Tag Archives: Pan’s Labyrinth

Tigers Are Not Afraid (2019): Drug War Fairy Tale

Tigers Are Not Afraid is the story of children caught in a world of violence. In an unnamed Mexican city, Estrella (Paola Lara), a young girl, returns home to find her mother missing. She lives in a area infested with drug-related crime and it’s implied that her mother was one of many abducted by gangs for human trafficking. She soon encounters a group of boys close to her age and follows them. Their leader, Shine (Juan Ramón López), has stolen a valuable item and reluctantly lets Estrella join their party as they flee a local drug lord.

Director Issa Lopez doesn’t shy away from the violence of the setting and anyone is a potential victim. The film opens with children hiding under their desks as gunfire erupts outside and it becomes clear that this is a frequent occurence. As Estrella waits at home, alone without her mom, we see her neighbors pack up and leave. The city becomes an abandoned, graffiti-ridden wasteland ruled by crime lords with little sympathy for the victims, even children. Lopez maintains the danger throughout the runtime with frequent deaths and a feeling of hopelessness. It doesn’t appear anyone has the ability, and potentially even the desire, to help the kids get to safety.

The city is a dilapidated ghost town.

The film falls into the category of magical realism. In the vein of Pan’s Labyrinth and last year’s Sicilian Ghost Story, it takes a horrific setting, cities ravaged by drug wars, and tells it from a child’s perspective. The boys, seeing the behavior of men and teenagers, try to act tough as their own gang. Shine repeats that Estrella isn’t strong enough to be with them, but it becomes immediately clear that he is only a boy with little real experience. The child’s viewpoint allows for small moments of joy in the difficult situation. Finding a soccer ball is enough cause to celebrate as the kids are able to momentarily forget about their situation. Despite their grim situation, they still have childish impulses.

Lopez uses elements of magical realism to guide the narrative and contextualize the events onscreen. Before any scene of violence, a trail of blood, moving in unnaturally perfect straight lines, enters the room. It’s a simple visual effect, but it carries a foreboding presence as it warns of what could possibly happen next. In the opening scene, Estrella is given three pieces of chalk by her teacher who tells her that each will grant her a wish. These wishes are then used as inflection points in the story. Each wish marks a major event that radically changes their journey. These wishes provide some solace to Estrella and give her young mind a way to understand the occurrences around her, but, for the audience, the wishes are moments of suspense where anything, good or bad, can happen.

Tigers Are Not Afraid becomes a visceral fairy tale. Its ending is a bit hokey, but the desperation the children feel is palpable and the way they make sense of the unjustifiable cruelty that surrounds them is authentic. Lopez shoots the horror of drug cartels through a child’s eye with a convincing vision of how young minds endure in a world without hope.

4/5 stars.

Sicilian Ghost Story (2018): Innocence and Apathy

In a small Sicilian town, two middle schoolers, Luna (Julia Jedlikowska) and her first boyfriend Giuseppe (Gaetano Fernandez) wander through the woods together as their young love blossoms. One day, to Luna’s dismay, Giuseppe stops showing up to school. Their teachers have no details about where he is and his parents claim that he is simply not well. Unsatisfied with their responses, Luna sneaks into his house only to discover that he isn’t there and that he has been kidnapped as retaliation for his father, a former criminal, acting as a witness against the local mafia. While the adults around her seem unable or even unwilling to help, Luna endeavors to keep Giuseppe’s memory alive and convince others to continue the search for him.

New filmmakers Fabio Grassadonia and Antonio Piazza have created haunting images. They make heavy use of audio design to unnerve the viewer. Everyday sounds like the barking of a dog or debris rattling in the wind are exaggerated to extreme levels to make an unpleasant experience. They also shoot they Sicilian countryside like a fantasy film. Each location, from the towering forests to the mist covered lakes, feels supernatural. Luna’s treks are more like odysseys to dangerous, unknown lands than strolls through the neighboring areas. The settings are shot from a child’s perspective making them seem ominous. The gorgeous landscapes feel like they, similar to the townspeople, are hiding something.

The natural locations feel like twisted settings from a fantasy story.

The film is essentially a fairy-tale. Although the story is inspired by the real abduction of a former mafioso’s son, the narrative exists in a dream-like, heightened reality. It recalls Guillermo de Toro’s Pan Labyrinth. Like that film, Sicilian Ghost Story uses a child’s imagination to interpret the horrors surrounding them. In this case it is the overwhelming influence of the mafia. Luna’s demanding mother disapproves of her relationship with Giuseppe because of his father and when he goes missing other adults and children remark that his kidnapping is what he gets for having a snitch as a father, showing complete disregard towards his innocence. The townspeople view his father’s confessions with more disgust than Giuseppe’s kidnapping or any of the other crimes committed by the mafia. In contrast, Luna shows a sweet innocence. She is unconcerned with anything related to Giuseppe’s father and only cares about his well-being. Even when others move on, she remains devoted to finding him and her commitment grows to unhealthy levels as she is faced with the indifference of those around her.

As a result of its ethereal style, the plot is always a mystery. Unlike a standard thriller, there is no foregone conclusion or reveal that the film is moving towards. The lack of clear narrative direction could be seen as a negative, but here it is actually beneficial. There are several surreal aspects to the narrative and the encounters Luna faces which open up numerous possibilities for what is happening in reality and what could potentially happen next. This does however have the unfortunate effect of making the story feel longer when it seems like the film is about to end only for it to stretch on for another 20 minutes. Pacing issues aside, Sicilian Ghost Story presents haunting, dream-like imagery of a child’s devotion in the face of apathy.

4/5 stars.