The 2014 Oscar-nominated Argentinian film Wild Tales (Relatos Salvajes)
The Porsche driver was a politician. The sedan driver was a man whose house had been demolished for a highway expansion the politician had approved. They did not know this yet. All they knew was rage—pure, crystalline, righteous. They fought for an hour. They broke windows. They tore clothes. They bit, scratched, cursed, wept. Finally, exhausted, they sat side by side on the asphalt, bleeding, breathing hard.
: A wealthy father attempts to negotiate a legal "deal" to save his son from a hit-and-run conviction, highlighting deep-seated corruption and greed. Wild Tales
The napkin was only the beginning. The second tier contained a recording device. The third tier contained photographs. As the guests dug in, a voice emerged from the cake—tinny, clear, devastating: “I can’t marry you if you keep texting your ex.” And then: “I only said ‘I love you’ because your father has money.” And then: “The baby might not be yours.”
: A pre-credits short where passengers on a plane discover they all share a connection to a man named Gabriel Pasternak, leading to a harrowing realization. All they knew was rage—pure, crystalline, righteous
Nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards.
On a deserted highway, a man in a Porsche cut off a beat-up sedan. The sedan honked. The Porsche brake-checked. The sedan swerved. The Porsche sped off. Ten miles later, the Porsche got a flat tire. The sedan pulled up. The driver—a large man with a scar on his cheek—got out. The Porsche driver locked his doors. The sedan driver smiled. He had a tow truck on speed dial. But he did not call it. Instead, he pulled out a crowbar. “You want to play,” he said, “we play.” They tore clothes
That is the fundamental question posed by Wild Tales (Spanish: Relatos salvajes ), the 2014 anthology film written and directed by Damián Szifron. This Argentine-Spanish co-production became an international sensation, nominated for Best Foreign Language Film at the Academy Awards, and celebrated for its visceral, unrelenting exploration of the breaking point. It is a film that does not merely entertain; it validates our darkest, most secret impulses.
“My wife left me because I work too much,” the politician said.