Werner Herzog Was Brought to Tears by Baby Yoda
This article contains spoilers for The Mandalorian.
Werner Herzog may have once said that “the universe is monstrously indifferent to the presence of man,” but man is not monstrously indifferent to the presence of Baby Yoda. And by man, I specifically mean Werner Herzog himself, who was so overcome with emotion when he first laid eyes on the tiny green puppet that he wept.
The legendary German director and WrestleMania enthusiast, who stars in the new Disney+ series The Mandalorian, was asked by Variety if he saw the surprise Baby Yoda revealed in the pilot episode. (The Mandalorian is a bounty hunter tasked with capturing a 50-year-old target, who turns out to be an infant of Yoda’s mysterious species and the most popular part of the show by far.) Herzog, who plays the man who orders the job, responded in typical Herzogian fashion.
“I have seen it on the set. I’ve seen it on the set,” he began, before veering into a passionate elucidation of his feelings on the petite marionette. “And it’s heartbreaking! It’s heartbreakingly beautiful.”
He explained that he witnessed two technicians operating its various mechanisms—"one was for the eyes and the mouth and the other one was for other facial expressions"—and that it was "a phenomenal technological achievement but, beyond the technological achievement, it’s heartbreaking.”
When the interviewer asked him to elaborate on why exactly it was so heartbreaking, he shook his head wistfully and admitted that he didn’t know why it touched his soul so deeply. He hadn't even seen it onscreen yet. “It looked absolutely convincing,” he continued. “It made you cry when you saw it.”
Even better, Herzog has never seen a Star Wars, so his emotions aren’t even tied into nostalgia for the extended universe—they’re just pure, unadulterated tenderness for an animatronic alien. Just wait until he learns about Jar Jar Binks.
“A poet must not avert his eyes.”
Originally Appeared on GQ
