LOS ANGELES — Directed and written by Martin McDonagh, “Wild Horse Nine” follows two CIA agents (John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell) as they are dispatched from Santiago, Chile, to Easter Island (Rapa Nui) shortly before the 1973 Chilean coup.
Among the island’s iconic statues, moai, the two partners wrestle with their dark pasts and present conspiracies as Chris’ newfound bond with a pair of rebellious students (Mariana di Girolamo and Ailin Salas) threatens to send everyone’s trip to the island sideways.
“You read a script like this, and you want to get in there and do your best,” Steve Buscemi told Spectrum News. “Then, you have Martin as a director, who is guiding us and making sure we are all getting the tone right and that we are all on the same page. It’s one of the best experiences.”
While her scenes are not on Rapa Nui, McDonagh brought Parker Posey to the island to shoot the off-camera scenes with Rockwell — allowing the two actors to play off each other.
“There’s nothing you need to add to great writing,” Posey told Spectrum News. “Martin is one of our great playwrights now, so what a hoot to perform great writing.”
This image released by Searchlight Pictures shows Parker Posey in a scene from “Wild Horse Nine.” (Justin Lubin/Searchlight Pictures via AP)
For Malkovich, Mariana di Girolamo, who plays Monica, captures the soul of “Wild Horse Nine” because she is the representative of the sentiment, at least among the youth and workers, of former Chilean President Salvador Allende.
“She gives a very soulful performance where you see the human cost of this rather light-hearted destabilization of this, that or other that is kind of very quotidian that happened all around the world and still does,” he said.
Like in his past film “The Banshees of Inisherin,” McDonagh once again visits the theme of male friendships. But how have his life friendships influenced the subject in his films?
“My male friendships are similar in some ways to all the guys since ‘In Bruges’ to ‘Banshees’ to this … there is a sensitivity, there’s a gentleness, there is intelligence to all of my friendships that maybe isn’t seen enough in Hollywood versions of male friendships,” he told Spectrum News. “It’s all buddy-buddy and macho. It’s definitely less of that in this one. There is love there even though these are guys who would never say ‘I love you,’ per se, you can see it in the way they behave with each other. It’s kind of cool to have on screen in an American movie.”
“Wild Horse Nine” was filmed on Easter Island.
“We all came away feeling like the spirituality of the place, the beauty of the place … I’ve never shot in a place quite like that,” McDonagh said. “There were some similarities to Inishmore, one of the Ireland islands where we filmed ‘Banshees.’ You feel the history. You feel the culture, but the beauty of the place lingered with us all.”
“Wild Horse Nine” is now playing in theaters.
Click the video above to watch the full interview with McDonagh, Malkovich, Buscemi and Posey.
Source: spectrumlocalnews.com
