Wild Tales (Damián Szifron, 2014) is an Argentinian comedy/drama of the portmanteau genre. The film contains six short ‘tales’ which are all connected by the thematic concepts of revenge, catharsis and vengeance.
Each tale varies in length, setting and narrative. These include a plane hijacking, an attempted poisoning, a discontented engineer, a hit and run and an extremely chaotic wedding. The plots are told through a variety of interesting narrative techniques, prioritising the “show don’t tell” cornerstone of storytelling throughout each of the tales. I also noticed that the lighting of each of the tales seemed oddly vibrant and superficial which emphasises the grandiose theatricality of each of the stories.
The stories themselves each follow a similar narrative structure, gradually introducing the concept and characters through subtle pieces of information which ultimately builds to a dramatic crescendo. Information is deliberately hidden from the viewer in order to create an immensely satisfying conclusion within each of the six tales.
Four of the six stories were partially based on real-life situations director Damián Szifron experienced throughout his life. After its release, the film received a large amount of critical acclaim, exemplifying the portmanteau genre attempted to great success. The film received a number of accolades, including the BAFTA Award for Best Film Not in the English Language.
Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed Wild Tales from start to finish. I was fully engaged within each of the six stories and although I definitely preferred some of the tales to others, each had something new to bring to the table. Unfortunately, I thought that some stories ended prematurely and in an unsatisfying manner but this did not detract from my overall enjoyment of the film.
My personal favourite of the tales was the third story: “El más fuerte” (The Strongest) as I was utterly enthralled by its simple but gripping narrative. Each action that occurs within this story is just as unpredictable as the last and I was kept on edge for the entire duration of the narrative.
I believe that Szifron’s main message conveyed throughout the film is that revenge is not always the correct course of action. Throughout each tale, Szifron demonstrates to the viewer that the act of vengeance often provokes the animalistic impulses within our instinctive human nature, and often leads to violence and destruction.
Overall, I would rate Wild Tales ★★★★.
Otis Morley’s A-Level Film Studies Blog 