Wild Tales (film)

Wild Tales
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Damián Szifron
Produced by	Agustín Almodóvar Pedro Almodóvar Esther García Matías Mosteirín Felipe Photiades Gerardo Rozín Hugo Sigman
Written by	Damián Szifron
Starring	Ricardo Darín Oscar Martínez Leonardo Sbaraglia Érica Rivas Rita Cortese Julieta Zylberberg Darío Grandinetti
Music by	Gustavo Santaolalla
Cinematography	Javier Juliá
Edited by	Pablo Barbieri Carrera Damián Szifron
Production company	Kramer & Sigman Films El Deseo Telefe Productions Corner Contenidos
Distributed by	Warner Sogefilms
Release dates	17 May 2014 (2014-05-17) (Cannes) 21 August 2014 (2014-08-21) (Argentina)
Running time	122 minutes[1]
Country	Argentina Spain
Language	Spanish
Budget	$4 million[2]
Box office	$27 million

Wild Tales (Spanish: Relatos salvajes) is a 2014 Argentine black comedy anthology film composed of six standalone shorts, all written and directed by Damián Szifron, united by a common theme of violence and vengeance.

It stars an ensemble cast consisting of Ricardo Darín, Oscar Martínez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Érica Rivas, Rita Cortese, Julieta Zylberberg, and Darío Grandinetti, and was co-produced by Agustín Almodóvar and Pedro Almodóvar. The film's musical score was composed by Gustavo Santaolalla. It was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards, won the Best Film Not in the English Language at the 69th British Academy Film Awards, and also won the Best Ibero-American Film at the 2nd Platino Awards.

Plot

The film is composed of six short segments: "Pasternak", "Las Ratas" ("The Rats"), "El más fuerte" ("The Strongest"), "Bombita" ("Little Bomb"), "La Propuesta" ("The Proposal"), and "Hasta que la muerte nos separe" ("Till Death Do Us Part"). In the American localisation, the third and the fifth had their names changed to "Road to Hell" and "The Bill".

"Pasternak"

Two airplane passengers discover that they know a man named Pasternak: the woman (María Marull) is his former girlfriend, and the man (Darío Grandinetti) is a music critic who savagely reviewed his work. They discover that everybody on the flight is connected to Pasternak, and all of their relationships with him ended negatively. A flight attendant reveals that Pasternak is the plane's cabin chief and has locked himself into the cockpit. Pasternak crashes the plane into his parents' house.

"Las Ratas"

A loan shark (César Bordón) stops at a small restaurant by a highway. The waitress (Julieta Zylberberg) recognizes him as a man who ruined her family. She refuses the cook's offer to mix rat poison in his food, but the cook (Rita Cortese) adds the poison anyway. When the man's son arrives and eats the same food, the waitress tries to take the poisoned food away. The man attacks her, but the cook kills him with a chef's knife. The son vomits and the police arrest the cook.

"El más fuerte"

Diego (Leonardo Sbaraglia ) is driving through the desert and tries to overtake a slower, older car, but it blocks him. As he finally passes, Diego insults the other driver, Mario (Walter Donado). Further up the road, Diego gets a flat tire and Mario catches up. Mario parks his car in front of Diego's, blocking him; he smashes his windshield and defecates and urinates on his roof. Diego pushes Mario and his car into the river and drives off. Mario survives and Diego returns to run him down, but loses control and crashes into the river. Mario enters Diego's car through the trunk and they fight; Mario leaves Diego strangling by a seatbelt, then lights part of his ripped shirt and places it in the gas tank. Diego grabs Mario and prevents him escaping. A tow truck driver arrives as the car explodes. The police discover the two charred bodies holding onto each other and mistake them for lovers who died in a tragic accident.

"Bombita"

Simón Fischer (Ricardo Darín), a demolitions expert, picks up a cake for his daughter's birthday party and discovers his car has been towed away. He goes to the towed-car lot and argues, insisting there were no yellow lines indicating no parking, but to no avail. He pays the towing fee and misses his daughter's party. The next day, when he is again refused a refund, he attacks the glass partition and is arrested. The story makes the news and Fischer's company fires him. His wife (Nancy Dupláa) seeks a divorce and sole custody of their daughter. Fischer applies unsuccessfully for a job and discovers his car has been towed again. He retrieves the car and packs it with explosives in a tow zone. After it is towed again, he detonates the explosives, destroying the towing office with no casualties. Fischer is imprisoned and becomes a local hero, with calls on social media for his release. His wife and daughter visit him in prison for his birthday, bringing him a cake in the form of a tow truck.

