Martin McDonagh is a wonderful playwright, screenwriter, and director; his success in both theater and cinema is, in my view, partly due to his masterful command of the tools of both art forms. His characters possess life and complexity, his dialogue is natural and expressive, his plots are well-paced, and his dramatic structures lead toward meaningful conclusions. On stage, the unfolding of the action in his plays takes on a cinematic quality—in the best sense of the term. His theatrical background ensures that his film characters are equally substantial, steering clear of oversimplification and clichés. ‘Wild Horse Nine‘ is the third consecutive film in which McDonagh brings striking characters to the screen, building an emotional universe around them that is intriguing at first and – as we watch the movie – becomes increasingly captivating.
Chris and Lee, the film’s protagonists, belong to a category of characters one might expect to loathe. The story is set in the weeks leading up to the 1973 coup d’état in Chile; both men are CIA operatives laying the groundwork for these events, working to “destabilize” the leftist regime. Chris is significantly older and has been involved in many key historical episodes of the previous decades—including the assassination of President Kennedy. He suffers from memory issues and is also gravely ill. Lee, who is much younger, is perhaps his only friend—a highly unconventional friendship that serves as the film’s central theme. A moral sense is not among their character traits—at least not in the context of their profession. They have witnessed and taken part in many similar operations across the globe, leaving a trail of corpses in their wake, yet they seem to feel no remorse. This pair of agents—or assassins—heads to Easter Island; it is not quite a mission, nor is it exactly a vacation. For Chris, it might well be his final journey.
‘Wild Horse Nine‘ challenges its audience by compelling them to empathize with someone they perhaps shouldn’t. Yet, if we steer clear of a Manichaean interpretation of the plot and the characters, the film proves to be surprisingly engaging and deeply human. Chris knows he is nearing the end of a life spent actively participating in numerous reprehensible acts; however, as a devout Catholic, he finds the idea of an end that would cut his suffering short—suicide—utterly unthinkable. Would the sin of suicide weigh more heavily in the balance than any of the 48 murders he admits to having committed? And what of his meeting with a young Chilean woman—whose destiny he saves, or at the very least alters—is this an attempt at redemption, or merely one last adventure? John Malkovich delivers a wonderful, complex performance—one that, quite brilliantly, makes no attempt to answer every single question. Equally compelling is the character of Lee—played by Sam Rockwell—who sits somewhere between the eccentric villains of the Coen brothers’ films and the ruthless assassins of Tarantino’s, yet possesses a human side, including a family for whom he feels a genuine sense of responsibility. With a colorful supporting turn, Steve Buscemi rounds out a trio of characters that embody Martin McDonagh’s fascination with the world of the CIA—viewed here through a unique cinematic perspective. The landscapes of Easter Island—featuring the iconic “big heads” in the background and wild horses galloping through grass reminiscent of the Irish landscape from which the director’s own family hails—serve a purpose far greater than that of a mere picturesque backdrop for the action. ‘Wild Horse Nine‘ is a psychological thriller that will likely captivate audiences more for its psychological depth than for its thriller elements. It marks yet another success for the formidable writer-director Martin McDonagh, proves that author cinema is possible even at Hollywood and stands as a serious contender for this year’s Oscars—a race that promises to be highly competitive, filled with films that, while imperfect, are deeply intriguing and invite debates.