Wild Tales, from Argentine filmmaker-TV producer Damian Szifron, is an anthology. Six separate stories and casts are linked by a dark, nihilistic throughline. Each episode concerns a character who feels wronged, in some cases so strongly that he becomes unhinged, capable of monstrous acts to avenge what might seem a minor slight. Argentina is a center for laughing at deep-seated societal faults that elsewhere might be cause for wrist-slitting. (Opens Friday.)
The anthology vehicle is so rarely employed in the U.S. that it's probably useful to recall the best of the breed, New York Stories (1989), or the brilliant Pulp Fiction (1994) from Quentin Tarantino, who hit notes he's never quite approached again. As a testimonial to how good these Wild Tales are, the acclaimed Spanish director Pedro Almodovar is one of the executive producers.
Pasternak The curtain-raiser sets the tone for what's to come. A young woman on a plane strikes up a casual conversation with a seatmate only to discover they have a past acquaintance in common: the girl dumped him, while the man, a music critic, savaged his work. Pretty soon others in the plane's cabin start chiming in with their own sad Pasternak adventures, in which invariably the poor chump came out on the short end. The tale ends in an act of revenge worthy of the devil himself. If you stay through this one, you're hooked for a very bumpy ride.
Las Ratas (The Rats) In this gleefully diabolical story, a professional loan shark stops by a rural roadside restaurant. The female waitron is shocked to see this very rude man again, a guy who orchestrated her family's downfall. Sharing her anguish with the cook, the young woman rejects the idea of adding rat poison to the guy's meal, but the cook does it anyway. The ensuing chaos is punctuated by the fact that the bad guy is joined for dinner by his teenage son, who chows down on the poison. This one may make you feel like never dining out again unless the food is prepared right at your table.
El mas fuerte (The Strongest) Perhaps the anthology's masterpiece unfolds on a deserted highway where two lone drivers �" Mario, behind the wheel of a broken-down oil-burner; and Diego, commanding a high-end sedan �" engage in a furious game of one-upsmanship for which "road rage" is far too timid a description. When Diego finally passes the old junker, he gives Mario the finger. A few miles down the freeway, Diego gets a flat, pulls off the road, and sets himself up for a life-and-death struggle. The two men engage in displays of primal fury that include disgusting exchanges of bodily waste products. When the dust settles, the highway patrol finds two burning hulks by the road and conclude that they've come upon a "crime of passion."
Bombita (Little Bomb) raises the stakes in the road rage genre as Simon, a demolition specialist used to imploding large buildings, finds his car has been towed while he stopped off to pick up his daughter's birthday cake. This one approaches the cartoonish level of tit-for-tat violence that marked the heyday of Warner Bros. cartoons and is still celebrated in the roadrunner's bouts with the hapless coyote.
La Propuesta (The Deal) illustrates the laws of unintended consequences as a spoiled rich kid dares the fates when he hits a pregnant woman and fails to render aid. When the brat tells his wealthy papa, the man phones his attorney. The two cook up a deal whereby the family handyman will take the fall in return for a large cash payout. One foul deed leads to another, and as the tabloid TV fans public outrage, corrupt officials and lawyers converge on the home, demanding bribes for themselves and an endless parade of greedy civil servants. This one takes an unexpected violent turn that no one saw coming but that's wonderfully appropriate.
Hasta que la muerte nos separe (Until Death Do Us Part) unfolds at a high-end wedding bash where the new bride discovers that her new hubby has betrayed her with a wedding guest. The wife begins to exact her revenge, first making out on a rooftop with a hotel worker. She then returns to the banquet, grabbing her rival and spinning her around the dance floor. Eventually she starts screaming at her groom and his mom, mom goes nuts, and the whole affair threatens to go up in flames until the fates intervene and provide the closest thing to a happy ending that these passionate people are capable of.
Pasternak cast: Dario Grandinetti (Salgado), Mar'a Marull (Isabel) and Monica Villa (Professor Leguizamon).
The Rats cast: Rita Cortese (Cook), Julieta Zylberberg (Moza) and Cesar Bordon (Cuenca).
The Strongest cast: Leonardo Sbaraglia (Diego) and Walter Donado (Mario).
Bombita cast: Ricardo Darin (Simon) and Nancy Duplaa (Victoria).
The Deal cast: Oscar Martinez (Mauricio) and Maria Onetto (Helena).
Til Death Do Us Part cast: Erica Rivas (Romina) and Diego Gentile (Ariel).