SHERDOG MOVIE CLUB: Week 140 - Wild Tales

[Tufts]

I've spent a bunch of time thinking about the themes in this movie. To me personally, it is what happens when faced with extreme stress, duress and frustration. Do you react or do you let it go?

Here is a quote from the director about what the movie is about: "the fuzzy boundary that separates civilization from barbarism, the vertigo of losing your temper, and the undeniable pleasure of losing control". Humans "have a fight or flee mechanism, but it comes with a very high cost. Most of us live with the frustration of having to repress oneself, but some people explode. This is a movie about those who explode". It deals with "daily life" aspects and "is a movie about the desire for freedom, and how this lack of freedom, and the rage and anguish it produces, can cause us to run off the rails." The main issue, according to Szifron, "is the pleasure of reacting, the pleasure of reacting toward injustice." (From Wikipedia)

 

[Tufts]

To me the theme is karma.

It works some but leaves me with questions.

With the intro - bad karma on the parents, but what about all the innocent folks on the plane?
In the road rage, whose karma? They both behaved badly in parts and both died.....so both? Like a general karmic punishment? I guess that works.
In the hit and run, like @BeardotheWeirdo said, the family of the culprit got away with it and the casero paid for it instead with his life.
In the demolition, was it karma on the goverment or on the engineer? and in the end he was rewarded for bad behavior.
In the wedding I can see it. Bad karma on the cheater and the lover and I guess the bride's bad karma was the wedding being ruined...
In the diner I can see it.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

It works some but leaves me with questions.

With the intro - bad karma on the parents, but what about all the innocent folks on the plane?
In the road rage, whose karma? They both behaved badly in parts and both died.....so both? Like a general karmic punishment? I guess that works.
In the hit and run, like @BeardotheWeirdo said, the family of the culprit got away with it and the casero paid for it instead with his life.
In the demolition, was it karma on the goverment or on the engineer? and in the end he was rewarded for bad behavior.
In the wedding I can see it. Bad karma on the cheater and the lover and I guess the bride's bad karma was the wedding being ruined...
In the diner I can see it.

If the director says the movie is about x, y, & z I'll take his word for it. But I'll explain anyway.

We don't know all their stories on the plane. One girls says she cheated on the guy, then points at another passenger and says "with him". Who knows what the parents did or didn't do. Not everybody has to clearly deserve it, but they were all brought together because the guy felt wronged.

For road rage it was both their bad karma because each continued to needlessly escalate the situation.

It was lawnmower man's bad karma for taking a bribe to help subvert justice. I'll not this one is weak on the director's stated theme since whoever "exploded" by killing old boy wasn't really even a character in the film. Did we see who bludgeoned the guy?

Karma on the engineer for being a prick about everything everywhere he went. Could be the government too, since we all know how bureaucracy leads to frustrations.

 

[BeardotheWeirdo]

Was this set in Argentina? Maybe not every country does these tests?

Maybe, I don't know. I used to know a guy that worked for Fedex, I ran Pepsi's mailroom at the time. He took the Fedex job to get free flights on their airline. He failed the mental stability test, and became a disgruntled employee. He wasn't a happy guy, but he definitely wasn't postal either.

They have no seats in Fedex planes so the passenger has to fly in the cockpit. Any airline would be wise to utilize testing like this, with so much at risk.

They said he was head of the cabin crew, so chief steward on the flight. He went into the cockpit when the plane first took off to give the pilots coffee, locked the door and never came back out.

Okay, I still think they test them too, since they have access to the cockpit, but I'm not sure. I think it would be very hard for someone with so much anger issues to hold down a customer-service related job like a steward also. The scenario is possible, but it's highly unlikely.

Keep in mind this was in a small town in Argentina. It felt believable to me. There is still a lot of corruption and the little guy gets the bad end of the stick. I don't see any reason why the waitress would make up or exaggerate what happened to her family. Maybe there would be inconsistencies in the details of what happened, but the collective impact he had on her family rang true to me. She was immediately shook when she saw him.

