Quick summary
- Cinematographer Ben Davis says the look of Wild Horse Nine was inspired by 1970s photographs by William Eggleston and Stephen Shore, according to Deadline.
- The film was shot on ARRI Alexa 35, with Ektachrome stills used as colour reference and Super 8 footage woven into the story.
- It is the fourth film Davis has made with writer-director Martin McDonagh.
- The film played at the ToruńCamerimage festival in Poland this week and is set on Easter Island in the days before the 1973 Chilean coup.
The look of Martin McDonagh‘s new film began with a handful of still photographs. Cinematographer Ben Davis told Deadline this week that Wild Horse Nine, which screened at the ToruńCamerimage Film Festival in Poland, was designed around the colour of 1970s American photography and the “immense space and isolation” of Easter Island. So how do you shoot a 1973 story on a remote island without a film lab nearby?
Why Easter Island suited McDonagh
Easter Island sits about 2,330 miles west of mainland Chile, Deadline reports. Davis had been there once before, in 1999, for a short millennium piece, and described a deforested landscape where the Moai heads look out to the ocean. “You’re surrounded by an endless horizon in every direction,” he said.
That isolation is what drew the director, according to Davis, because McDonagh likes to isolate his characters. The Hollywood Reporter says McDonagh first visited the island around 15 years ago and has wanted to set a film there ever since. He dropped several versions of the idea, including a father and son on a bucket-list trip, before settling on the story of two CIA agents.
Outlets differ on which actor plays which agent, so this article won’t assign the roles. Both agree that Sam Rockwell and John Malkovich lead the cast, with Steve Buscemi and Parker Posey also starring. The agents are sent from Santiago to the island shortly before the coup.
The Eggleston and Shore influence
Davis says he looked at the work of American photographers William Eggleston and Stephen Shore while preparing. Two Eggleston photographs stood out, and he showed them to McDonagh, who liked them. Davis singled out the vibrancy of Eggleston’s 1970s work on Ektachrome, a Kodak reversal film known for fine grain and clean, cool-toned colour.
The plan hit a practical wall. McDonagh wanted to shoot on film, but Ektachrome only comes in 16mm, which Davis did not want to use. He also said processing on the island was close to impossible, because getting film to a lab and back would take seven or eight days.
Stills, Super 8 and a digital camera
On an early scout, Davis shot Ektachrome stills and some Super 8 Ektachrome, then tested video. The team reviewed the results and chose to go digital. The film was ultimately shot on ARRI Alexa 35, and the Ektachrome stills stayed on set as a colour reference.
Super 8 still made it into the finished film. One agent carries a Super 8 camera and films small moments, so the footage appears inside the story. “It feels like you’re watching a memory,” Davis said, adding that the crew shot more of it as the production went on.
A looser film from a writer known for tight scripts
Davis also told Deadline that dialogue drives the story, with many scenes of two men talking, so the images need a visual rhythm to match the language. The Hollywood Reporter says it is the most dynamic-looking of McDonagh’s films, and quotes Davis saying the director now storyboards the entire film before shooting. “He didn’t always do that,” Davis said.
The performances changed too. McDonagh told The Hollywood Reporter he wanted the most improvisational feel of any of his films, saying that in each scene there is probably at least one line that isn’t his. Before, he said, he stuck to the script “word for word, comma for comma.” Rockwell, who won an Oscar for McDonagh’s Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri, said the director has matured and that the film has emotional depth because of it.
Davis has an eye on mortality in the images as well. He said the island’s beauty was an “essential element” because one of the agents is nearing the end of his life and becomes aware of what he is leaving behind.
What happens next
Deadline notes Davis arrived at the festival straight from wrapping Bradley Cooper’s Ocean’s Eleven prequel. The sources do not give an Australian release date for Wild Horse Nine. For more, see our Martin McDonagh coverage, our look at Sam Rockwell’s Oscar chances and the Wild Horse Nine cast and story.
Frequently asked questions
Who shot Wild Horse Nine?
British cinematographer Ben Davis shot Wild Horse Nine. It is his fourth film with Martin McDonagh, according to Deadline.
What camera was Wild Horse Nine shot on?
Wild Horse Nine was shot on an ARRI Alexa 35. Davis used Ektachrome stills as a colour reference, and the film includes Super 8 footage shot for the story.
Where was Wild Horse Nine filmed?
It was shot on Easter Island, about 2,330 miles west of mainland Chile. The story is set there in the last days before the 1973 Chilean coup.
