The film's temporal ambiguity, seeking to represent the suspended tempo of Chilean life, looks forward to Ruiz's later more stylised and cerebral projects. Thanks to new tax laws favouring film and popular enthusiasm for a truly national cinema, Los Tres Tristes Tigres (the title is a well-known tongue-twister poorly translated asThree Sad Tigers) was a modest box-office success.
Ian Christie
January 1, 2003