Wild Tales

Overview

Death and vengeance are the common threads in Damián Szifron’s Wild Tales, one of the most deliriously savage black comedies to hit cinemas in years. Argentina’s nomination to the most recent Foreign Language Oscar race, the film consists of six separate vignettes, following six everyday people driven to the point of no return. The ensuing mayhem resembles the spawn of the Coen Brothers, Almodovar, Tarantino and Bunuel; a wicked tour de force as sharp as a corkscrew and every bit as twisted.

Anthology films can be a risky proposition, particularly when one or more segments falls short. Thankfully, that’s not the case here. Yes, every viewer will have their favourite (personally, I loved the opener), but even the ‘weaker’ episodes are catapulted along by an almost maniacal sense of escalation. Whether it’s a wealthy couple trying to cover up their son’s indiscretions, a lowly waitress taking revenge on the man who ruined her family or just two drivers struck down by a serious case of road rage, every chapter in the film is propelled by a wonderful inevitability: eventually, everything will be thrown horribly, hysterically and often violently out of control.

And believe it or not, there’s actually method to Szifron’s madness — an intelligence lurking beneath all that wonderful chaos. The cathartic pleasure we feel watching his characters rebel against what’s socially (and ethically) acceptable comes directly from our own frustrations with the everyday world. Bureaucracy, class inequality and male impotence are but a few of the film’s more pointed areas of exploration, and while we’re hesitant to suggest that the people in the film get what’s coming to them, poetic justice certainly tends to prevail. Many of the shorts also offer a thinly veiled criticism of the country’s endemic political corruption, although you certainly don’t need to live in Argentina for that to strike a chord.

The script is matched by top-notch technical specs, with crisp cinematography and eye-catching production design along with some extremely memorable music choices. The cast is likewise terrific across the board, although particular praise must go to Rita Cortese as a burly cook and Erica Rivas as a seriously pissed-off bride.