I don't think she made anything up. I think she couldn't handle her dad being a failure so she found a mental loophole and convinced herself it was the loan sharks fault. You don't go to a loan shark for a loan in less you're on the verge of bankruptcy and desperate. (Or you have some quick money making scheme where you can double your profit in 48 hours, or something like that) She never said why her dad needed the money in the first place. Did he have gambling debts? Was he out of work and trying to save the family home? Did he have a failing business? Either way it's not the loan sharks fault her dad was in debt. And it's not the loan sharks fault he didn't pay back the money. They didn't give too many specifics. Just like the painted curbs they didn't show, they left it open-ended to make us ponder. The waitress and her mother might have been much worse off without the loan shark, for all we know.

I don't pretend that the loan shark is a nice guy, but I'm not convinced he deserves to die for his sins either. And I'm not convinced the waitress is being honest with herself, about her family.

I've done some reading into South American politics, and CIA involvement in regime change in South America. I know people "go missing" all the time down there, over politics. I totally understand why the waitress was so quick to want to kill a man she didn't know. She wanted to put her political beliefs into practice, and the loan shark is on the bad guys side. If you revert to murder to solve your problems, then you'll eventually become like those you despise. An ignorant thug, no matter how valid your cause. Even Pancho Villa killed many innocent men due to paranoia, as he became powerful. It's a slippery slope.

A girl in my high school went to Buenos Aires on vacation, the cops robbed her father and uncle at gunpoint in an alleyway. South American corruption is on another level when compared to North America.

 

[Tufts]

Did we see who bludgeoned the guy?

No. Just a member of the mob. Made me sad coz out of everyone in that short, he was the most sympathetic character and he paid the highest price

 

[Yotsuya]

Did we see who bludgeoned the guy?

I thought it was the victim's husband, who had been on telly before. Kind of happy ending as he'll think he got his revenge when sitting his sentence in jail.


I'm curious of what went on afterwards and who got paid. Attorney and prosecutor had very little leverage for their million after what happened and I'm pretty sure housekeeper's family was not told the truth unless the son confessed of course. If I was the father, I'd try somehow to provide housekeeper's family and make the 500k payment that way and try to cut the corrupt prosecutor off, but I'm not so sure about the attorney. Was he there for extra money and did he start steering for outcome that would maximize his profit when he realized what had happened or did he just get greedy after seeing what kind of money the others were making? Maybe the latter. He did his best to come up with a solution, that's for sure. I think I'd pay attorney 250k Christmas bonus.

 

[Cubo de Sangre]

Not so happy if the truth of the matter comes out. Wrong man was murdered.

They all got paid as agreed and lawnmower man's widow got his cut. There's only two weak links. One got murdered and the other is a guilty coward. Daddy will keep him quiet. Pops don't mind paying either since he renegotiated like a motherfucker.

 

[Yotsuya]

Not so happy if the truth of the matter comes out. Wrong man was murdered.

They all got paid as agreed and lawnmower man's widow got his cut. There's only two weak links. One got murdered and the other is a guilty coward. Daddy will keep him quiet. Pops don't mind paying either since he renegotiated like a motherfucker.

Yeah, I suppose daddy was not so principled or cheap that he'd take a gamble with the prosecutor, who could still get a conviction by cross-examination.

 

[chickenluver]

I tend to have an aversion to anthology films, but I enjoyed this one quite a bit. Honestly thought it went well past dark comedy and into just dark plenty of times.

Pasternak: I thought this one was hilarious. The hard cut to madre and padre Pasternak chilling in their yard with the airplane faint in the background was maybe the biggest laugh I got from the film, I thought it was hysterical.

Las ratas: I didn't think this one was very funny. I laughed at a few of the lines spoken by the older lady. She was a great character, I loved how she didn't hesitate to suggest putting poison in the gangster's food immediately on hearing the younger lady's story. The ending was far from funny, it was rather tragic really. I did enjoy this as a short crime story sprinkled with dark humor.

The Strongest: This is another I didn't really see as comedic in nature, although I suppose the ending being a punchline certainly makes it one. I only really laughed 3 times, when blue-collar guy shit on the windshield, when white-collar guy pushed other guys car over the drop, and when the tow truck driving was showing up and the car explodes, that last one I laughed really hard at for some reason. I thought this one was rather tense at times, especially when they were fighting inside the car.

