Review: Wild Tales – Wild Tales (2014)

Directed by: Damián Szifrón | 122 minutes | comedy, drama, thriller | Actors: Ricardo Darin, Óscar Martínez, Darío Grandinetti, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Rita Cortese, Nancy Dupláa, María Marull, Osmar Núñez, María Onetto, Erica Rivas, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Mónica Villa, Julieta Zylberberg

We all have moments in our lives when we reach boiling point and would prefer to explode. Everyone knows a situation or a person, or usually a combination of the two, that can draw the blood from under your nails. This can be triggered by all kinds of events: for example, by annoying fellow road users in traffic, the moment you receive a parking ticket while you were just on your way to the meter or if you find out that your loved one has cheated on you. Fortunately, most of us know how to contain ourselves and things usually don’t get out of hand. Wild Tales shows what would happen if we didn’t do this. This leads to bizarre, always violent but also funny situations.

“Wild Tales” is a film by Argentinian director Damián Szifrón. The film consists of six short films that all have one thing in common: it shows what can happen when people go crazy. The opening story about a number of people on a plane is a fantastic introduction and sets the tone for the rest of the film. What else comes along is an annoying customer in a roadhouse who turns out to have a history with the waitress, a man with a feud against parking management, a boy who drives on after an accident, two men who argue after one obstructs the other to catch up with him in the car and a bride jumping out of line at her wedding.

“Wild Tales” is a nice odd man out. Damián Szifrón has made a truly original film, which may not be suitable for the very delicate souls due to the large dose of violence. However, this violence certainly has a function; it’s so over the top it often gets hilarious. The stories mock our short fuses with a wink and the maker holds up a mirror to us in a funny way. “Wild Tales” looks away like a rollercoaster as you rush from one surprise to the next.