show The Mandalorian. When asked Wednesday night about the cinema quality of the first STAR WARS live action show, the seventy-seven year old was downright effusive:

“I enjoyed every single moment of it,” Herzog said. “And I think it’s beyond what we are seeing on the screen. It’s cinema back at its best. 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. Now [with The Mandalorian] the actors see the entire universe in which they are operating and the camera does the same. The camera sees it as well so cinema is back to its very life, where it had been. And it becomes very, very Iivey it’s not robotic. It’s got very, very intense life in it.”

Herzog was referencing the real-life rendering system developed by Industrial Light and Magic. The system allows actors to see the digitally created world around them while they are acting. While not an actor myself, I can imagine that acting in front of a green screen can be challenging. To be able to see the fantastical world you are inhabiting while you're acting has to help the process.

Referencing his proclivity to play bad guys, Werner Herzog went on to say that when "Jon (Favreau) described a little bit about the character — yes, it’s a dark, dark sort of figure that shouldn’t be trusted at all — I knew it was going to be easy.” HA! Always good to see someone in the industry know where their wheelhouse is and be able to laugh about it.

In all seriousness though, it's great to see a vet like Werner Herzog championing a show like The Mandalorian. While it's obviously not a film, the television show definitely has a cinematic quality about it. I for one am ready to move on from the "what's cinema/what's not cinema" debate. With the end of the year quickly approaching, maybe a good New Year's resolution would be for all of us to stop acting like gatekeepers of what is and isn't cinema, and just enjoy the plethora of quality TV and films that are out there.

Werner Herzog's new film FAMILY ROMANCE, LLC premiered earlier this year at the Cannes Film Festival but currently has no worldwide release date scheduled. However, you can catch Herzog in The Mandalorian currently streaming on Disney+.