Wild Tales: Til Death Do Us Part
Til Death Do Us Part is the final short film the wild tales collection which rounds off the compilation with an explosion of family drama and awful people.
Narrative Structure
The film shows a young couple having a great time at their wedding, until the wife discovers that her husband has been cheating on her. The event quickly descends as the wife decides to get her husband back by cheating on him and humiliating him to the point that he breaks down crying in front of all the guests. However in the end, the two realise that they are as bad as each other.
The film, like the others in Wild Tales, is shown to us in a linear fashion which allows the plot to unfold naturally and fits the short film format which doesn’t give much time for backstories and context. I think this definitely works in this film since we get to know who these characters are through their actions which is really the best way to show who a character is. We begin the film sympathising with the wife and disliking the husband but as the film goes on we learn that both are equally awful.
Cinematic Influences
The film conforms to the drama genre like the rest of the Wild Tales but this one is more about family and inter-personal drama. The film uses the families of the bride and groom to build tension between the two parties and allow things to keep escalating and escalating. One specific example of this is the grooms mother who is extremely spiteful and unlikeable. She makes every single person absolutely hate her in the best way and only makes the conclusion of the film more dramatic and exciting
Another notable thing about this short film is that the acting is actually quite good. Many of the family members feel exactly like he character types they are going for (e.g the spiteful mother in law). One of the best actors in this film is the actress who plays the bride. Her facial expressions, speech and movement is really quite good and captures the feeling of someone who really doesn’t care anymore and has had their entire life shattered in one moment.
Creating Meaning and Effect
Til Death Do Us Part uses the clever set piece of a big fancy wedding to give the bride a playground to run around in and do what she wants. When The bride realises that none of this matters since she has been cheated on, she goes around the wedding doing whatever she wants. She grabs the cake and starts eating it, she sneaks off with the waiter, and so on. I thought having the scene be a wedding allowed for a lot more opportunities for the wife to really act like there was no tomorrow and it was really quite engaging.
The film also uses the ‘Sid and Nancy’ type relationship stereotype where each character is as bad as the other and together they are a pair who will do no good for anybody. I though that ending the film by establishing that both characters were as bad as each other and having them accept this was a real subversion of expectations that was really interesting and explored a scenario which I have never seen explored before. The film took a generic trope and did something interesting with it which is something I am hoping to capture in my film.