CRIA CUERVOS: THE CRITERION COLLECTION - DVD review

If little Ana Torrent was a child star in America today, some enterprising studio would already have built an entire horror franchise around her creepy, vacant eyes. She has the kind of kid eyes that carry an unearthly sense of profundity to them, as if this little girl was staring into your soul and probably into a world beyond. Forget Haley Joel Osment; you can genuinely believe that Ana Torrent sees dead people.

In Carlos Saura's "Cría Cuervos" Ana (also Torrent's character name in the film) really does see dead people, her dearly departed mother and her somewhat less dearly departed father. The mother is played by Geraldine Chaplin who also portrays a grown-up Ana who reflects back on her childhood. Chaplin's elfin chassis and her own creepy vacant stare make her a perfect casting choice for both roles. Neither she nor Torrent appears to inhabit the same world as us mere mortals.

Eight year-old Ana is grieving over the loss of her parents, but she certainly doesn't show it. Instead, she develops a fantasy world which centers upon her increasingly morbid fascination with death, a concept she doesn't quite understand even though it has already defined her life. When Ana plays Simon says, the other unfortunate players are ordered to die. She also believes that a can of baking soda she once found is actually a potent magical poison and she saves this cherished treasure to be used at an opportune time, first to alleviate her grandmother's suffering and later to kill her wicked stepmother or, rather, her wicked aunt who has adopted Ana and her two sisters.

Torrent was fresh off her career-making turn in Victor Erice's "The Spirit of the Beehive" (1973) and Saura uses in much the same way. Her chilly dolls-eye stares bear much of the narrative's weight, sometimes a bit too much as Saura goes to the well a few too many times. Still, Torrent is used to great effect in the film. She is so perfectly placid when she listens over and over again to a jaunty little pop song on her tiny record player that you can't help but feel menace lurking around the corner. Ah, the benefits of working with an actress who doesn't keep asking what her "motivation" is supposed to be.

Many of the pivotal scenes involve Ana overhearing, but not understanding, the machinations of the adult world, much like Bobby Henrey in "The Fallen Idol" (1948). But for me, the film's real strength lies in its quit observation of the three sisters at play, creating fantasy worlds as they knock about a huge mansion, trying to cope with their status as orphans and coping quite nicely, thank you very much. Of course, the children only have the luxury of playing make-believe in a safe setting because they are relatively privileged, unlike many families in Fascist-plagued Spain. The fact that Ana's father was a Fascist officer further complicates matters, as does the release of "Cría Cuervos" immediately after Franco's death in Nov 20, 1975. For deeper political analysis, I can only refer you to many critics far better qualified than I am to write on the subject.

Today, Carlos Saura is best known as a director of Spanish dance films, but at the time he was identified very much as an art-house director, one of the few Spanish-grown directors who stayed at home unlike Luis Buñuel who quickly left home to film in Mexico and Europe. "Cría Cuervos" was one of Saura's biggest critical and commercial successes, though he later received an Oscar nomination for "Mamá cumple cien años" (1979).

Cinematographer Teodoro Escamilla makes great use of scale to alternately portray the crumbling mansion as sprawling and intensely claustrophobic. The home is an alternate reality, a pocket universe for Ana to play in, one where ghosts mingle freely and quite matter-of-factly with the living. For Ana, this world appears to serve up equal parts wonder and horror, but who can really tell what's going on behind those dark reflecting eyes?

Video

The film is presented in the European standard 1.66:1 aspect ratio. It's awfully boring writing Video sections for Criterion releases. The transfer looks great. It looks a little dark, but then again it's supposed to. I was just trying to find something to complain about. Forget it, another stellar transfer.

Audio

The DVD is presented in Dolby Digital Monaural. Optional English subtitles support the Spanish audio.

Extras

I must admit upfront that I have not had a chance to watch any of the extras included in this 2-disc set. Disc One contains only the restored film, with no commentary track.

Disc Two offers a substantial documentary "Portrait of Carlos Saura" (2004, 62 min) by José-Luis López-Linares which includes interviews with the director, his family, Geraldine Chaplin, and Vittorio Storaro. The disc also includes 2007 interviews with Geraldine Chaplin (21 min.) and Ana Torrent (8 min.)

The insert booklet contains a lengthy and insightful essay by Paul Julian-Smith which explains much more about the film's political context.

Film Value

"Cría Cuervos" provides an odd perspective on childhood, one told from the perspective of an eight year-old girl but without a hint of sentiment. Even "Pan's Labyrinth" creates a more cheerful mood. Ana Torrent and Geraldine Chaplin both excel as mother and daughter (as well as daughter and older version of daughter). The film also makes superb use of a sparse and repetitive musical track: the pop song that Ana stoically "enjoys" over and over again will drill into your head like an earwig and not stop until it chews through to the other side.