Cría Cuervos (Carlos Saura/1976)

Carlos Saura was already an established auteur when he wrote and directed Cría. He won the Silver Bear for Best Director at the Berlinale in 1966 (The Hunt) and 1968 (Peppermint Frappé). He won the Jury Prize at Cannes in 1973 (La prima Angélica). Cría Cuervos premiered at Cannes in 1976 and won the Jury Prize. Saura was inspired by 1) “Porque te Vas” a 2-year-old pop song with a peppy beat that contrasts with lyrics about estrangement and loss, 2) Ana Torrent’s performance in Victor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive, and 3) His desire to explore the character of a child with murder in mind. Cría Cuervos means “raise ravens” and refers to the proverb: “Raise ravens and they will gouge your eyes”. Cría Cuervos shares with Michael Haneke’s “The White Ribbon” a concern for the inheritance of fascism. Perhaps the most praiseworthy aspect of the film is how it maintains a delicate balance between 1) scenes set in the recent past, 2) scenes set in the present where sometimes the mise-en-scene exists only in the mind of the 8 year-old Anna (Torrent), and 3) flashforwards set two decades later in which Charlie Chaplin’s daughter Geraldine incarnates the adult Ana looking back at her tumultuous childhood. It’s a movie about the past, present and future of Spain (among other things). Torrent’s performance here is my favorite performance by a child in the history of cinema.