Imagine Werner Herzog delivering this next quote and try not to have nightmares:
“It’s a scene of pure eroticism,” he told a press conference at the festival. “It’s the first erotic scene I think I’ve ever shot in my life.”
The scene in question comes from Queen of the Desert, a biopic of Gertrude Bell directed by Herzog, starring Nicole Kidman and James Franco, that premiered last week in Berlin. According to Herzog, the scene was Kidman’s idea.
“We had a folded canvas bathtub that we had in our equipment in the caravan, and Nicole said to me, ‘Werner, I have to take a bath, I want to take a bath,” Herzog noted. “And I said, ‘Let me write it into the screenplay.'”
Smash cut to Nicole Kidman covered in pregnant iguanas. “Bathe zem, Nichole! Zair souls are schtill pregnant!”
“I thought that was such a great addition because it really shows this woman’s love of the world,” Kidman said. “I think a woman of that era who goes to live like that is an unusual, extraordinary person and I’m so glad that I got the chance to explore her for a portion of her life.” [THR]
Yes, I agree, the portion of a woman’s life that she spent bathing is worthy of exploration. Perhaps the most worthy of exploration, when you think about it. As Werner would say, “Za poet must never look away.”
KIDMAN: Okay, so what’s my motivation here?
HERZOG: …Haff you ever hypnotized a chicken?