Flick Review < Cria Cuervos | Carlos Saura (1976)

by Eduardo Munoz Bachs Polish Movie Poster by Andrzej Klimowski

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“There are things I can’t forget, it’s unbelievable how powerful memories can be.”

“Cria cuervos is a sad film, yes. But that’s part of my belief that childhood is one of the most terrible parts in the life of a human being. 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. You don’t know where you’re going or who you are or what you are going to do. It’s a time of terrible indecision.”

Carlos Saura

The film prominently features the pop song “Porque te vas” by Jeanette, an English-born singer, singing in Spanish, whose accented voice reminds Ana of her mother, as played by Geraldine Chaplin, who speaks Spanish with her English accented voice. Despite an infectious rhythm the song has sad and poignant lyrics. The song expresses the fact that Ana has no understanding of death, only of absence.

“I can’t understand how some people say childhood is the happiest time of one’s life. It certainly wasn’t for me and that maybe is why I don’t believe either in a childlike paradise or in the innocence of children I remember my childhood as a long interminable and sad time,filled with fear. A fear of the unknown.”