It is one of the most moving childhood films in the history of cinema and here is the opportunity to discover it or rediscover it on the big screen. Cria Cuervos, directed by the recently deceased Carlos Saura, hits theaters this Wednesday.
What is it about ?
Ana, 9 years old, no longer sleeps at night in the big family house in Madrid. His parents died recently. His mother passed away from grief and amorous spite, his father succumbed to a vengeful mistress.
Witness of these two deaths in spite of herself, Ana refuses the adult world and invents her universe. She clings to her dreams and her memories to bring her mother back to life and find her love. She fills her daily life with games that she shares with her sisters.
The music that accompanies this film is a well-known tune: Porque Te Vas, sung by Jeanette. A song that has since remained associated with this film, and which remains in mind for a long time after having heard it. This film, if you have never seen it before, could have the same effect on you. Cria Cuervos is a rare film, often called a masterpiece, and one of the most important works of Spanish cinema.
This film, released 47 years ago, and directed by Carlos Saura, who left us recently, marked the history of cinema, for its way of depicting childhood, with an unparalleled tone and accuracy. In Cria Cuervos there are these mixed feelings which belong to this period of life, and which are difficult to describe in words. Cria Cuervos is a capture that is both realistic and poetic, which touches on grace, with the talent of its performers and beautiful staging ideas.
TamasaCast Ana Torrent in Cria Cuervos
To shed light on this film, its screenwriter and director said the following: “I never believed in the so-called paradise of childhood; I believe, on the contrary, that childhood constitutes a stage during which the nocturnal terror, the fear of the unknown, the feeling of incommunicability, loneliness are present in the same way as this joy of living and this curiosity of which so many people speak. pedagogues.”
I never believed in the so-called paradise of childhood
And to add:Ana, the heroine of my film, is obviously sensitive and particularly receptive; faced with the aggression of the adult world, she has created a personal universe apart where only people who conform to what she expects of them find a place. In this universe, reality encompasses memories that have the presence of actuality, desires and hallucinations that merge with everyday life…“
Cria Cuervos is a fascinating film in its complexity: there is this mixture of tones, between the games of childhood, and the omnipresence of death, the place occupied by ghosts… There is also this work on temporalities, with a Geraldine Chaplin who plays a double role, that of the missing mother, and that of adult Ana. Finally, Cria Cuervos conceals another level of reading, rooted in the era in which it was produced, namely Francoism. Carlos Saura’s film offers a sharp reflection and criticism, being a metaphor for this period of Spanish history.
Finally, note that the title of the film comes from a Spanish proverb “Cria cuervos que te sacaran los ojos“. It means “Feed the crows, they will put out your eyes”.
Find all the cinema releases of the week
Cria Cuervos hits theaters this Wednesday, and it will be followed by a larger retrospective devoted to its director, Carlos Saura. In total, 11 feature films by the filmmaker who died on February 10 will be visible in cinemas.