Bombita: This one was ok. I laughed at him arguing with the bureaucrats. The ending scene seemed a little removed from reality.

The Proposal: I thought this one was pretty hilarious. The funniest thing to me was the way the father seemed to go back on the plan because he was frustrated at the negotiations more so than due to believing it to be the right thing to do. Really liked the performance of the actor playing the father here. There was a punchline of sorts to this one, and although it wasn't funny in the slightest, I appreciated its bitter irony.

Till Death Do Us Part (good title for this one): Probably the segment I laughed most at. Not necessarily the hardest laughs, but the most frequent. Erica Rivas as Romina the bride gives a great performance here. Very beautiful lady as well IMO. Quite an emotional roller-coaster her character goes on. I didn't really buy the reconciliation, but I guess it goes back to what that worker (the one she banged on the roof) said that if they love each other they'll forgive. I didn't expect them to go at it right there in front of everybody, but I suppose all shame was long gone by that point. I laughed at how fast everybody started exciting the room.

 

[chickenluver]

I Did we see who bludgeoned the guy?

No. Just a member of the mob. Made me sad coz out of everyone in that short, he was the most sympathetic character and he paid the highest price

I thought it was the victim's husband, who had been on telly before. Kind of happy ending as he'll think he got his revenge when sitting his sentence in jail.

The assailant was most definitely the victim's husband, had a shaved head and was wearing the same colors as when he was on tv declaring revenge.

 

[Zer]

I only really laughed 3 times, when blue-collar guy shit on the windshield, when white-collar guy pushed other guys car over the drop, and when the tow truck driving was showing up and the car explodes, that last one I laughed really hard at for some reason.

I laughed at the tow truck driver showing up because of the music in his truck. I can't remember it now but the singer had a such a sad and ridiculous voice. It was like a Mariachi The Cure, and obviously you've got two guys who are imminently going to die in flames. For all I know that song was about two motorists exploding in a fiery wreck. I'm gonna watch it again to figure out what I thought about that music.

One other thing I took from this movie - how good is Spanish? I love rapid-fire Spanish dialogue. It kind of makes me want to learn the language but I lived in Germany for 18 years and couldn't learn German so I'd probably be wasting my time

 

[Tufts]

The assailant was most definitely the victim's husband, had a shaved head and was wearing the same colors as when he was on tv declaring revenge.

Nice. That makes me feel both better and worse. Better in that there was an element of revenge for the husband who had to be beyond bereft over his loss, but worse because now his life is officially over since he will be charged with a crime. This is why I need to rewatch. There was a lot going on in this movie and it was so fast paced that I am sure I missed more stuff than this.

 

[Tufts]

Mariachi The Cure

 

[Tufts]

For all I know that song was about two motorists exploding in a fiery wreck. I'm gonna watch it again to figure out what I thought about that music.

There was something about the song that worked with the scene but I didn't write it down and I don't remember I'll pay attention when I rewatch. I tried to find a clip on line, but all the clips on youtube for some reason have that scene synced with the theme song from Flashdance

 

[Tufts]

One other thing I took from this movie - how good is Spanish? I love rapid-fire Spanish dialogue. It kind of makes me want to learn the language but I lived in Germany for 18 years and couldn't learn German so I'd probably be wasting my time

You need a good Spanish teacher The Spanish was excellent. Straight up Argentinian dialect. Loved it. Argentinian Spanish has a soft musicality that peninsular Spanish does not have. They don't speak as fast as we do either. I enjoyed the cursing, and the use of vos instead of tú.

If you want to hear fast Spanish, watch this week's Y tu mamá también. Those boys speak so fast and use so much Mexican street slang that there are moments analogous to when I watched Trainspotting. I usually do much better with British dialects than American ones, but both those movies stumped me.

 

[Zer]

You need a good Spanish teacher The Spanish was excellent. Straight up Argentinian dialect. Loved it. Argentinian Spanish has a soft musicality that peninsular Spanish does not have. They don't speak as fast as we do either. I enjoyed the cursing, and the use of vos instead of tú.

