Six short films within a film provide a blackly comic and highly enjoyable portrayal of middle class meltdown within what writer/director Szifron calls the “crazy system” and “corrupt space” of modern Argentina. The influence of co-producer Pedro Almodovar, who along with his brother funded the film, is evident; Szifron also cites the work of Steven Spielberg as a major influence.
With a cast featuring several Argentine A listers, ‘Wild Tales’ has been a huge hit domestically, and is the biggest indigenous hit in Argentine cinema history. After several years as a successful TV and movie writer/director/producer in Argentina, ‘Wild Tales’ has also been a breakthrough movie internationally for the 39 year old Szifron, whose Polish Jewish grandparents escaped to Argentina during WW2 (one of the six stories in the film features a Jewish wedding).
It was hotly tipped to win the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar (eventually losing out to the Polish entry ‘Ida’), as well as being nominated for the Palme d’Or at Cannes where it was one of the great successes of the Festival.
“the best multi-story feature this reviewer has ever seen … feels as amazingly cohesive as it is relentlessly clever and entertaining… an international auteur to be reckoned with.” Godfrey Cheshire, RogerEbert.com
“splendidly anarchic portrait of a world on the verge of a nervous breakdown.” Mark Kermode, The Observer.
8 . 10 Argentinean Academy Awards including Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Original Screenplay.