Sometimes, filming a movie means risking lives. An example of this is the 15 movies that almost killed their protagonists during filmingto which is added one of the latest releases of Nicolas CageIt was in 2022 that Hollywood’s most versatile and prolific actor experienced firsthand the power and danger of nature. The film, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival and was directed by Gabe Polsky in his narrative debut –specializing in documentaries and with whom Cage meets again after the production of ‘Corrupt lieutenant‘ (W. Herzog, 2009)– travels through the American West in the 19th century. And now, it has slipped into the top 5 of the platform in Spain.
Travel diary
The novel of John Williams Butcher’s Crossing, published in 1960, is the starting point on which the script of this icy story is built, in which the landscape of Colorado (actually Montana, where the filming took place) constitutes a character in itself. The protagonist, played by Nicolas Cage, is a buffalo hunter who will have to face the arrival of Will, a young man who dropped out of university in search of a new path. Between desert lands, snowflakes and wild animals, Miller will be forced to risk everything with the young man to survive the journey of this border epic. Completing the cast are Fred Hechinger (‘The White Lotus‘), Xander Berkeley (‘Candyman’), Rachel Keller (‘Fargo’ series), Jeremy Bobb (‘House of Cards’) and Paul Raci (‘Sound of metal’).
The film was shot over 19 days on location in northern Mountain, where the filmmakers worked with about 600 buffalo managed by the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. In this travel diary, the immensity and raw beauty of immaculate landscapes colors every shot, but also every real situation. And the team had to deal with a hostile climate and quite challenging filming conditions. Especially Nicolas Cage, who during a roundtable organized by The Hollywood Reporter spent several minutes talking about a homicidal horse.
The killer horse
“I’ve always had good experiences with animals and horses on set, but Rain Man wanted to kill me“Nicolas Cage said. This time, he wasn’t talking about Dustin Hoffman, but about the creature named after the character in the eponymous film. Apparently, the horse on which the protagonist of ‘The Buffalo Hunter“He was trying his best to knock me down and trying to smash my head into the roofs, and then I would get off and try to be nice to him, and he would headbutt me. He really wanted to kill me.”
It seems that shaving his head bald – for the first time in a film – was not the only challenge for Cage.I’m so glad I finished this movie alive.“said Cage. “On the last take I told Gabe that I would never get on a horse again. But I did it. I got on the horse and, again, he kept trying to kill me. There I said: “Up to here.” That was my last take and it had to be done almost like a stunt. He almost killed me in my last scene of the movie. “As you see, I have post-traumatic stress disorder because of Rain Man.”
For those expecting another unhinged performance from Nic Cage, it’s much more subdued here, which squares the performer’s talent. The story occupies an hour and forty-five minutes of pure odyssey, where the majestic landscape of the American West original becomes a monument. In part, because of the conservationist message that can be read between the lines. But also because of the danger of challenging it in a psychological western about nature’s ability to leave its protagonists stunned. Well, now Nicolas Cage.
Caught between music and cinema, from Vigo she came to Madrid to study Journalism and Audiovisual Communication at the Carlos III University. Legend has it that she preferred to skip classes to go to a premiere although, if you ask her, she will deny it.
She joined the Fotogramas editorial team as an intern, after working in music and film journalism, collaborating with media such as Milana magazine. She has interviewed personalities such as Jonás Trueba and Irene Escolar, and her most prized possession is a guitar pick. She is in love with Phoebe Waller-Bridge and Nora Ephron. If you can’t find her, she’s probably watching a Kurosawa film. It doesn’t matter when you read this.
