“Revenge is a dish best served cold”. Or at least that’s how the old adage goes. Relatos Salvajes or Wild Tales is a black comedy anthology film that consists of six separate stories that center around the theme of retribution. The stories in this anthology consist of “PASTERNAK”, “LAS RATAS”, “EL MÀS FUERTE”, “BOMBITA”, “LA PROPUESTA” and “HASTA QUE LA MUERTE NOS SEPARE”. Black comedies are one of my favourite sub-genres in movies and television and the way this film is able to interweave levity with moments of seriousness and messages that are poignant is masterful. The stories illustrate instances in life where we’re screwed over by people, friends, family, acquaintances, lovers, forces beyond us, institutions and our , at times more irrational responses to said injustices. The stories all thrive on negativity and i love that about the movie. All the short stories are enjoyable for the most part and some endings hit harder than others. There is also an implicit theme about classism and the class struggle within some of the anthology stories. PASTERNAK - This story opens up with a shot that displays a woman with heels walking into an airport to check in her luggage. Upon first glance this seems mundane and feels like a typical airplane voyage. The lighting used is warm to indicate a familiar and comfortable setting. once the woman checks in her bag upon the plane a friendly man assists her and the short starts exploring their common thread together. The woman and the man converse about a person they knew named Gabriel Pasternak and his failed aspirations of getting his classical music published. The man worked at a music conservatory and you can see his stomach fall as the mere mention of his name gets him sick. Another strange woman enters the conversation also stating that she knew pasternak. This woman turns out to be pasternak’s elementary school teacher. Also the woman who we encounter first cheated on pasternak with his only friend. The next individual seems to be pasternak’s former classmate and bully and the other individual appears to be his former employer. The flight attendant also trained with pasternak and once she turned down his advances she was also marked for death. What was a charming flight of coincidences and airing out grievances about one guy takes a horrifying left turn when we find out that pasternak is the man behind the helm of the plane. His psychiatrist tries to talk sense into him but it’s all in vain. I love how if we look at it objectively, pasternak had petty grievances with everyone on the flight especially the psychiatrist lmao. I love how it’s justified to the audience that these people needed to die because of the way everyone in that plane shat on pasternak. it may seem like a coincidence that all these people have a contentious relationship with pasternak, but as the story reaches it’s climax we start to realise it was all part of pasternak’s masterstroke of doing away with everyone who did him dirty. What should be a horrifying and terrifying plane crash ends hilariously as the plane crashes into his parents(the people responsible for the person he was in greater society). The emotive score was also good towards the end. A truly masterful example of blending tension and comedy into an entertaining and gripping whole.

六則小故事組成，難免會有優劣之別 充滿荒誕的黑色幽默，頗紓壓