Wild Tales - English subtitled
More than living up to its title, director Damián Szifrón’s compendium of outrageous, hilarious and truly bizarre anecdotes offers a subversive, black comic portrait of contemporary Argentina.
Blending subversive black comedy with dramatically loaded scenarios, Szifrón skilfully weaves together six separate shorts, unlinked by narrative but unified by a violence that simmers on the cusp of explosion. The opening short, Pasternak, plays a game of chance aboard an airplane whose passengers discover they all know the same failed musician. The flight’s surprising conclusion prepares the viewer for the non-stop, suspense-tinged comedy that permeates the film.
More than a series of short films about frustrated characters on the verge, Wild Tales is also a portrait of contemporary Argentina: a society riddled with corruption, hampered by bureaucracy, and bogged down by tradition. Szifrón’s film provides a cathartic release from the pressures of modern-day living – a release that provokes unrestrained, double-over-in-your-seat laughter.