"La Propuesta"

A teenager, in his father's car, arrives home after doing a hit-and-run on a pregnant woman. On the local news, the woman and child are reported dead, and her husband swears vengeance. The driver's parents (Oscar Martínez and María Onetto) form a plan with his lawyer (Osmar Núñez ) to have their groundskeeper Jose (Germán de Silva) take the blame for half a million dollars. The local prosecutor (Diego Velázquez) sees through the scheme because the car's mirrors were not adjusted for the caretaker. The lawyer negotiates to include the prosecutor in the deal for more money. The caretaker asks for an apartment along with his money, and the prosecutor asks for an additional payment to pay off the police. The guilty son says he wants to confess to the gathered crowd. Frustrated, the father calls off the deal, telling his son to confess. The lawyer renegotiates and the father agrees on a lower price. As Jose is taken away by the police, the dead woman's husband strikes him on the head with a hammer, before being shot by the police.

"Hasta que la muerte nos separe"

At a Jewish wedding^[3] party, the bride, Romina (Érica Rivas), discovers that her groom, Ariel (Diego Gentile), has cheated on her with one of the guests. She confronts him as they dance in front of everyone, and runs off in distress to the roof, where a kitchen worker comforts her. Ariel discovers her having sex with the worker. She vindictively announces to him that she will sleep with every man who shows her interest, and take him for all he is worth if he tries to divorce her, or when he dies. They return to the party and continue the festivities. Romina pulls the woman Ariel slept with onto the dance floor, spins her round, and slams her into a mirror. She insists that the photographer film Ariel and his mother weeping, declaring that she will show it at a future wedding. The mother attacks her, and is pulled off by her husband and Romina's father; Romina collapses. Ariel approaches her and extends a hand. They dance, kiss, and begin to have sex by the cake as the guests leave.

Production

In 2007 director Damián Szifron had a break from directing and producing TV series and focused on writing.^[2] Alongside working on three major projects at the same time—a science fiction film series, a western and a love story—Szifron was writing short stories just to "let off steam", and eventually realized they were related.^[4][5][6] There were initially twelve tales, out of which he chose the "wilder" ones.^[7] The second, third and fourth segments were partially based on real-life situations Szifron went through.^[5] At first, all stories were written as independent ones, and each of them could have been made into a film. However, Szifron thought that grouped they would have more impact so he decided to "reduce the conflicts to its minimum and find their climaxes."^[8] Often described as a black humor film, Szifron stressed the stories were not planned as comedies but rather as a thriller or as a drama depending on the part;^[6] in fact "they begin as dramas. The humor is a consequence of what these characters feel in a very dramatic situation."^[9]

All stories are very different; production designer Clara Notari said "They have their own visual identity, as if each were a different movie, with its own spatial dimensions, colors, style, textures and set decoration".^[2] Despite of this, Szifron stressed they "are vital organs of the same body" that sustain the film^[10] and "together [they] are more robust and make a larger universe".^[8] Anyway, the director said the film strength is not in the connection the accounts have. He asserted that "they are independent stories, with separate independent characters and conflicts".^[8] Szifron explained that it was because he was inspired by concept and jazz albums, and by the circus. For the albums, the tracks although a unity have their "own identity"; during a circus spectacle there are different acts that have value for different reasons but they are one all.^[5] Szifron was also influenced by television anthology series Amazing Stories,^[11] Alfred Hitchcock Presents and The Twilight Zone,^[9] as well as film New York Stories, and book Nine Stories.^[11]

Despite the clear common theme of violence and vengeance,^[12][13] what connects the accounts, according to the director, is "the fuzzy boundary that separates civilization from barbarism, the vertigo of losing your temper, and the undeniable pleasure of losing control".^[14] This is explored through the concept that human beings have animalistic features. Szifron considers the main difference between human and animals is the capacity one has to restrain oneself as opposed to animals who are guided by their instincts. Humans "have a fight or flee mechanism, but it comes with a very high cost. Most of us live with the frustration of having to repress oneself, but some people explode. This is a movie about those who explode". It deals with "daily life" aspects and "is a movie about the desire for freedom, and how this lack of freedom, and the rage and anguish it produces, can cause us to run off the rails."^[10] The main issue, according to Szifron, "is the pleasure of reacting, the pleasure of reacting toward injustice."^[9]

The film was a co-production between the Argentine Kramer & Sigman Films, Telefe Productions and Corner Contenidos and the Spanish company El Deseo, owned by Augustín and Pedro Almodóvar^[14][15][16]—the Almodóvars were first interested to work with Szifron after watching his 2005 film On Probation.^[2] With a budget of $4 million—70% from Argentina and 30% from Spain,^[2] Wild Tales had a eight-week shoot between April and May 2013,^[2] and had locations in cities of Buenos Aires, Salta and Jujuy provinces.^[8][14] The third act was specifically filmed on the route that connects Salta and Cafayate^[17] because, as Szifron declared, "the script required a desolate route with stunning scenery and degrees of sobriety" to have a contrast between the violence of the fight and the beauty of the environment.^[18] In the end of the filming, there was material for "three different movies with different takes" so Szifron went through a six-month process of editing the film, which was done in his house.^[6]

