LyceeM16 Review of Cría Cuervos

Cría Cuervos (1976)

not a 10- much higher/ best acting by a child/wonderful surreal touches

[10/10 · 22 September 2008]

I agree with some other reviewers: I think this might just be my favorite film of all time. The contrast between literal reality and imagination is beautifully portrayed. I found the way Saura plays with distance (esp at the end) to be perfect. The recurrent view of chicken bones is a deft touch. The acting by Ana Torrent is the best acting work by a child that I have ever seen. Geraldine Chaplin is awesome (as is her Spanish) and the scenes between mother and child are painfully tender. As someone who works in the medical field, I also found the scenes of the woman with the "locked-in" stroke to be very true to life. The song (porque te vas) is perfect- catchy, pop, and sad all at the same time. I saw this with my mother in Paris in 1976 and we both walked out irretrievably altered by the film.