Metal Maniac

Movie Suggestion XXXVIII: Relatos salvajes

Country: Country: Argentina | Spain – 2014

Genre: Comedy, Drama, Thriller

Directed by: Damián Szifrón

Starring: Ricardo Darín, Darío Grandinetti, María Marull, Mónica Villa.

Synopsis: “Inequality, injustice and the demands of the world we live in cause stress and depression for many people. Some of them, however, explode. This is a movie about those people. Vulnerable in the face of a reality that shifts and suddenly turns unpredictable, the characters of Wild Tales cross the thin line that divides civilization and barbarism. A lover’s betrayal, a return to the repressed past and the violence woven into everyday encounters drive the characters to madness as they cede to the undeniable pleasure of losing control.” (Sony Classics – rottentomatoes.com)

“This Argentinean feature is black, but definitely not bleak. A wry and biting sense of humor runs through all the vignettes, Otherwise, the movie would have been unbearably heavy.

The film is a subversive satire that shines a light on the daily inequities that plague us, and the reality that most people simply either overlook, ignore or apathetically accept them.

The stories vary in locations from an airplane in flight, to a diner, a highway and a wedding. Giving too many details about each story would ruin the surprise. Better, you go in with an open mind and no clues or expectations.

Just realize that some of the shorts will shock you, others will make you gasp and some may elicit laughter. But they all make the same point — that we hold onto our humanity by the slimmest of threads and it takes very little to throw us off balance.” (reelbob.com)

“Damián Szifron’s anthology of OTT tales of revenge (under the “Pedro Almodóvar presents” banner) is a splendidly anarchic portrait of a world on the verge of a nervous breakdown. Fired by “the undeniable pleasure of losing control”, Szifron’s scabrously satirical compendium owes as much to the American TV show Tales from the Crypt as to the scandalous European subversions of Luís Buñuel. From aeroplanes to cars, from cafes to sitting rooms, bourgeois repression is not so much dissected as gleefully detonated from within. Here are stories of lives destroyed by parking fines, of road-rage insults escalating into apocalyptic Duel-like confrontations, of white wedding parties descending into something more akin to the final scenes from Carrie – all defined by the sudden and violent breakdown of “polite” behaviour. The results are shocking and sharp as a knife, but be warned – the unfolding real-life tragedy in the Alps casts a grim unforeseen shadow over the opening segment.” (theguardian.com)

“If Marco Ferreri, Dino Risi and Pedro Almodovar had a son, he would be an Argentinian named Damian Szifron. Each segment packs a sinister and hilarious punch and satirises social classes, justice, burocracy and marriage. Delightfully macabre. (Pierluigi Puccini – rottentomatoes.com)

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