Cria Cuervos (1976)

Directed by: Carlos Saura | 107 minutes | drama | Actors: Ana Torrent, Geraldine Chaplin, Mónica Randall, Florinda Chico, Héctor Alterio, Germán Cobos, Mirta Miller, Josefina Díaz, Conchita Pérez, Juan Sánchez Almendros, Mayte Sanchez

Well-developed and captivating film about the young life of the astute Ana (Ana Torrent), who grows up in Spain during the dictatorship of General Franco (1939-1976). Her father Anselmo (Héctor Alterio) is a high-ranking soldier and scumbag, who dies at the beginning of the film. At night Ana first hears him making love to his mistress Amelia (Mirta Miller), but when he suddenly gives up the ghost, Amelia runs off. The death of her father does not seem to affect Ana much, she goes to have a look at her father’s dead body, takes his drinking glass with her, calmly goes to the kitchen and rinses the glass. There she has a conversation with her mother (Geraldine Chaplin), who sends her to bed. Only then does the viewer find out that her mother has died before. It shows how much Ana interweaves reality with her fantasy. The still young Torrent plays a convincing and intriguing lead role as Ana. With her large, hard-to-find eyes she looks at the world around her. Apparently not much seems to be happening, Ana’s days are filled with seemingly meaningless daily actions.

Now and then the grown-up Ana (also Chaplin, unusual but ingenious choice) takes over to explain the events and place them in a larger context. The great thing about the film is that top director Carlos Saura ensures that scenes in the film can be interpreted in different ways. It then depends on the viewer’s attitude, on his knowledge of the nationalist regime in Spain or even perhaps his state of mind as to how film can be viewed. It has been said that the film is one big metaphor for Spain as a country and/or that ‘Cría Cuervos’ is a political statement. In that case it is still somewhat obscured, after all, the film was released a few months after the death of Caudillo (leader) Franco.

Equally, this is a film about women – and different types of women, seen through the eyes of a little girl and commented on by her adult self. First of all, of course, there is Ana herself, played as an adult with cold detachment by Chaplin, in stark contrast to the loving mother role she also plays. Then there’s Paulina (Mónica Randall), Ana’s aunt, who as a surrogate mother takes care of the children, but obviously can’t do it right in Ana’s eyes. The great thing is that this is completely understandable from Ana’s point of view that she hates her aunt and completely understandable from the adult perspective that Paulina sometimes struggles to raise her nieces in the best possible way after the death of their parents. Then there is the needy grandmother Abuela (Josefina Díaz), who does little more than keep quiet, but is nevertheless very present. Finally, but by no means least, there is the housekeeper Rosa (Florinda Chico), who really takes care of the children and whispers all kinds of confidentiality.

Saura calmly takes the time to sketch the lives of Ana and her sisters, but although the film is slow in pace, he sucks the viewer into his story and plays with time in a masterly way. Partly due to the compelling camera work by Teodoro Escamilla, the slightly magical-realistic touch is never far away. There are many layers to discover in ‘Cría Cuervos’ and it is certainly a film that is thought-provoking – and invites you to watch it again, perhaps to discover even more.