Those words also bring out the absolute best in his actors, and the screenplay for Wild Horse Nine gives John Malkovich, Sam Rockwell, and Steve Buscemi ample fuel for greatness. The ability to create characters that skirt the fine line between being bigger than life and being totally believable is one of McDonagh strongest traits.

Set in the seventies, Malkovich and Rockwell both give career-defining performances as two world-weary CIA operatives who take a break from fieldwork and visit Easter Island. This is not a vacation, and the reason for the visit is disclosed slowly. The horrors of their wet work are discussed so matter-of-factly, it’s easy to see them as people and not the monsters they actually are.

The film’s anti-American Imperialism stance underlines every word with a strong sense of menace. It also demonstrates the misguided sense of self-righteousness that was US foreign policy in the seventies. A policy that still exists today to the planet’s detriment. This is filmmaking at its finest; it might not be a work for everybody but those that it connects with will be rewarded with vast riches.
Rob Hudson
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Dreamers, intellectuals, eccentrics, these antiquarians play an essential role in preserving the history and future of the printed word. A loving celebration of book culture, the documentary offers a rare glimpse of many unique objects and the obsessive hunt for the next great find; from Da Vinci’s The Codex Leicester (the most expensive book ever sold) to essential early hip-hop documents.

Featuring interviews with such luminaries as Fran Lebowitz, Susan Orlean, Gay Talese and going behind the covers with a range of rare book dealers, collectors and booksellers from such stores as The Strand, The Booksellers is a special treat for anyone in love with the written word.

The Booksellers will be released in Australian cinemas 2 July 2020!

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