Tigers Are Not Afraid is classed as a fantasy-horror but the most frightening aspect is startlingly a true one; that since 2006 the drug war in Mexico has seen 160,000 people killed and 53,000 people missing, and this was before the film’s air date in 2017, since then the numbers have only increased.
A horror come drama, Tigers Are Not Afraid looks at the issue of gang culture in Mexico and told through the perspective of children stuck in a dark fairy-tale. Centering around Estrella, Shine, Morro, Tucsi and Pop with each child being orphaned by gang-attacks on loved ones. From a grandma at a funeral, or a mum escaping a fire, to what can only be imagined as something much worse when the youngest child; Morro, is psychologically mute from the terrors he has seen, and in seeing the film’s violence it’s not hard to believe he’s lived the worst of nightmares. But it’s not yet over this group of children, for two of them are holding secrets that could bring an ever-greater danger to the group; for Estrella (Paola Lara) has the power of three wishes – each one holding a consequence that’s dark and deadly, while Shine (Juan Ramón López) – the leader of the group – has stolen the phone of a crime-lord. Its contents holding enough evidence to bring down a corrupt King, and in knowing this the murderous Huascas gang are after the children.
In following this group of rag-tag children the audience are shown not only their attempts to survive on the streets, but how they’re still carving out a niche of what’s left of their childhood; eating popcorn, watching films, refusing their vegetables, all while lying in a make-shift-home of broken-parts. The discarded toys, mangled and joined together; emphasising the fact they’re still children, while holding a similarity to themselves. They’re vulnerable, ignored by the government and the public, and why? Because there so many homeless children.
Courtesy of Videocine
When beginning the tale of Tigers Are Not Afraid, a classroom teacher asks a room full of children to name fairy-tale characters, to which they shout out; ghosts, princes, tigers, castles and more, including three “magical” wishes. But not all fairy tales are happy, and some aren’t merely stories to be told, but a form of survival when stuck-in amongst the worst of them.
From this the film introduces its protagonists; the young girl Estrella as she begins to write about a prince and a tiger, to the film then cutting to the little boy Shine as he spray paints a tiger on the wall. Each are soon embroiled in violence; from the sound of nearby gunfire, to another holding a gun. The imagery is startling, both from its juxtaposition – being at an age that should be full of innocence, to the fact it’s become common-day experiences for them.
This warped sense of normalcy is shown later as the children play a game of limbo near a murder scene; using the tape from the police cordon as their marker. But what’s most sad is the children’s easy handling of guns, and in this you see a continuation of gangs. The director and writer, Issa López, highlighting the point further with the inclusion of three differently aged gangs; the adults, Huascas, who have caused countless deaths, including the families of young children such as Shine/Estrella’s group – who being the youngest gang, are left alone to fend for themselves; then later and very briefly, the inclusion of teenagers in a gang. The three groups showing a vicious cycle of continuation and progression.
Courtesy of Videocine
Both the leading children in the Tigers Are Not Afraid; Shine and Estrella tell the story of tigers to instil a sense of strength and bravery in themselves (though they’re equally afraid of them) and to represent a journey – a feeling familiar to book and film the Life of Pi. The film repeatedly making visual reference to the tigers; from the graffitied drawing’s done by Shine, and which later break free from their pencilled cage, to the plush little tiger carried around by the little boy Morro; which later leads Estrella to her most courageous act, and in this she becomes the tiger herself – for she’s not afraid.
But with the power of three wishes, what does Estrella have to fear? Her first wish being full of love for a mother to return home – but with an earlier and very ominous image of blood on her mother’s dress, Estrella’s wish might not be what she hoped for. Instead, she’s haunted by the return of her dead mother who has a wish of her own, while the next two wishes don’t fair much better and in them you come to wonder, is it evil magic? Or imagination and coincidence? That’s up to you to decide, but if her first wish is anything to go by, maybe all three?
Courtesy of Videocine
There are subtle touches of symbolism throughout the film, such as the ghost of Estrella’s mother being one of many things that haunt the town; with black-ribbon-bows that symbolise death – being hung above numerous doors, while faded posters of the missing flap in the wind, to finally former signs of wealth being burned or abandoned; a theatre’s opulent hallway now housing fish caught in its puddles. The city itself is being turned into a ghost town, the living driven out, the murdered left behind.
Another area Tigers Are Not Afraid explores is corruption, and though revealed more fully in later scenes of the film (such as police running away from a crime), it’s the softer hints that are more impactful. Posters calling for votes as homeless children play below them. To a body lying on the ground, the blood seeping out into a thin trail that links to the image of a man who’s canvasing for votes.
With such tough material, the child actors have certainly emblazoned the message of not being afraid. They handle such raw material with conviction and emotion, and though some scenes could pull more at the latter with numerous tears, screams and shouts – the fact that they don’t represents that these are becoming everyday experiences for children who are caught up in gang warfare, and a country that’s fighting an endless battle. Nery Arredondo, who plays Morro, elicits the strongest reactions, and though silent for most of the film, his looks of utter optimism, to overwhelming sadness seems all too cuttingly real.
Issa López, has bravely taken on a subject that’s not for the faint-hearted. Tigers Are Not Afraid might not make you jump out of your skin, but it leaves you wanting to take action, and to hopefully take notice of the gang culture in Mexico. The idea and direction of the film are so uniquely original – presenting the story as a child’s supernatural-fantasy, and though some parts would be interesting to explore, such as the lives of everyday people, and why the Huascas gang attacked certain individuals. It instead sacrifices these areas to focus its attention at the knock on effect these criminals have on children and the city that’s left behind.
Director & Writer: Issa López