If you want to hear fast Spanish, watch this week's Y tu mamá también. Those boys speak so fast and use so much Mexican street slang that there are moments analogous to when I watched Trainspotting. I usually do much better with British dialects than American ones, but both those movies stumped me.

I've seen Y Tu Mama Tambien (Great film) along with some other Almodovar flicks (Noticed that he was involved in Wild Tales too) and I'm always hit by the charisma of the Spanish language. I like football/soccer as well so from time to time I hear Spanish (And Argentinian) footballers talking and it's kind of boring, but then footballers are kinda boring people. In cinema where it's paced and more flamboyant and they're speaking from emotion it sounds great

 

[Tufts]

Have any of you watched Fringe? I've heard its a good but underrated SciFi show?

 

[europe1]

Not sure if I'm losing my mind, but I could have sworn that when the old couple is shown under-titles appear identifying them as Senor and Senora Pasternek.

Ah...

I still think it would be funnier if they were random people, though.

and then Audi bro tapping up the inbred up with a fire extinguisher like a shit Irreversible

This reference is 100% Zer

He doesn't seem like such a bad guy. He reminds me of my dad who always gives waitresses shit for some reason. I guess maybe I wanted more of a caricature? The evilness of the character is kind of undersold and it doesn't feel like he deserves any harm, but then I guess that in turn sells the ruthlessness of the cook.

This is just your pathological desire to root for the bad guy speaking

Story #1) Passenger 2
It all happened so fast, which is a good thing since it (pretty much) made sense at that speed. Upon pausing the movie to reflect (for sake of the club) I realized the story had a hole or two. The man who engineered the massacre was a failed classical music composer, that used to date a fashion model, and he formerly worked at home depot, and currently as a co-pilot, or steward (not sure if they said his current job or if I missed it, but he was part of the flight crew)

Members of a flight crew, especially pilots are subjected to mental stability tests, since they have the power to create incidents like the one portrayed in this movie. And anyone that still wants to murder their old boss from Home Depot certainly isn't mentally stable. Models don't usually date home depot employees, and home depot employees can't afford to buy plane tickets for their entire enemy list, so it would've been his high school job. That's a long time to hold a murderous grudge. The guy wants to literally kill his psychiatrist for raising his fees... But whatever, it was short and fun, and despite it being an unrealistic twist, it pretty much worked. I did see it coming as soon as we realized there were several people he knew, all who got free tickets, but it all happened so fast that it didn't really matter.

Revenge based on mental illness. It's silly, like the story.

Fun start that outlines the theme of the movie. Revenge!!

Not to mention such an unstable, unsuccessful person managing to become wealthy and learn how to fly a plane in the first place.

Well then you have the harrassing the mother part, but she could've got a restraining order against him,

In small-town Argentina? Against a powerful Mafioso?

Yeah, I don't think that's going to be effective.

 

[BeardotheWeirdo]

I've spent a bunch of time thinking about the themes in this movie. To me personally, it is what happens when faced with extreme stress, duress and frustration. Do you react or do you let it go?

Here is a quote from the director about what the movie is about: "the fuzzy boundary that separates civilization from barbarism, the vertigo of losing your temper, and the undeniable pleasure of losing control". Humans "have a fight or flee mechanism, but it comes with a very high cost. Most of us live with the frustration of having to repress oneself, but some people explode. This is a movie about those who explode". It deals with "daily life" aspects and "is a movie about the desire for freedom, and how this lack of freedom, and the rage and anguish it produces, can cause us to run off the rails." The main issue, according to Szifron, "is the pleasure of reacting, the pleasure of reacting toward injustice." (From Wikipedia)

Interesting.

"the fuzzy boundary that separates civilization from barbarism" … manners? a society that teaches us how to behave? the ability to speak? revenge?... revenge!​

"the vertigo of losing your temper"... how was that illustrated? The groom throws up on the roof, but I don't think that was from losing his temper, it was from the fear of living with a vengeful crazy ex-wife, or from the guilt he felt from turning her into that monster, as he saw how crazy it had made her.

