Six apocalyptic Argentine stories of revenge combine in this hugely enjoyable and extreme anthology. Ordinary people provoked into acts of madness are the theme of Wild Tales, an Oscar-nominated extreme satire about modern life by Argentinian writer/director Damián Szifrón. With the darkest of humor, it graphically illustrates what happens when the stress of 21st century living causes regular citizens to “go postal.” The aptly named Wild Tales, a Best Foreign Language Film nominee at the most recent Academy Awards, is produced by Spanish director Pedro Almodóvar, whose own films frequently approach social meltdowns in a slapstick vein. Szifrón’s movie, a portmanteau of six distinct stories, also provokes shocked laughter, as it did at its Cannes world premiere last May and at TIFF last September. You almost feel guilty for laughing.
