No movie has popped at this year’s fall film festivals more than Wild Horse Nine, Martin McDonagh’s dramedy about a pair of bickering CIA agents, played by John Malkovich and Sam Rockwell, who visit Chile’s Easter Island ahead of the 1973 coup that ousted that nation’s democratically elected president. Indeed, the film, which Searchlight will release in the U.S. on Nov. 6, received a 14-minute standing ovation following its world premiere at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday, and then played through the roof at its North American premiere at the Telluride Film Festival on Friday.
On Saturday, following another tremendously received Telluride screening of the film, The Hollywood Reporter sat down with McDonagh, Malkovich and Rockwell, two of the film’s scene-stealing supporting actors, veteran Steve Buscemi and newcomer Mariana di Girolamo, and producer Graham Broadbent, to discuss what inspired the project and the challenges of shooting it on location; efforts to represent Chilean people, places and history on screen; and the early response to the film and, specifically, to Malkovich’s performance, for which the 73-year-old, who received two Oscar noms more than 30 years ago, could land not only a third nom but a first win.
