Wild Tales

• Institutional contexts of wild tales (2) - Argentinian national cinema/post dictatorship cinema - Wild tales production contexts
• Describe Argentinina national cinema in terms of institutional contexts in wild tales (3) - Got underway in the 80's and is often funded by the new government to promote the representation of argentina as a democratic country to the rest of te world - The domestic market for this type of cinema is small, the boxoffice is dominated by hollywood films, however whenever one is popular it often outperforms hollywood films at the national box office - Often argued that argentinian national cinema deals with political themes presented too close to a hollywood style and threatens its representation o...
• Describe production contexts in terms of institutional contexts in wild tales (3) - Wild tales is the most financially successful film in argentinian history with a first week attendance of 63%, 4 million budget with a gross box office of 40 million - Produced by El deseo films, a private company founded in the 80s to develop Almodovars films, and has since supported contemporary auteurs - Received funding from the INCAA, a government backed organisation distributing public money to support the national cinema
• Describe the historical contexts of wild tales (2) - Dictatorship and dirty war - between 1976 and 1983 Argentina was ruled by the military junta, a dictatorship who rose to power through a military coup d'etat removing president isabel peron from power - The junta was brutal and tens of thousands of argentinians disappeared in a period known as the dirty war
• Describe the composition of wild tales in terms of representation and aesthetics (3) - Composed of 6 short films - Pasternak, Las ratas, the strongest, bombita, the proposal and til death do us part - Aiming to portray argentinian society as corrupt and aims to resonate with argentinian people, which it cleary did becoming the most successful movie in the country
• Describe the representation of gender in las ratas in terms of representation and aesthetics (3) - Moza is forced to serve cuenca as a waitress despite his actions towards her family, complying with the idea of the machista, however szifron tried to undermine his authority by giving him a passive role in the short - Cocinera challenges the idea of the machista and is represented as fierce and violent, she cuts the chips as she recalls prison time and is introduced through a flushing toilet - Represents cuenca through usage of rat poison, comparing him to a dirty, powerless animal, challenging ...
• Describe the representation of gender in the strongest in terms of representation and aesthetics (2) - Animalistic representation of the two men as they try and assert their dominance, the irony of both of their deaths at the end subverts the idea of the machista, coupled with contrapuntal audio and the final shot of the two skeletons hugging - Mimicks the idea of violence and how it is recorded as an act of love by the police
• Describe representation of gender in til death do us part in terms of representation and aesthetics - Representation of the bride as challenging the machista, her affair with the chef on the rooftop challenges the idea of the machista acting as an excuse for mens hypersexuality and ability to have affairs
• Describe representation of class in the proposal in terms of representation and aesthetics (2) - Represents the argentinian rich as corrupt, and the people of suffer at the hands of their actions being the poor - Jose injury at the end, he is completely innocent, and even when trying to bribe his son out of prison time, the man still tries to retain as much money as possible
• Describe aesthetics in wild tales in terms of representation and aesthetics (3) - television style portmanteau structured narrative that mirrors anthology television, combines mundane and the extreme adn dark comedy and allows for a lot of detail and action to be condensed into 5-25 minutes, cutting immediatley following the climax of each film - Szifron frequently works with the sense of absurd and surreal within a believable recognisable setting with identifiable characters - Grotesque art movement, like goya in the 1820s, developed a hybrid between animals and humans, the abuse of power in...
• Las Ratas: Cinematography (4) - Lighting contrasts between the outside and inside of the cafe, cold blue mimicks the cocineras emotional state, the warm tricks customers like cuenca into a false sense of security - Contrast between high and low key lighting amplifies the physical manifestation of dark thoughts, like the cocineras plan to kill cuenca where her face is shadowed by back lighting, concealing her dark intentions while the high key lighting suggests cuenca can be openly corrupt in argentinian society - Camera tracks cuenca and the plate of poisoned food, coupled with a low angle sho...
• Las Ratas: Mise - En - Scene (2) - When moza is telling the story of her relation with cuenca the cocinera uses a knife to chop the chips, the same knife she uses to kill cuenca, foreshadowing her intentions - Use of rat poison prop openly dehumanises cuenca, comparing him to a dirty powerless animal, the contrass the patriarchy and furthers the existing animal motif throughout the film representing his animalistic corrupt intentioins for society, if he were to succeed in his campaign to become mayor
• Las Ratas: Editing - Conversation between cuenca and moza emphasises the passive aggressive behaviour towards her through two shot editing, the pace of editing increases which stimulates tension as cuenca becomes more aggressive towards moza
• Las Ratas: Sound (20 - Optimises diegetic sound with the rain falling outside the cafe and the silence inside the cafe, foreshadows a sense of entrappment as cuenca enters - Over emphasis of diagetic sound, like the thud of rat poison which exacerbates its potential harm, the cocinera is introduced through an emphasised toilet flush which suberts feminine values
• Las Ratas: Performance (3) - The cooks is portrayed by rita cortese, representing somebody perhaps tired of living in a corrupt society, the only means of escape being joining the cult of criminality by killing cuenca, she lacks regret for her previous prison time - Subverts the idea of the machista, as female dominance prevails throughout this short - Cuenca is mysoginistic and represents the expectation of soceital machista
• The Strongest: Cinematography - Long shots during the opening sequence emphasises the emptiness and vast baron landscapes, moving into usage of frequent close ups and crowded framing, making the sequence feel trapped and claustophobic - Camera is aligned with Diego throughout the sequence, we observe from his perspective as mario urinates on his sun roof, coupled with the use of long shots which pulls the spectator out of the action and highlights the absurdity of their situation caused by machista
• The Strongest: Mise-En-Scene (2) - Diegos suite and car and inability to change a tire mimicks his class status, while comparatively mario is dressed in scruffy working class clothing demonstrating class divide in society - Use of western setting setting mimicks the idea of a standoff between two characters, ironically ending with both of their deaths, this suggest that despite Diegos middle class status the machista animalistic elements still act just as prevalently
• The Strongest: Editing (2) - The Situation escalates quickly, use of quick cuts reflects the savagery of the two men as both desire to be the last man standing and assert their dominance - Towards the end of the sequence, straight cuts between the violence inside the car and outside provides the spectator with comic relief and time to reflect on the stupidity of both characters desire to prove their strength
• The Strongest: Sound (1) - Use of contrapuntal sound when the classical music plays in the car as they both attempt to kill one another mocks the idea of masculinity and machista
• Til Death Do Us Part: Cinematography - Lighting changes throughout the short, between high and low key lighting, strobe effects and warmer, colder tones, for example the cold low key lighting used on the rooftop and as the bride confronts the groom acts to build tension and atmosphere, strobe lighting acts to create chaos - Sequence starts with loud non-diagetic soundtrack, immediatley, developing the tension carried over from the death of jose in the proposal, the loud dance music accompanies strobe lighting, building a chaotic atmosphere and signifying how superficial joy and love in reality...
• 2 Aesthetics and 2 Themes of wild tales - Aesthetics: Gender and Class - Themes: Animalistic Tendencies and revenge