Cría cuervos

While I like Spirit of the Beehive (another mid-70's Spanish movie starring Ana Torrent, told from her perspective, with elements of fantasy and an allegory regarding the fascist regime) more, this one is pretty good. The device of using Chaplin to play both Ana's mother and the "adult" Ana is very intriguing -- is adult Ana really speaking to us from the future, or is it Ana imagining herself becoming her mother? I think the film works just fine without examining the political commentary.

Excellent. Saura masterfully depicts the pain resulting from a stolen childhood. Though, as others have mentioned, the political reading is not necessary for a deep enjoyment of the film, it is certainly there. To neglect it is to neglect a central theme of the film - how will the generation who grew up with Franco shape their culture? How antiquated has it become, and has that stolen Spain's innocence? The acting and directing are top-notch. An intriguing film on numerous levels.

A slow-burner that plays with your perception of reality as it gets inside the head of young girl grieving over the death of her mother. The plot revelations are sly and quietly impacting. Also, I now cannot get "Por que de vas" out of my head.

A little girl grapples with the trauma of loss by considering the power one has over the lives around them without understanding the consequences. We watch as her imagination develops, alongside her awareness of its limitations. Torrent gives an even better performance here than in Spirit in my opinion. Excellent.

An interesting political allegory and rumination on childhood, trauma and mortality, but to this viewer it did not quite seem the Fanny-and-Alexander-meets-Spirit-of-the-Beehive masterpiece it clearly is for many others, being perhaps even a little dreary.

Quite simply incredible. A stunning evocation of childhood, a completely believable, utterly compelling portrait of the pain felt by some as they look back on their childhood (and how that pain can exist even in remembering moments of joy), of loss of parents and of innocence, of rebellion and, as the title (Feed Crows...) implies, of the crows coming back to peck the eyes of their feeders. Also Porque te vas is awesome!

Current favorite movie. A heart-breaking look at what childhood is really like.

A nice, exalted and momentously eminent Spanish perspective from a youth's naked eyepoint and perception. Sad but also clever movie from Carlos Saura.

Is it two years ago already that you told me - right there, like 400 meters from this bus stop - lying on a picnic table, your tongue in my ear - that this is my favourite film I haven't seen? And I grew so weary of this patronising DDLG shit that used to get me so wet. Just like that. Each girl must kill her fascist father sooner or later right?

Saura clearly likes the Luger. This instantly goes in the upper echelon of dark movies about childhood that I've ever seen.

Absorbing, beautifully shot, sad, enigmatic, almost dream-like... It's often taken as an allegory for Spain at the end of the Franco era, but I don't see it, and as far as I can tell, neither did Saura. What he did say about it: "Childhood is one of the most terrible parts in the life of a human being. [...] 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." He succeeds in evoking all of it with uncommon intelligence.

Challenging and consistently intriguing with an astounding child performance from Torrent (who I was familiar with from her even better performance in Spirit of the Beehive.) You need to really be paying attention to this, so don't try to multitask. About how childhood memories shape us and about childhood itself. There are political allegories happening here too, but you don't need to know anything about Francoist Spain to enjoy it.

All throughout, I thought, "this girl creeps me out like the one in Spirit of the Beehive." Same girl! The awkward atmosphere of love-without-warmth really comes through, and it is certainly a reminder that kids pick up on more than what adults think they do. It's a little too plotless for my liking, but I can see why it gets on a lot of favorites lists.

Everything is as awkward as chicken leg in the fridge.

I'm not sure they played 'Porque te vas' enough.

Mostly meandering horseshit but not without some beauty

How the memory of a traumatic childhood transcends time and space (Slaughterhouse 5 is not far). Some very nice ideas but rather poorly executed. I'm not convinced by the direction that was fairly bland to me.

Porque te vas

Brilhante. Brilhante. Brilhante.

Great reflections on childhood trauma, loss, authoritarianism, and memory. If it weren't so drab I would have loved it even more. Note: I'm kind of baffled by those who toss aside the political allegory. This is a movie that works on two levels: One small story (Ana and her family) represents the greater whole (Spain). To sever the connection between the two narratives disregards the larger conversation this movie is having. Are you all fascists or something?

This obviously didn't impress me as much as it should have.

a sad, dense film. great performances, especially from the lead child actress. a very stylized premise. i was particularly intrigued with the way it dealt with notions of time and reality and enjoyed the use of the child protagonist here. i'm still trying to decipher european cinema structurally, so i was a bit confused about how the film maintained a through line without following screenplay structure, though i hope that i will understand the trick upon exposure to international films.

Stern and subtle political drama about fascist Spain built on atmosphere and aloof indirectness, with clarity of feeling but somehow thematically fuzzy.

cria cuervos.....you raise ravens and they will pick your eyes out... torrent is captivating with her hypnotic gaze and beguiling behaviour....geraldine chaplin gives a remarkable performance in a demanding dual role as well. highly recommended.

Spirit of the Beehive is better in my opinion, but this one is still a really good film about childhood and loss, that also like Beehive has allegorical elements regarding the Franco regime, more overtly in this case. Torrent is fantastic in this one as well, what a find. Plus: fantastic use of music.

A truly haunting inspection of a child dealing with loss. The political reading is unnecessary.

A really nice film about childhood and perspective. Ana Torrent does a really great job for a child actor, taking control of every scene and portraying the limited perception of a child, while clearly not childhood innocence. It's at times sad, at times happy and always entrancing.