Darín and Marínez were actors Zifron already wanted to work with and as such they were given the opportunity to choose the role they wanted.^[5]

Release and reception

Accolades and public reception

The film debuted on 17 May 2014 at the Cannes Film Festival,^[19] where it was selected to compete for its main prize, the Palme d'Or,^[20] and had a ten-minute standing ovation.^[21] The film's popularity exploded, according to The Hollywood Reporter, becoming a fan favorite during its exhibitions at Telluride and Toronto film festivals.^[22] After its praised festival tour,^[15] it was nominated for the Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.^[15][23] Out of nine nominations at the 29th Goya Awards, it won the Best Ibero-American Film.^[24] During the 2nd Platino Awards, it won eight out of ten, including Best Picture and Best Director.^[25][26] The film also won the Audience Award for Best European Film at the San Sebastián International Film Festival,^[27] and the award for the Best Non-English Language Film at the BAFTA Awards.^[28]

The film opened in Argentina on 21 August 2014,^[29] and during its first weekend it set the country opening record with 450,000 tickets (approximately $2.5 million).^[15] After 24 days, it became the most seen film in Argentina in the year with more than two million spectators in the 275 cinemas.^[16] By September, it was estimated that it had sold more than 2.4 million tickets, making it the most-seen Argentine film of all time.^[30] It sold over 3.9 million tickets and grossed $17.5 million in Argentina.^[29][31] Exhibited in other 33 countries, it grossed $27,006,530 worldwide.^[29]

Critical reception

In Argentina, its appraisal was described by Clarín as "a phenomenal reception".^[32] On Rotten Tomatoes, based on 138 reviews, Wild Tales holds a 95% "fresh" rating, with an average score of 8/10, and with the critical consensus being: "Wickedly hilarious and delightfully deranged, Wild Tales is a subversive satire that doubles as a uniformly entertaining anthology film".^[33] Metacritic reports an average score of 77, based on 33 reviews, indicating "generally favorable reviews".^[34] Time commentator Richard Corliss compared the film to an Ambrose Bierce's and Roald Dahl's story, called it "the year's most fearlessly funny film", and chose it as the ninth best film of 2014.^[35]

Ty Burr from Boston Globe stated it has a "masterful sense of cinematic storytelling",^[36] while Michael O'Sullivan of The Washington Post affirmed "Szifrón handles the tone and presentation masterfully",^[37] Ariston Anderson from Filmmaker commented, "There is truly never a dull moment ... Wild Tales is a laugh-out-loud riot from start to finish",^[6] and Mar Diestro-Dópido of Sight & Sound said, "Each morsel of well-rounded, perfectly structured storytelling becomes part of a coherent, exuberant whole".^[11] Clarín film critic, Pablo O. Scholz, said "The film pulls us in from the start until the end". Although he commented each story tone is different, Scholz stated the "tension ... never decays, and keeps the viewer with a knot in the stomatch for two hours".^[32] In opposition, Charles Solomon of the Los Angeles Times was critical of its pace: "Revenge may be a dish best served cold, but Argentine writer-director Damián Szifron allows it to sit until it congeals in the dreary six-part anthology 'Wild Tales.'"^[38] Robert Horton from Seattle Weekly further criticized it for relying on twists, "a technique that doesn't quite disguise how in-your-face the lessons are" and ultimately dubbed the film "a scattering of gotchas".^[39]

The humor was called "a subversive [one] that manages to be both psychologically astute and all-out outrageous" by Jay Weissberg of Variety.^[12] Diestro-Dópido said "The humour of Wild Tales is pitch-black, its irony razor-sharp, its sarcasm painfully perverse and its unpredictability ludicrous, violent but also bitingly funny".^[11] Manohla Dargis from The New York Times compared its use of humor and coincidence to O. Henry's work,^[40] as well as did Chris Nashawaty of Entertainment Weekly because of its "ironic twist endings".^[41]

The cast was deemed consistent through the episodes by The Hollywood Reporter's David Rooney,^[42] and said to be "superb" by Diestro-Dópido.^[11] Érica Rivas received particular appraisal for her "star-making performance", as dubbed by Bruce Ingram of Chicago Sun-Times.^[43] While David Edelstein of Vulture.com said the cast is "incredibly credible given the characters' outlandish behavior,"^[44] Horton was critical of the characterization, stating characters have "illogical behavior", mostly in the last segment.^[39] Similarly, Richard Brody of The New Yorker said it "offers little in the way of context or characterization" and then then "characters behave so rudely and crudely, there's no reason to care about what happens to them."^[45] On the other hand, O'Sullivan declared, "The protagonists are exaggerated without being caricatures",^[37] and Jordan Hoffman of the New York Daily News affirmed, "All are funny because all feel true".^[46] Claudia Puig of USA Today, Steven Rea of Philly.com and Diestro-Dópido also felt the characters are believable and relatable because most viewers would feel familiar with the situations or frustrations characters go through.^[11][47][48]

