Wild Horse Nine

 

 

Wild Horse Nine

John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell

written and directed by Martin McDonagh

Don’t believe the trailer for Wild Horse Nine: this is not a comedy sympathetic to the CIA. Believe, instead, in John Malkovich, whom I don’t think would ever sign up for a bad, low-budget movie, though Wild Horse Nine is a relatively low-budget movie. Believe, also, in Sam Rockwell, and the rest of the cast: Steve Buscemi, Tom Waits, and Parker Posey (so good to see her again).

Wild Horse Nine, written and directed by Martin McDonagh (he of the indie bangers In Bruges and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri) takes place in Chile, generally, and the island Rapa Nui mostly. Rapa Nui, still sometimes known to English-speaking folks as Easter Island, is the place with the—as one of the characters says—“big heads”—the big stone heads (and connecting bodies, once they were excavated) about which nobody knows much of anything for sure. We don’t get anything about their specific history in this movie—that wouldn’t be the point—though we do get lots of great lush cinematography by Ben Davis, including of the many wild horses living on the island, who become part of the story. It’s maybe the most footage we viewers are ever going to see of Rapa Nui, so even for that I am grateful to the filmmakers.

Wild Horse Nine takes place in 1973, at the beginning of August. Which might raise some eyebrows from those who know a bit about American colonialism and the Monroe Doctrine. Because, yes, the two main characters, Chris (Malkovich) and Lee (Rockwell), are CIA agents stationed in Santiago, Chile for the other 9/11 Event. Lee is the embodiment of the CIA: he himself tells us that he’s been involved with the Agency ever since their Guatemala coup (Interestingly, the Iran coup gets unmentioned, though one could argue that MI6 was more in charge of that one)(maybe). And he’s been in a long list of CIA operations, including one that happened in Dallas in 1963. Chris and Lee have been partners of sorts since then, but Chris’ involvement, and his maybe-intention to write his memoirs, has his bosses at the Agency a little, well, spooked.

Chris is also suffering from onset dementia. Maybe. Probably. And cancer. Most definitely. What he and Lee are doing on Rapa Nui is part of the story: we’re never one-hundred percent sure. This might be a Memento-esque kind of story, or? Or Chris has another plan. But maybe Lee does too.

Malkovich has never been better. He is old, yes, but he uses his age to manipulate—maybe, probably—the other characters, and viewers. He doesn’t look ‘good’, but his character isn’t supposed to. Instead, viewers end up feeling like Lee, asking ourselves, Is Chris alright? Is Chris ok mentally? Because of who he embodies, the underlying questions become, Is the CIA alright? Is the CIA ok mentally? The answer is no. And has always been no. And Chile on 9/11 1973 is the perfect example.

Any movie coming out of Hollywood and featuring the US military, special ops and/or the CIA is mostly going to be a propaganda-fest for those agencies, up to and including the Marvel Universe. The army has offices in Hollywood, and any portrayal of the military has to be vetted. So a movie like Wild Horse Nine would never get made in America. Fortunately film is still relatively alive in Europe, and capable of a critique of the Empire.

But don’t let this review lead you to believe that this only a counter-propaganda story. I don’t think Malkovich or Rockwell (but especially Malkovich) would ever sign up for an obvious black-and-white comedy. There are a lot of funny lines and situations in Wild Horse Nine, and in the spirit of the The Banshees of Inishirin it seems to be being marketed as a black comedy, as well as a thriller. But just like Banshees was not a comedy (like, at all) neither is Wild Horse Nine. There is black comedy, but it’s more of gallows humor: the humor that comes from people who are close to dying, and close to killing the people close to dying.

My hope is that Wild Horse Nine will be seen by a younger audience. And by an American audience. Malkovich’s character Chris, at the end of his CIA career, has some harsh words of wisdom, and warnings, that could be applicable right now.