Review CVI - Relatos salvajes

Review 106
Wild Tales (2014)

You know when you want to go see a movie in theatres, but you can't find anything worth watching because Hollywood just regurgitates and throws up the same ol' film ideas every year, changing them only slightly to promote the latest craze/politically minded ideas, like homosexuality? Well, I had that problem last week, but thankfully, there's one theatre a little ways away that plays some older films or foreign films that I always check out to see if I can watch a film that day. In this case, I came across Damián Szifrón's Relatos salvajes, or Wild Tales as it is known in English. I hadn't heard of the film before this, but when I saw it had been nominated for an Oscar and a Cannes (awesome!) and was Argentinian (don't ask), I was down. One of the people I went to see the movie with asked if it'd be an Amores perros type of deal, with the stories all connected. It didn't end up like that, but... Anyway, we'll check it out.

I can't exactly make one big summary of the film because there were six separate stories. So how about we talk about each one briefly, yes?

Pasternak
A model boards a plane and begins talking to the man next to her. After coincidentally discovering they know a mutual "acquaintance", things go from lucky to abnormal.

Las ratas (The Rats)
A man walks into a diner. The sole waitress serving him realises he is a loan shark that led to her father committing suicide. However, will she be able to kill him, even though her family was destroyed by his actions?

El más fuerte (The Strongest)
While cruising in the country of Argentina, a man driving a new, luxurious car messes with a hillbilly (tip 10: don't mess with hillbillies), only to lead to a fight of the fittest.

Bombita (Little Bomb)
After getting screwed over by the city's towing company, his wife, and his job, a demolitions expert might just have the solution to his problem.

La propuesta (The Proposal)
A father must decide whether to allow his son to take the fall for killing a pregnant woman in a hit-and-run incident or implement a whole scheme to put the blame on someone else, even if this means spending more money than he would like.

Hasta que la muerte nos separe (Until Death Do Us Part)
Discovering her newly husband's affair wasn't part of the plan, but this bride is ready to make her husband pay in the craziest wedding party of their lives.

So, I guess that just about summarises each story. I was going to go through each story and talk about it, but honestly, it would just be long and probably redundant. Instead, let me say that the film was fun. The prologue, Pasternak, really set up the film well, made you expect the violence, the suspense, the (dark) humour. It was only a continuing roller coaster of emotions throughout the rest of the movie. The stories don't connect like in Amores perros, but it works well. Each story was short enough to not drag on too long, but long enough to really connect and understand the story. It also made the movie seem less than the two hours it was. I remember being surprised at what time it was when we walked out of the theatre just because it felt like I had just started the movie. I think the short-stories-following-a-common-theme idea really works, and I liked this common theme of vengeance (and family?). I'm not surprised this film was nominated, and I'm glad I happened upon it!

Cinematography was great. I mean, there were some shots that were damn creative. Without saying anything, notice the opening of doors in La propuesta and Hasta que la muerte nos separe - it makes for a cool way of giving movement to the characters and the environment. The Argentine outback is also damn beautiful and I liked how El más fuerte showed that off. And, well, Bombita was totally my boyfriend, so we had a good laugh with that one. But I think we all feel like a little vengeance every now and then, no? This film sometimes takes it overboard, but I think if driven to our cracking point, we could all end up doing some pretty crazy things.

The film also looks at Argentine life, I'm sure, but having never been there/knowing few Argentinians, I can't make a comment about it. Still, you can see little bits that make it Argentinian (apart from it being spoken in Spanish with the Argentinian accent), even from a foreigner perspective. But the film is accessible to everyone, and while I'm sure I miss out on the film a bit, it nonetheless is a great piece with great cinematography, great actors, and I'm sure a deeper meaning that I have an idea about, but haven't fully developed. Plus the acting was super legit from Darío Grandinetti to María Marull, from Rita Cortese to Leonardo Sbaraglia, from Ricardo Darín to Érica Rivas, from... You get the idea. Let's say the movie passed my expectations and then some.

If you come across this movie in the theatres and are debating watching it or [insert Hollywood franchise here], watch this. Trust me, it's worth it, and you might actually get a bit more out of it.