Rent Wild Tales on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Damián Szifron, Julian Loyola, Germán Servidio (collaborating writers)
Directed by: Damián Szifron
Starring: Ricardo Darín, Oscar Martínez, Leonardo Sbaraglia, Érica Rivas, Rita Cortese, Julieta Zylberberg, Darío Grandinetti
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
Six short stories that explore the extremities of human behavior involving people in distress.
Verdict
It's well made with gripping vignettes, but it's not fun to watch as the common thread is the rage people feel when wronged, justified or not. Characters react vindictively causing chaos and destruction in their wake. Ill-conceived plans ruin everyone involved. Each story devolves as we see the worst possible outcomes. This does have an advantage in that each story is too short to become boring or require filler. All of these tales could work as feature length, but here we get the essentials of each one which makes them more powerful.
Watch It.
Review
Each story is indeed a wild tale of coincidence, rage, and revenge as each vignette keeps getting darker with all of them end tragically.
The third story best encapsulates the thread of the movie. A man driving an Audi sedan acts like a jerk. Instead of passing a slower car, he honks his horn and flashes his lights. This starts a back and forth where they antagonize each other before the Audi finally passes. He gets a flat tire, and the slower car shows up later. While it's a bit of karma, this escalates quickly. The slower car driver takes it too far, but the other driver then has to match it and exceed it. This short alone makes the movie worth watching. It's a phenomenal twenty minutes.
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| Story 3 |
Anthology movies in general can be easier due to length. While entertaining, it's easy to make a really good short story, just look at The Ballad of Buster Scruggs or Love, Death & Robots. You can build expectations, insert twists, and leave a hard hitting conclusion. It's more difficult to do that for a feature length by continuing to build characters and narrative while balancing length and density. I wanted something to connect all these stories or to reveal a greater theme. Any one of these shorts could be lengthened, and several bare similarities to full length movies. The power is in the brevity. The stories are too short for you to get bored, and they are really good.
All of the stories contain violence with half of them involving death. We have a pilot getting even with everyone that didn't believe in him. There's a waitress that gets revenge in her diner. The cook from that short needs their own movie. We also get a father going to extreme lengths to protect his son.
The fourth story is reminiscent of Falling Down where life's everyday frustrations become too much. A parking ticket is the catalyst for destructive behavior, ironic as the character is a demolitions expert.
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| Story 6 |
The sixth and final story takes place at a wedding where secrets are revealed, tempers flare, and the guests get a show they certainly weren't expecting. I couldn't help but recall the saying that includes a woman scorned.
I enjoyed this movie, but it's like watching someone walk a tight rope. Doing it for twenty minutes is impressive, doing it for one hundred and twenty and retaining my attention is a greater feat.
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