Wild Tales

An Oscar nominee for Best Foreign Film, Argentinean director Damián Szifron's Wild Tales serves up an unconventional anthology built around revenge. The film opens with “Pasternak,” which follows a fateful encounter on a plane, as a suave music critic (Darío Grandinetti) begins a conversation with a beautiful model (Mara Marull) who is seated across the aisle. Within moments, the pair discover that they are not the only ones in business class who have a connection to the model's ex-boyfriend, Gabriel Pasternak. “Rats” revolves around a roadside diner waitress (Julieta Zylberberg) who discovers that her only customer (César Bordón) is the loan shark who drove her father to suicide. When the ex-con cook (Rita Cortese) learns the truth, retribution seems inevitable. The cautionary “Road to Hell” finds a rich, arrogant businessman (Leonardo Sbaraglia) in his shiny new Audi rudely giving the finger to a redneck (Walter Donado) in an old Peugeot. When the Audi gets a flat tire, road rage reigns. In “Bombita,” a Buenos Aires demolition engineer (Ricardo Darin), whose car keeps getting towed, ends up destroying his career and marriage. In “The Deal,” a wealthy patriarch (Oscar Martínez) pays his gardener (Germán de Silva) to take the blame for a hit-and-run accident caused by his spoiled son. And finally, “Til Death Do Us Part” is set during a festive wedding reception in which the bride (Érica Rivas) discovers that the groom (Diego Gentile) is cheating on her. Szifron links these diverse short stories around the same behavioral theme: what happens when people are pushed to the edge. Inventive, intriguing, and compelling, this is recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include a “Wild Shooting: Creating the Film” making-of featurette (25 min.), “An Evening at the Toronto International Film Festival” segment with director Damián Szifron” (7 min.), and trailers. Bottom line: a solid extras package for this Oscar-nominated foreign film.] (S. Granger)