International Cinema : [Last Film I Watch] Wild Tales (2014) [8/10]

[Last Film I Watch] Wild Tales (2014) [8/10]

English Title: Wild Tales
Original Title: Relatos salvajes
Year: 2014
Country: Argentina, Spain
Language: Spanish
Genre: Drama, Comedy
Director/Writer: Damián Szifrón
Music: Gustavo Santaolalla
Cinematography: Javier Julia
Cast:
Erica Rivas
Ricardo Darin
Leonardo Sbaraglia
Oscar Martínez
Diego Gentile
Julieta Zylberberg
César Bordón
Rita Cortese
Osmar Núñez
Walter Donado
María Marull
Nancy Dupláa
Darío Grandinetti
Germán de Silva
María Onetto
Diego Velázquez
Mónica Villa
Alan Daicz
Margarita Molfino
Marcelo Pizzi
Liliana Weimer
Rating: 8/10

With Pedro Almodóvar’s name credited manifestly as one of the producers, viewers will not be too surprised that this portmanteau film from Argentinian director/writer Damián Szifrón is ripe with Almodóvaresque touch - six short, surreal, dark comedies, (most of them are) deeply rooted in the injustice presented in the current Argentinian society (however, it can be feasibly comprehended elsewhere since the situations are all the same), with a recurrent theme of vengeance flows through all of its components, as the pre-credit prologue named “Pasternak” glaringly sets the tone from an all-inclusive reprisal from an unknown man towards every single person who mistreats him in his life, it is absurdly implausible to effectuate such a scheme (too many variations are involved), but as the opening gambit and the shortest one, it effectively kick-starts the film with an offbeat grin beckons an unconventional wild-ride sinisterly awaits the audience, also it tells us revenge has no mercy at all.

The opening credits furthermore impress with designs of different animals for the film’s protagonists and the crew. Then the second story is “The Rats”, confined in a small restaurant near the highway with minimal characters (two customers, one waitress and a cook) to play out a morally righteous murder starts with expired rat poisons to the appalling backstabbing, Rita Cortese as the experienced cook, is fearlessly ruthless to eradicate any excrescence of the society within her limited power, plainly because there is no other efficacious way to deter the evil ones ascending in the societal hierarchy. This time revenge is all for a good cause.

Next chapter is called “The Strongest”, a road rage clash between the posh car driver Diego (Sbaraglia) and a churlish imbecile Mario (Donado), one might recall Steven Spielberg’s DUEL (1971, 7/10), but here there is no ominous car-chasing, due to a flat tyre, Diego has to pay for his stupidity to offend a low-class boor, and is driven by revenge when he has the chance to flee the scene, it is so naturalistic that the intention of killing has been induced even viewers in some level subconsciously concur with Diego’s motivation, but the payoff is both ludicrous and horrendous, so revenge can be a crime of passion.

The fourth one “Little Bomb” stars Ricardo Darin as a demolition expert, whose automobile has been towed by DMV when he is buying a birthday cake for his daughter, the next day he tries to reason with the clerks when he is coerced to pay the fine, but loses his temper and attack the partition with all the bureaucracy poppycock. Soon, the aftereffects cost his job and marriage, while his car still being towed again and again. Finally, he loads his car with explosives and the final towing blows up the towed-car lot. But Szifrón prepares a happy-ish ending for the tale, as the explosion is accurately calculated to avoid any casualties, and his bold behaviour is regarded as a potent testimony to decry DMV’s money-extorting towing policy, he becomes an urban hero thanks to the social media, he gets the sobriquet “Dynamite”, his wife and daughter visit him in prison for his birthday with all the inmates and prison guards hailing for him. Darin is so compelling as the good-gone-bad stereotype pushed to his limit by a despondent reality. The final revelation is a bit far-fetched and too much a wishful thinking, but it educates us, revenge needs meticulous calculation.

The fifth story is “The Proposal”, a rich kid cries for help from his parents after a hit-and-run accident leaving a pregnant woman died, the father (Martínez) buys off his gardener (de Silva) to bear the blame, but when a greedy lawyer (Núñez) and a police prosecutor (Velázquez) are involved, it evolves into a game of shameless blackmail, when those three all up their profits, the canny father abruptly turns the table and uses this case as a bargaining chip to regain the initiative (this smart move shows how Szifrón is a sharp observer and an acute thinker in his storytelling), but no one can predict an unexpected denouement. This is my favourite one, it purposefully blurs the line between the opposing sides of rich and poor, and when facing a windfall, human’s avariciousness is impartially triggered albeit of their different backgrounds and social status, someone is more adroit at it, and for someone it is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, alas, it is the most detrimental original sin in us and we should all constantly being reminded to overcome it. In this chapter, we learn that revenge can be achieved even one is at the apparent disadvantage.

Last but not the least, the grand finale is “Until Death Do Us Apart”, it is at the wedding banquet of Romina (Rivas) and Ariel (Gentile), they seem to be a perfect couple, until Romina's one unintentional glance prompts the most sensitive antenna - a woman’s sixth sense, she finds out that Ariel has cheated on her with one of the wedding guest. Subsequently, she vents her ire and dismay by having sex with a random staff in the kitchen as a requital, which is witnessed by Ariel, afterwards, the wedding descends into a madcap buffoonery, yet no one can expect, all the mess actually hones up to a perfect foreplay for the pair, the story ends when the two engage into a passionate sexual intercourse in front of all the guests. Rivas is blazingly radiant in the wedding dress, with her tear-tainted make-up, she refuses to be a runaway bride, instead, she fights back to get even. And lastly, revenge can turn on one’s libido, too!

Six wild tales contingent on coincidences rarely can happen in real life, Szifrón is an astonishingly competent story-teller and a proficient director with his own personal traits coming into existence it becomes massively interesting to see how he will pull off a feature length if he can concoct a more sophisticated story to operate on, and Pedro Almodóvar could be the opportune exemplar.

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