WILD TALES  3.5***

               This is an Argentine film with subtitles that was nominated for Oscar’s 2014 Best Foreign Language Film . It is a movie comprised of a series of vignettes/short stories about human beings from all walks of  life who are all tested and taken to their limits ... until they finally lose control.  

 

I knew from the opening credits that “Wild Tales”, was going to be fun and “wild”.  Images of animals were associated with the actors' and Director’s names which prepares the audience for the wild animal-like behavior to come.

The film is comprised of six separate vignettes, short stories, if you will. These vignettes all begin innocently enough, passengers boarding a plane, a man driving through the desert, a restaurant on a stormy night, a wedding, everyday slices of modern day life. I especially enjoyed and was amazed by the wedding reception story which has to be the wildest and craziest one I’ve ever seen !!!! Something occurs to break the routine, the main character responds, then the scene escalates, and escalates, and just  when you think it’s reached its  peak, it escalates even more, and finally in the end reaches a weirdly strange balance of comedy and tragedy. In many ways the behavior reminds us of ourselves, both at our best and at our worst... and makes us squirm and laugh at the same time.

 

The film  is a masterfully crafted dark comedy of  shrewdness and wit. It can be hilarious, demented, violent, and more often than not just plain weird. The segments had in common the themes of revenge and the loss of control…. those inner longing we all have for letting go and being  carried away by our deepest  impulses but then  we never let that happen.  

 

Rated R for violence, language and brief sexuality.

 

NOTE: This movie would be hard to find.. it’s a limited release Independent movie. BUT try to find it on DVD or a movie channel or service.