Wild tales (Damián Szifrón, 2014): Argentina, Spain

Reviewed by Mina Gilbertsson. Viewed at the AFIFest 2014.

Damián Szifrón brings murderer and violence to the table in his latest film, Wild Tales, which contains short films about karma and revenge. The humorous vignettes is based on everyday revenge fantasies on rude strangers. There is a total of six short films which gets more and more serious while reflecting the social issues in the Argentinian society.

The first sketch features a group of strangers who comes to realization that they all knew the failed musician Gabriel Pasternak. After the introductional airplane sequence a woman is met with the decision to poison an advocate who ruined her life as a child. Tale two consist an Audi-driving businessman and a truck driver through the deserted roads fighting over the rude comment spoken earlier. Next, we follow a businessman who seeks revenge after his car got towed two times. The following sketch is about a teenager who accidentally runs over a pregnant woman only to find out that his parents are looking for a way to hide his crime. The closing tale is by far the most extravagant sequence where a new bride finds out a dirty secret about her husband and ends up in a dramatic revenge at the after-party.

It might be strange to go to the theater to watch six short films in a row instead of an feature length film, but the six somehow realistic sequences is perfectly selected. It infuses the laughter and the satisfaction you would get from a feature length film. To say the least, Wild Tales takes you on a hysterical ride.