Dark satirical anthology offers six clever stories of revenge.
Wild Tales doesn’t bother setting up its
premise or explaining the connection in themes between the six individual short
storylines; it begins with a furious energy and never quite lets up the
suspenseful feeling that anything could happen until the final frame. The final
skit has less impact than those preceding it, but this may have been a
calculated choice to provide the audience some sense of closure in an otherwise
rage-filled series of set-ups and punch-lines. These six individual stories
involve different characters and a variety of situations, but they all share in
common a sense of helplessness in the machine of modern society, as well as the
catharsis of revenge.
I have never
much cared for anthology films, primarily because the short film is a difficult
medium. Short films require the audiences
to care with a fraction of typical cinematic running-times, and these movies
tend to be little more than a collection of shorts. Somehow Wild Tales manages to escape the usual
pitfalls, whether it is in the successful thematic connections between the six
narratives or simply because of how engagingly well-made each of them are as
individual segments. This one of the few instances of viewing an anthology that
I was engaged enough by the individual segments that I did not find myself
waiting for the next to begin, or counting how many remained before the end of
the film. Even with a 2-hour running-time, Wild
Tales has little fat that needs trimming, moving along with perfect pacing
delivered through precise editing.
The film begins with a series of coincidences
between a model (Maria Marull) and a music critic (Dario Grandinetti) aboard an
airplane, ending in a darkly comedic twist that feels lifted from an early Coen
brothers’ film. This tone is carried through to the rest of the stories, often
resulting in death that is simultaneously tragic and hilarious. A young
waitress (Julieta Zylberberg) is faced with the dilemma of revenge when a man
(Cesar Bordon) from her past enters the diner she works in, road rage between
two men (Leonardo Sbaraglia, Walter Donado) from different social standings
spirals out of control, a demolition engineer (Ricardo Darin) struggles to fight
the injustice of the city’s parking enforcement procedures, a father (Oscar
Martinez) uses his wealth to bribe his son out of a hit-and-run accident, and
the final segment involves a bride (Erica Rivas) discovering the infidelity of
her groom (Diego Gentile) during their wedding reception.
Little more
should be described about each section of the film, as the element of surprise
is where a great deal of the film’s pleasure is derived. At the same time, this
is a technically accomplished movie that deserves repeat viewings. Although
this is Argentinean filmmaker Damian Szifrón’s first feature since 2005, I
imagine we will be seeing more from him in the near future. As well as writing
and directing Wild Tales, Szifrón
also co-edited the film which was co-produced by Pedro and Agustín Almodóvar.
Completing the technical proficiency of the film is the polished cinematography
done by Javier Juliá.
The Blu-ray
release of this Best Foreign Film nominee from this past year’s Academy Awards
includes a making-of featurette, as well as footage from the Toronto Film
Festival screening. This may not be much, but the high definition format of the
film is enough to make the Blu-ray desirable for presentation.
Entertainment Value:
8.5/10
Quality of
Filmmaking: 8.5/10
Historical
Significance: 7/10
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