Running Time: 107 minutesDirected By: Carlos Saura
Written By: Carlos Saura
Main Cast: Ana Torrent, Geraldine Chaplin, Monica Randall, Florinda Chico, Conchi Perez
RAISE RAVENS AND THEY'LL PLUCK OUT YOUR EYES!
It felt (and has been feeling) so good to be able to just pick out a movie, by reading synopsis' and just going with what sounds good, instead of already having my movie picked out for me. Tonight, as I made the decision to knock yet another film off of my list of 1001, I chose "Cria cuervos" from the Netflix instant queue and while it wasn't quite what I expected, ultimately I had an enjoyable time with it.
The movie opens with sounds of passion and as eight-year old Ana (Torrent) descends the staircase, the following noises that she is exposed to, are noises that no young child should hear. She hears her recently widowed father making love to a woman, only to then declare that he cannot breathe. His mistress, a friend of the family named Amelia, runs from the room, locks eyes with Ana for a brief second and then departs the residence, as Ana's father Anselmo dies of a heart attack. By removing an emoty glass of milk, which we later realize the relevance of, Ana blames herself for the death of her father, and carries the guilt with her through the movie. Now Ana and her two sisters (one older, one younger) are left without their parents and are forced to be raised by their mother's sister, Aunt Paulina, with some help from the delightful character of Rosa, the maid.
The film is told in flashbacks, so at times, although I hate to admit, I found myself just a tad confused. In the end, however, I had everything sorted out well enough to piece everything together. Aunt Paulina, though she means well, is sometimes harsh with the children and dampens the already well damp spirits of the three youths. The children, however, are quite the resiliant ones, as they keep each other in good company, playing games and being children and trying not to think about all the tragedies that have recently plagued their lives. The film also envokes the use of an adult Ana (Page, in a dual role) popping in from time to time to talk about some of the things that were swirling through her head, during the time shortly after the death of her mother and father. Beyond that the plot is pretty cut and dry, as we follow the children as they adapt to their new lives.
During the first ten or so minutes of "Cria cuervos", I had a suspicion that I wasn't going to like this movie. I'm really not sure why I'm admitting that or even why I thought it, because the suspicion turned out to be false and actually I had a very pleasant time with this film, despite the fact that some of the subject matter isn't all that pleasant. When the film ended I did a few minutes worth of snooping on some of the films meanings and such and found that the film is meant to be about "a metaphor of life under a fascist regime" and is decalred a movie of "political triumph". I honestly didn't get that out of this movie and took the film as just a movie and nothing else. However, one thing that Carlos Saura himself said about the film is this:
"What I'm trying to say is that at that age you've no idea where it is you are going, only that people are taking you somewhere, leading you, pulling you and you are frightened."
Now that element comes out 100%, as we see the entire film through the eyes of Ana and as the film goes on I realized that there was probably a lot of things going on with the characters that weren't being shown, because Ana wasn't present for them. The film, in my opinion, gives the viewer the feeling of being a child, where we're left in the dark about certain things, such as infidelity and death and are therefore forced to draw our own opinions about the subjects, which is why the character of Ana is so obsessed with death. The movie is already growing on me and I like it more now than I did thirty minutes ago when I finished it. This is definitely one that I want to see again and I just finished it. I'll let that statement speak for itself.
RATING: 8/10 This is a really hard one to gauge, because it was very different than what I expected, but I still had a really good time with it. I'm not sure if an '8' is too generous or not generous enough. We'll stick with it though.
MOVIES WATCHED: 136
MOVIES LEFT TO WATCH: 865
September 6, 2010 1:37am
From Ray
ReplyDeleteNothing to feel bad about being a 'tad confused..'
A mother talking to the girl, who later we hear is dead (so which do we believe?) is confusing.. at first. The flash backs are not signaled in any (usual) way... I got half way, and restarted, and once I accepted the mother WAS dead, it clicked.
I really liked it.. but I found the end dissapointing.. it didn't seem to have gone anywhere.. I was surprised it had ended.. Perhaps I need to give the ending another go as well. This one I DO feel inclined to do that with. Once I have read up some more about it to discover what I missed...
Ray