"the undeniable pleasure of losing control" I don't think this was illustrated well either. The Bride wasn't really enjoying herself, except while being plowed, and maybe when she threw the girl through the window, I'd say she was probably too angry and upset to enjoy that one. The steward may have felt pleasure in the first story, we never saw him to find out though. In the second story, I suppose the cook enjoyed it, briefly. Third story, neither of them seemed to be having fun. That one moment when he tried to run the guy over I guess. 4th story, again just one brief shot of him dunking his croissant, as they towed his car-bomb off. 5th story, no one had fun, the father of the dead girl lost control but he didn't enjoy the murder I bet. They didn't show him smiling as he did it.

I'd say the fuzzy boundary is the only theme he properly explored in the film. There was glimpses of "the pleasure of losing control" but a movie like Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, or even Springbreakers does more to explore that topic. I didn't get it from the movie, personally.

It deals with "daily life" aspects and "is a movie about the desire for freedom, and how this lack of freedom, and the rage and anguish it produces, can cause us to run off the rails." The main issue, according to Szifron, "is the pleasure of reacting, the pleasure of reacting toward injustice."

"The main issue is the pleasure of reacting toward injustice"... (reacting by getting revenge) … If the waitress did it for justice, then she wouldn't enjoy it. She enjoyed it because she craves power, imo. Revenge makes us feel powerful... But does it benefit society?

Why are you trying to prove me wrong? Why am I trying to prove myself right? The pleasure of reacting towards injustice? Maybe. I find it more frustrating than pleasurable personally. I'd rather you just agree, than have to justify all my statements lol.

It deals with "daily life" aspects and "is a movie about the desire for freedom

hmmm.

The wife didn't desire freedom. Marriage is a commitment to not act freely with ones sex life. She desired revenge, then companionship. True freedom is being alone.

The Steward didn't desire for freedom. he fought to kill any he disagreed with. He opposed freedom 100%.

The father of the pregnant girl didn't yearn for freedom, he wanted justice and/or revenge. But he did run off the rails due to the lack of freedom his daughter and unborn granddaughter experienced, so that one kind of applies. The boy yearned for freedom at first, but eventually realized it was selfish and instead wanted to do the right thing.

The engineer yearned for freedom. That quote fits the description of that story well, and the waitress one, pretty much. The freedom to kill also comes with the freedom to be killed, and she'd be on the losing side if murder ever became legal. She desired revenge, over injustice, not freedom. She was short-sighted

The road rage guy did find pleasure in attempting to run over his assailant, but he didn't yearn for freedom. He called the police for protection. The redneck yearned for the freedom to murder those with money. But he was a nutjob. He didn't try to murder or assault the guy until the guy gave him the finger and told him off. He sought revenge, not freedom.

I think the film-maker has spent too much time in Hollywood. How could he not even notice that every story is fueled by revenge?

In small-town Argentina? Against a powerful Mafioso?

Yeah, I don't think that's going to be effective.

Yeah, true.

He couldn't have harassed her that much though. If he was over frequently he would've recognized the daughter ​

​

 

[BeardotheWeirdo]

Hmmmn. The father in the show was the wealthy father of the driver (a privileged boy in his 20s or late teens) who killed the pregnant girl. They only show her family in interviews on the television. The boy's father comforted the mother who knew their son had gone out drinking and carelessly killed the woman. The gardener worked for this family, and was called a casero in the movie, which gives him a larger role in the household, as that translates more as caretaker. He had worked for them for 15 years. I would guess they were a couple that lived on the property where the man handled the grounds and the woman the interior. They bribed him to take the fall for the son.

I think revenge was a theme for most of the shorts but not this one and not so much for the wedding one. I think the main theme for the entire movie is how people react under extreme stress.

Lol, I did watch it.

I paused the movie at 5am and watched the wedding part the next day. I was half awake for the hit and run one, and reading the subtitles probably distracted me.

Either way when they showed the dad on the news he said he wanted revenge, so, I still knew it was coming even if I was lost at the beginning of the short.