"Why, why, why... are you leaving?" Why, indeed? A simple, though irresolvable question for anyone in the wake of a harrowing death of a loved one. Even more so for a coming-of-age eight-year-old bereft of a mother, her only anchor in a world reigned by fascist ideology. In Francoist Spain women are either breeders, servants, lovers or an interchangeable combination thereof. Individuality is unwelcome, and it is certainly not female. Little Ana, emotionally stunted, trapped in her tiny world, doesn't understand any of the bigger picture. Her only enjoyment stems from dancing to Jeanette's "Porqué te vas?", a catchy tune about love and loss, and it's on repeat. Forlorn, forsaken, cloistered in a home behind a fence next to the town's thoroughfare, the little mind keeps wandering, though. Past, future, and fantasies weave in and out, tinged by shadows growing ever darker. "You want to die?" Ana asks her grandma when she witnesses her fading memory. Her squeaky voice is innocent, but firm. "Because... I can help!" she adds. And there you have it: an answer. A little girl's answer, flawed maybe, rash, and yet well-meant, regardless. There's nothing after death, absolutely nothing, she is being told, but what then is left for an eight-year-old than to simply accept the transience of... a pet guinea pig... a mother... and her own life?
"Cría Cuervos" is part of an illustrious tradition exploring adult themes through the eyes of children, a precursor to more recent approaches like "Malèna" (Giuseppe Tornatore, 2000), "Pan's Labyrinth" (Guillermo del Toro, 2006), or a whole slew of movies made by Iranian New Wave directors - to name just a few. They all have in common that they are as political as existential, and the exceptional ones often draw from the fact that they were made in spite or precisely because of a regime trying to gag anyone voicing opposition. They make no compromises. "Cría Cuervos", at the time it was made, was one of those films. As was Victor Erice's no less seminal "The Spirit of the Beehive" (1973) by the way, starring an even younger Ana Torrent in the lead. In both films, little Ana plays little Ana - art mirroring life in Spain, and vice versa, for a reason.
In 1975, the year "Cría Cuervos" hit the cinemas, General Franco died. With him went his dictatorship, the repression, and, eventually, a national movement. But chasm-deep scars remained, and the bloodshed wasn't over, not by a long shot. The death of a father figure also opens "Cría Cuervos", seen through the helpless eyes of a kid. Its title, "Cría cuervos (y te sacarán los ojos)" reminds us of the adage "Raise ravens, and they'll gouge your eyes out." The well was poisoned a long time ago, and the country's children are adrift. Life after paradise lost. Spain... work in progress.
"Cría Cuervos" is part of an illustrious tradition exploring adult themes through the eyes of children, a precursor to more recent approaches like "Malèna" (Giuseppe Tornatore, 2000), "Pan's Labyrinth" (Guillermo del Toro, 2006), or a whole slew of movies made by Iranian New Wave directors - to name just a few. They all have in common that they are as political as existential, and the exceptional ones often draw from the fact that they were made in spite or precisely because of a regime trying to gag anyone voicing opposition. They make no compromises. "Cría Cuervos", at the time it was made, was one of those films. As was Victor Erice's no less seminal "The Spirit of the Beehive" (1973) by the way, starring an even younger Ana Torrent in the lead. In both films, little Ana plays little Ana - art mirroring life in Spain, and vice versa, for a reason.
In 1975, the year "Cría Cuervos" hit the cinemas, General Franco died. With him went his dictatorship, the repression, and, eventually, a national movement. But chasm-deep scars remained, and the bloodshed wasn't over, not by a long shot. The death of a father figure also opens "Cría Cuervos", seen through the helpless eyes of a kid. Its title, "Cría cuervos (y te sacarán los ojos)" reminds us of the adage "Raise ravens, and they'll gouge your eyes out." The well was poisoned a long time ago, and the country's children are adrift. Life after paradise lost. Spain... work in progress.