"Visuals are flawless", stated Weissberg, who praised both its special effects and its cinematography by Javier Julia, who has "a lean sense of irony that adds to the general pleasure".^[12] The reason it is a "good-looking film ... crafted in high style" is, in Rooney's opinion, credited to "lots of eye-catching touches from production designer Clara Notari and unconventional camera angles from cinematographer Javier Julia."^[42] For Peter Howell of Toronto Star, Julia "imparts a visual appreciation of the absurd that's somewhere between a Looney Tunes cartoon and Grand Guignol theatre."^[49] The music by Gustavo Santaollala was deemed "a terrific spaghetti Western-flavored score" by Rooney.^[42] Weissberg affirmed the soundtrack "fits the tone without pushing any wink-wink superiority".^[12]

Weissberg commented that while "the overall enjoyment rarely flags", "not all the episodes are equally successful".^[12] For example, Weissberg and O'Sullivan said "The Bill" felt displaced within the film because of its "darker tone",^[12] and its "mood of bitter cynicism.^[37] According to Howell, "It lacks the manic love of the ridiculous that runs through other sketches",^[49] and Puig affirmed it "borders on melodrama."^[47] Rooney further considered it and "Bombita" had "a more sober tone that lets the air out of the balloon of delirious mayhem created by the opening three episodes."^[42] In fact, the first segment was said to be "a perfect starter" by Puig,^[47] and Horton said "the rest of this anthology feature doesn't live up to the wicked curtain-raiser".^[39] Also, Rea considered it to the best segment along with the last one.^[48] While Hoffman commented, "The final set piece is the most outrageous",^[46] Nashawaty deemed "The Bill" the best segment,^[41] and David Edelstein of Vulture.com considered "Bombita" "the purest of all the tales, the one that distills the mad-as-hell vigilante".^[44] Nashawaty criticized "Road to Hell" because it "feel[s] like cheeky [a] one-joke setup in search of a second or third joke".^[41] In opposition, Weissberg affirmed "Szifron's consummate skill at narration and setup, combined with inventive absurdity, makes it fresh and thoroughly entertaining."^[12]

Both in Europe and Latin America film critics dubbed it "Characters on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown", alluding to Almodóvar's Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown, which Almodóvar himself considered a fair comparison.^[10] For example, on Almodovar influence, Rooney said "It's there in the off-kilter humor, in the stylish visuals and bold use of music, and in the affection for ordinary people pushed to extraordinary extremes."^[42] Bob Mondello of NPR said the last segment "is weird, sexy and violent enough to make you think of the wild tales of director Pedro Almodóvar".^[50] Other similarities were noted, including to Pulp Fiction,^[9][13][41] Steven Spielberg's Duel,^[9][13] Michael Douglas-featuring Falling Down,^[9] and Emir Kusturica.^[13] While "Pasternak" was often compared to The Twilight Zone because of its series of revelations,^[39][47][50] the third segment was often compared to a cartoon, especifically to a Road Runner and Wile E. Coyote cartoon,^[40][49] and was said to have slapstick touches^[43][50] and to be "Tarantino-esque".^[47][50] It was also labeled "a cross between Steven Spielberg's Duel and a violent Tom and Jerry cartoon" by Nashawaty,^[41] and "a combination of Deliverance and an R-rated Wile E. Coyote cartoon" by Liam Lacey of The Globe and Mail.^[51]

Cultural impact

The New York Times reported it became "a genuine social phenomenon" and some characters gained a cult status. For example, it inspired "I am Bombita" to become a catchphrase similar to "going postal" in the United States. Rivas, from the last story, said she is stopped at streets and requested several times to say "Film this for me, Nestor!".^[10] It has also sparked debates about its "sociological and political side", according to La Capital that promoted a debate with sociologists after reporting the general public reaction after watching the film was to say "The phenomena are not explained".^[52]

After the 2015 crash of Germanwings Flight 9525, BFI and Curzon cinemas modified their home cinema listings of this film stating that there was a similarity between the fictional crash at the start of the film and the real Germanwings crash.^[53]

See also

• List of submissions to the 87th Academy Awards for Best Foreign Language Film
• List of Argentine submissions for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film

References

External links

• Official website (Spanish)
• Official website (English)
• Wild Tales at the Internet Movie Database
• Wild Tales at AllMovie
• Wild Tales at Box Office Mojo
• Wild Tales at Metacritic
• Wild Tales at Rotten Tomatoes