San Francisco Frontiers - Mara sisters channel childhood energy for twins performance at Venice

Their movie was called "unique in cinema history" by its director and writer, veteran German filmmaker Werner Herzog, ahead of its premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday.

"Bucking Fastard" is loosely inspired by the real-life story of Freda and Greta Chaplin, twins from northern England who earned notoriety in Britain in the early 1980s for their synchronised movement and speech.

"It reignited a lot of childhood energy in us, which was really special," Rooney Mara ("The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo", "Carol") told AFP and other journalists in Venice about her experience filming with Herzog.

"It felt really... I don't want to say effortless, but it really made sense. We kind of found our own language or our own rhythm with it," older sister Kate ("The House of Cards") added.

"Bucking Fastard," which is in the running for Venice's top prize, is a whimsical drama that sees the sisters fall in love with the same man, played by Orlando Bloom, setting off a spiral of unsettling encounters with other people.

"It's unique in film history in a way... It's unique that two sisters are playing as one," Herzog told reporters, adding that he had written the screenplay in five days with the Mara sisters in mind.

Critics called the eccentric production a "strange tale of sisterly devotion" (Screen Daily), "cluttered, ripely bonkers fantasia" (Variety), a "silly, pointless drama" (The Guardian) and "destined to polarise... either you’re on the train, or you want to get off it fast" (IndieWire).

Herzog was awarded a lifetime achievement prize last year at Venice, where he premiered his documentary "Ghost Elephants" about the search for an elusive elephant herd in Africa.

K.Torres--SFF