With all due respect to the performances of Matt Damon in The Odyssey and Ryan Gosling in Project Hail Mary, I came away from Wild Horse Nine, which had its North American premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on Thursday afternoon, with the strong impression that John Malkovich was now the clear frontrunner to win the best actor Oscar. But by Friday evening, when Elsinore had its world premiere in Telluride, I was forced to revise my hypothesis.
That’s because the Irish actor Andrew Scott gives a performance for the ages in Elsinore as the Scottish actor Ian Charleson, who was best known for starring in the best picture Oscar winner Chariots of Fire, but whose most impressive accomplishment was how he insisted on continuing to act — in the role of Hamlet at London’s National Theatre, no less — even after he was diagnosed with terminal AIDS.
The response inside Telluride’s Palm Theatre to the listing of Scott’s name in the film’s post-credits — as both a producer and the lead actor — was undeniable. It’s a sensitive and shattering performance from an actor who just keeps getting better, as demonstrated in everything from his film performance in All of Us Strangers, which premiered in Telluride three years ago, to his stage performance last year in Uncle Vanya, in which he singlehandedly juggled 10 different characters.
