big bad wolves

Although he’s now a two-time Oscar winner, Quentin Tarantino is still an arrogant video clerk at heart. Which explains why he’s so eager to pass along rental recommendations like Big Bad Wolves (2013), an Israeli thriller that would likely have gathered dust in the foreign section of most mom-and-pop video stores. Tarantino’s tastes are so well known, his name becomes a bona fide seal of approval. So when his quote on the front of the box proclaims this the “Best Film of the Year,” it’s like a winning a golden statuette without all the pomp and circumstance.

And in this case, QT is actually onto something. Big Bad Wolves is compulsively watchable despite showcasing the most horrendous aspects of human behavior. It uses pedophilia as a major plot device, debates the most effective means of torture, and ends with a depressing flourish that ranks right up there with Gwyneth Paltrow’s head in a box. Yet filmmakers Aharon Keshales and Navot Papushado are courageous enough, daring enough - or foolhardy enough - to try and make us laugh in spite of it all.

Micki (Lior Ashkenazi) is a cop on the case of a child murderer. Dror (Rotem Keinan) is his prime suspect, a quiet schoolteacher who’s already lost his job thanks to a viral video of his “interrogation” in an abandoned warehouse. Gidi (Tzahi Grad) is the father of the latest victim, who has a plan in place to extract some vital information…and exact his vengeance. All three men’s stories collide in the basement of an isolated ranch house where the truth will be revealed…but justice is questionable.

Big Bad Wolves doesn’t waste a second of screen time. Every moment is filled with little details and character touches that wind up being vital information somewhere down the line. And it’s this sort of enjoyable manipulation that allows one to forgive the film’s more ruthless moments. It’s all leading to something, and it’s to the filmmakers’ credit one is convinced to sit through broken bones and scorched flesh to get there.

The primary mystery of Dror’s guilt is a MacGuffin designed to carry the film’s virulent strain of dark comedy. As new characters and complications are introduced, the torture session (not unlike Tarantino’s own Reservoir Dogs) becomes an exercise in Coen Brothers-style improbability. The humor lies in just how far the filmmakers are willing to go before the laughter turns into tragedy. That final twist needed a more deft touch (no spoilers here), but even so, Big Bad Wolves is 110-minutes of “clever…suspenseful…twisted” filmmaking.

At least that’s what the back of the box says. I just happen to agree.

Magnet’s blu-ray is a real beauty. This is no low-budget grindhouse flick. The hi-def presentation shows off the excellent cinematography and memorably booming score. Special features, which are a bit on the underwhelming side, include a Making Of, some EPK material and a trailer.