The Spanish film industry is currently booming after years of financial struggle. The Spanish Film Festival this year is expected to be its biggest, with a large array of daring, creative films. If you were to catch one festival film, the closing film would be a fantastic choice: Damián Szifron’s Wild Tales.
Wild Tales is an anthology film united by the theme of vengeance. It is explored in six disparate stories following diverse groups of people from all walks of Spanish life and examines the different circumstances that cause different kinds of vengeance. From a waitress’ haunted past to road rage to a wedding from hell, vengeance is ever-present.
Anthology films are a tested format and most have strong sections let down by weaker ones. Wild Tales suffers none of this, with each story deliciously made and each solid parts to a masterful black comedy feature.
Writer/director Szifron’s heightened vision is so strong, so entertaining that it is hard to fault. The cast is glorious with too many standout performances to list. As the stories progress knowing the inevitable vengeance is coming is hardly predictable but rather becomes part of the game.
The entire thing is bold, imaginative, cringe-worthy, gloriously crass, graphically violent and damn funny. It is pure visceral cinema that Hollywood can only dream of making.
