Wild Horses (1995 film)
| Caballos Salvajes | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Directed by | Marcelo Piñeyro |
| Produced by |
Hugo Belcastro Margarita Gómez Pablo Kompel |
| Written by |
Aída Bortnik Marcelo Piñeyro |
| Starring |
Héctor Alterio Leonardo Sbaraglia Cecilia Dopazo Federico Luppi |
| Music by |
Andrés Calamaro León Gieco |
Release dates |
|
Running time | 122 minutes |
| Language | Spanish |
Wild Horses (Spanish: Caballos Salvajes) is a 1995 Argentine road movie directed by Marcelo Piñeyro and written by Piñeyro and Aída Bortnik. It stars Héctor Alterio, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Cecilia Dopazo and Federico Luppi in a cameo appearance. The film chronicles the five days of two fugitives on the run after robbing a corporation and being targeted by the media. The film was selected as the Argentine entry for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 68th Academy Awards, but was not accepted as a nominee.[1][2]
Plot
José is an aging anarchist who decides to get even with the corporation that stole $15,344 from his family 18 years ago. When confronted by the yuppie manager, Pedro Mendoza, José threatens to kill himself and orders him to hand in the requested amount of money. In the ensuing chaos, Pedro stumbles upon a drawer holding half a million dollars, and puts it all in the bag. He then asks José to take him hostage so that the police will not shoot them, and both drive away successfully.
After the robbery, Pedro is confronted with a dilemma: he cannot turn himself in, because the stolen money is laundered money and he will thus have trouble with the mafia, so he decides to join José on a road trip to Patagonia as they run away from police and mafia alike.
On their way to the border they bond and decide to correct those false claims made by the media so as to clear their names and justify their actions. They tape a message and send it to the TV, and on the way to safety they are aided by gas station attendants who view the couple as modern-day Robin Hoods. They are nicknamed by the press coverage "Los Indomables" (The Untameable).
They decide to take a bus that will get them closer to the border(because their car ended up in a river). Aboard they meet a punk girl, Ana, who steals the bag containing the half million dollars, but promptly returns it when they catch up with her. They decide to let her into their society, and she steals a jeep for them. The three decide to "return" the money to the people, and rain the half-million on a cheering crowd, keeping only what is necessary for the trip. After that they are on the run again.
"Los Indomables" manage to get to the border after dodging a pursuing helicopter; with the aid of the gas station attendants they avoid road blocks and the two hitmen sent by the mafia, whom they finally encounter and get rid of. Once at the border, they meet with Eusebio, husband to the sister of José's long dead wife. After reconciling with him, he reveals his profession - kept secret throughout the film - to Pedro: horse breeder.
In the final moments of the movie, José bids farewell to Pedro and Ana, who have fallen in love, as they ride away on two horses to the Chilean border. José then frees all of his horses, and as he sets the last one going is shot in the back by a person offscreen. He dies, and the end is a montage of José's horses running free, and José himself dancing (from a previous scene in the movie) and shouting to the skies how good it feels to feel alive.
See also
- List of submissions to the 68th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
- List of Argentine submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film
References
- ↑ Margaret Herrick Library, Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences
- ↑ "41 to Compete for Foreign Language Oscar Nominations". FilmFestivals.com. Archived from the original on 7 April 2012. Retrieved 4 October 2015.