An open-lung immersion in precariousness

Today, when it seems that cinema can talk about everything and show everything, it is at least significant that the place where most films do not dare to go is the world of work, precisely what determines the daily life of the majority of the population. It is one of the great triumphs of capitalism: turning work into a kind of dramatic taboo, a residue where fictions are not worth stopping, lest we begin to wonder about the meaning or justice of the activity that occupies our routines. Fortunately, there are still some filmmakers determined to make clear what their anti-heroes live (and die) for, as is the case of Alberto Rodríguez.

In fact, what is most seductive about The tigers It is a description of the work carried out by the siblings who play Antonio de la Torre and Bárbara Lennie, divers who urgently repair (because, as we know, time is money) the oil tankers that stop at the port of Huelva. This risky profession erodes the mental and physical health of the protagonists, who at a certain point are forced to make a bad decision to get out of the well. Rodríguez describes their circumstances precisely, avoiding justifications and judgments, and allows the audience to accompany them and hold their breath from the other side of the screen, perhaps recognizing in the underwater images a reflection of the precariousness that permeates (almost) all of us.