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A flawlessly written black comedy: that is how one might sum up *Wild Horse Nine*, a truly remarkable feature film in which director and screenwriter Martin McDonagh reaffirms his status as one of the finest writers in contemporary cinema.
Also a great playwright, McDonagh had already demonstrated his immense talent with films such as *Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri* and *The Banshees of Inisherin*, but he has truly outdone himself with this new feature film, which was screened in competition at the latest Venice Film Festival.
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Set in Chile in 1973, shortly before the coup, the film centres on CIA agents Chris and Lee, who are about to leave Santiago to spend a week on Easter Island.
Amidst the iconic local statues, whilst the two long-time friends grapple with their own dark pasts and the conspiracies of the present, the bond Chris forms with two rebellious schoolgirls threatens to send everyone’s stay in this remote paradise in an unexpected direction.
Martin McDonagh’s films undoubtedly continue to be influenced by his theatre training and his work on stage: his films are, in fact, based on scripts with a breakneck pace and, above all, on the concept of working within extremely confined spaces – spaces that appear very open yet, paradoxically, are also very claustrophobic.
It is no coincidence that he has once again chosen an island as the nerve centre of the narrative (though parallels can also be drawn in this regard with his debut film *In Bruges* or with the aforementioned *Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri’), a territory of conflict between two enemies-turned-friends who end up constantly questioning the reliability of their relationship.
A deeply political twist
If one of the film’s standout features is its ability to blend genuinely hilarious moments with more moving ones, credit must also go to a cast skilled at bringing out the full range of emotions crafted by Martin McDonagh’s screenplay: Sam Rockwell, Steve Buscemi and Mariana Di Girolamo all deliver strong performances, but John Malkovich’s impressive performance (deservedly honoured at Venice and among the favourites for the Oscars) as Chris – a gruff and tormented CIA agent, capable of sharply caustic humour and emotional outbursts that strike a deep chord – is simply worthy of a standing ovation. Nor should we overlook a sequence featuring Tom Waits, playing Chris’s brother, in this film which can also be interpreted as an unconventional western with no winners, sustained solely by the defeated.
Finally, it should be emphasised that ‘Wild Horse Nine’ is a work that takes a deeply political turn, through numerous attacks that target American culture and society, with various references to events that took place during the twentieth century and to US involvement in the rise of Pinochet’s dictatorship in Chile.
Meanwhile, the highly talked-about and divisive “Hope”, a science-fiction film directed by South Korean filmmaker Na Hong-jin, is in the running at the Cannes Film Festival; it comes across as something of an alien entity (in every sense of the word…) amongst the films we’re used to seeing in our cinemas.
This lengthy film (around 160 minutes), which tells the story of an alien invasion and a full-blown war that breaks out with the inhabitants of a village near the mountains, is packed with action and entertainment, particularly in its first hour, which is fast-paced and masterfully directed.
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It’s a shame, however, that in the long run the film feels repetitive and that some of the special effects are decidedly lacking, as is an ending that leaves too many loose ends, setting the stage for a future sequel. The mix of genres – alongside science fiction, there’s a western and a zany comedy – is intriguing, but the result isn’t outstanding.
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