In a retrospective for The Guardian, director Robin Hardy explained that they actually built and burned a giant wicker man, which was large enough to hold at least Woodward, Hardy, a cameraperson, and a goat:
“The final scene, the sacrifice, took place in Dumfriesshire. The wicker man was enormous. The stunned look on Howie’s face when he first sees it wasn’t acting – up until then, Edward had only seen drawings. He clambered in and we set it on fire, filming from the inside. There was a goat inside there, above us. Understandably concerned about the fire, it pissed on us.”
He goes on to explain that while the fire department helped them extinguish the massive effigy several times, they always felt in control of the fire and no one was ever in any real danger. Unfortunately, that’s pretty hard to explain to a terrified goat, so they probably simply had to endure being peed on. Four-legged co-stars can do far worse than a little bladder release, after all, like when Colin Farrell got kicked by Jenny the donkey on the set of “The Banshees of Inisherin.” Given the choice between a donkey kick and a little shower in goat pee, I think I’ll take the one that can be washed off.
#Wicker #Mans #Signature #Bonfire #Ran #Trouble #Goats #Bladder #SlashFilm
