The Telluride Film Festival kicked off on its first day with what is sure to be one of most lauded films of the awards season. “Wild Horse Nine,” written and directed by Martin McDonagh, came to Colorado straight from a Venice Film Festival world premiere and set the tone for what is sure to be a rollercoaster ride of epic proportions for its star, John Malkovich.
Malkovich has a career rich with characters who are uniquely unapologetic about how they navigate life, including his turn as a dying CIA agent in “Wild Horse Nine.” The 72-year-old actor has perfected the art of scaring audiences on screen or his fellow thespians on set with a simple nuanced delivery of just one line.
All of this is why Malkovich was greeted with a standing ovation on Friday night as he was presented with the Golden Medallion, one of the four special Telluride awards this year that were given out to recognize a body of work.
Malkovich paced as his life flashed before our eyes with clips from some of his memorable performances, before sitting down for a moderated discussion led by Vanity Fair’s Rebecca Ford.
Being the ultimate storyteller with the driest sense of humor, Malkovich riveted the audience as he recalled being seven hours late to shoot a scene in the 1987 film adaptation of Tennessee Williams’ “The Glass Menagerie” with director Paul Newman. Malkovich explained that he had been up for hours working on his lines and had no idea he was late until the fire department broke down the door where he was staying. Newman, he said, was nothing but kind and gracious about the whole incident, adding that the actor-turned-director always wore sunglasses to reduce the effect that his steely blue eyes had on both women and men.
Malkovich’s career began on the stage as a charter member of Chicago’s Steppenwolf Theatre Company – but when he made the transition from stage to screen in films like “Places in the Heart” and “The Killing Fields,” he said, “[I] didn’t like it very much at first. When you do a play, you’re the editor and you have freedom. Later, I fell in love with the technical elements of cinema and what wonderful things it can do.”
It’s no secret that on the set of the acclaimed 1988 period drama “Dangerous Liaisons,” there was notable friction between himself and director Stephen Frears. In retrospect, Malkovich shared, “I love Stephen. He’s a terrific director and gives his actors a lot of freedom.”
He jokingly recalled that Frears asked him once, “Why are you never good in the cinema?” to which the actor simply replied, “Because I don’t control it.” The comment was met with uproarious laughter in Telluride’s Werner Herzog Theater.
Of course, you can’t have a tribute to Malkovich without discussing the 1999 surrealist comedy that bears his name: “Being John Malkovich.” The actor said he had initially hoped to direct and produce the film with his partner Russ Smith, and that he’d have made the film about someone else. Instead, the world was introduced to director Spike Jonze and witnessed yet another classic performance from Malkovich.
Being the self-deprecating artist that he is, when it came time to discuss “Wild Horse Nine,” he praised everyone else, including and not limited to director Martin McDonagh, actors Steve Buscemi and Mariana de Girólamo and producer Graham Broadbent, all of whom were in attendance for his tribute.
What were his thoughts about his cinematic triumph? Being the consummate professional, he never once spoke about his own performance. “I found the script to be perfect, cleverly taking two historical tragedies and giving them backstories with several characters,” he said. “Martin created very elegant solutions to just about every problem in a beautifully written film.”
“Wild Horse Nine” is screening at Telluride and will be shown at the Toronto International Film Festival. Searchlight Pictures will release the film in the U.S. on Nov. 6.
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