'The Turtles': Moving Forward After the Death of a Father and Husband

Delia's Andalusian sister-in-law (Antonia Zegers) explains the meaning of a photo hanging in her room: the people depicted are "Los Tortuga," the emigrants who left Jaén for Catalonia with everything loaded on them. In fact, Delia, of Chilean origin, married Julián, an Andalusian man she met in Barcelona and with whom she had a daughter, Anabel (Elvira Lara). But, despite the fact that Belén Funes's second feature film begins in Andalusia, with the entire family gathered for the oil painting festival and to remember Julián, who recently passed away, this is not a film that reconstructs one of the many still unexplained stories of the exiles from southern Spain to Catalonia.

The director of A thief's daughter updates the imagery of immigration in our country while continuing to trace a line of continuity with what it established decades ago. Anabel and Delia lead "normal" lives in Barcelona until the real estate crisis bites them. They've sold the building where they live and are about to evict all the tenants. With their father deceased, only one salary comes into the house: that of their mother, a taxi driver and self-employed. A gallant scenario for finding a rental apartment that redefines the protagonists' future horizons. The TurtlesHowever, it doesn't aim to be defined solely by the compass of social cinema. The film paints a complex portrait of the circumstances that affect so many people in our country, especially when they involve factors that hinder their grounding. But it also delves into the mother-daughter bond between the protagonists. With the camera always close to the characters, Funes avoids easy sentimentality and even displays a certain tonal dryness through Delia's attitude. A shot justified by a dramatic final device that may seem familiar but is entirely consistent with the film's entire approach.