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| Tigers Are Not Afraid, poster. ©2019 Shudder |
“Tigers Are Not Afraid/Vuelven” crosses the border between fiction and reality - timely, remarkable, and provocative!
A decade of the ongoing “War on Drugs” has left thousands of deaths and missing people in Mexico. The acclaimed writer/director Issa López bravely tackles the growing problem of the forgotten children of war. In her new genre film - street children bargain with drug dealers and crooked politicians and live death.
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| Issa López Photo: José Alberto Hermosillo ©2019 Festival in LA. |
In the magical-realism universe of Issa López, fantasy confronts the horrors of reality. She vividly reenacts school shootings, kidnappings, torture, murder, and mass graves - to soften them with dragons, fairies, and mythology. The tale of “The Prince and the Tiger” works perfectly as the film thread, symbolically speaking.
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| Tigers Are Not Afraid ©2019 Shudder. |
López started her career writing successful comedies, such as “Casi Divas/Road to Fame,” but she always wanted to work in drama. She is a big fan of genre movies. As a disciplined writer for this project, López woke up an hour early to write one scene daily. For her, combining the elements of a fairy tale with the character archetype was very satisfactory.
The idea behind making this “Tiger” movie came from López’s conversation with a journalist. They wondered what was happening with the War on Drugs child victims. These children live by themselves in ghost towns. López cleverly considers her film a reflection of Mexican reality.
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| Tigers Are Not Afraid ©2019 Shudder. |
The director states that her biggest challenge was finding children who could perform honestly in front of the camera. The production auditioned 600 youngsters, then went down to 200, to finally choose five. All of the children were first-time actors who did an exceptional job.
It is tough to handle children’s exposure to violence. Therefore, Issa López worked with the Brazilian casting director of the realistic movie “City of God.” She told her: “You need to work with the emotions of those children.” López used techniques to grab and release the children’s reactions and get their best performances.
López says, “In a movie, fear is the hardest emotion to play.” Before shooting, she talked to the children about fantasies, misbeliefs, and other realities. “It was easy for them to empathize with the other children with no parents,” she settles.
López says, “In a movie, fear is the hardest emotion to play.” Before shooting, she talked to the children about fantasies, misbeliefs, and other realities. “It was easy for them to empathize with the other children with no parents,” she settles.
The story starts with the poetic narration of the fairy tale “The Prince and the Tiger.” Estrella (Paola Lara), a ten-year-old girl, subconsciously enters a fantasy that blends with her reality when bullets fly over her head. To ease the tension, the school teacher grants her three wishes. From then on, a magical tickle of blood follows the little girl.
A few days pass, and Estrella realizes that her mom is not returning to feed and hug her. When she wishes for her mom’s return, whispers in her ear will string along. Feeling hungry, she has no option but to join the street children for survival.
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| Tigers Are Not Afraid ©2019 Shudder. |
El Shine (Juan Ramón López) is the leader of the clan. He doesn’t accept a girl as a new member, but Estrella has what it takes to challenge them. El Shine has a cellphone with an incriminating video of one of the Narcos torturing Estrella’s mother and other women.
Technically, the script is detail-oriented, and the short dialogs are unique and relevant for every character, making the narrative flow consistently.
Issa López’s style matches the work of other great directors, such as Alejandro Amenábar’s “The Others,” “The Orphanage” by J.A. Bayona, “The Devil’s Backbone” by Guillermo del Toro, “Midnight Special” by Jeff Nichols, and more recently “Brightburn” by David Yarovesky.
The timing of this film couldn’t be any better for what children live these days everywhere. The director compares the children left on their own in Mexico with those from Central America who escape the violence of their countries, cross the US border to get separated from their families, and are hauled in containers.
American children can’t escape the disturbance of mass school shootings. Child soldiers in African nations, the Sicario kids in South America, and many children worldwide have terrifying times.
In Issa López’s world, believing in fairy tales to confront these challenges is necessary. Remember, you only have three wishes to fulfill your destiny.
American children can’t escape the disturbance of mass school shootings. Child soldiers in African nations, the Sicario kids in South America, and many children worldwide have terrifying times.
In Issa López’s world, believing in fairy tales to confront these challenges is necessary. Remember, you only have three wishes to fulfill your destiny.
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| José Alberto Hermosillo, Issa López. Photo: ©2019 Festival in LA. |
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