Cria!
by Carlos Saura
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Product details
Actor: Ana Torrent, Florinda Chico, Geraldine Chaplin, H?ctor Alterio, M?nica RandallDirector: Carlos Saura
Cinematographer: Teodoro Escamilla
Producer: Carlos Saura
Writer: Carlos Saura
Editor: Pablo Gonz?lez del Amo
Producer: El?as Querejeta
Edition: VHS Tape
Audio: English (Subtitled); Spanish (Original Language), Analog; Spanish (Dubbed), Analog
Format: Color, Letterboxed, NTSC, Original recording remastered, Widescreen
Running Time: 107 minutes
Release Date: 2000-06-16
Audience Rating: NR (Not Rated)
Publisher: Homevision
Studio: Homevision
VHS Movie Reviews of Cria!
Movie Review: Parental Unhappiness Projected Onto Their Children
Summary: 3 Stars
When I sat down to watch "Cria" I had no idea what it was. I had no idea what it was about, where it was from, or when it was made. A mix up at the New York Film Festival landed me in the wrong theater, but I can't say I was upset to be there. The film opens with the main character Ana, a small child, listening in on her dad as he has sex with his mistress and then promptly drops dead. We soon come to learn more about Ana, including the facts that her mom is already dead and that she is convinced that she killed her dad using her "poison." The fact that later on we learn that her "poison" is actually baking soda doesn't prevent that confessional from casting a dark shadow over the entire film. How can we be on the side of this child, doe eyes or otherwise, when we believe her to be a killer? I would argue that this dilemma is what defines this film. "Cria" is basically a deconstruction that childhood is a time of innocence. Ignorance is more like it. I would say that in our childhoods we have a very loose grasp on the real world and really nothing to lose, and because of that we are probably bigger a-holes then than at any other time in our lives. Ana is obsessed with death, and who can blame her? Our childhoods are often infected with death thanks to grandparents and pets. So she turns into a death dealer with baking soda who thinks that anybody she doesn't like should just be whacked, by her. It's all very Tony Soprano like of her, but it is only because the magnitude of death is unfathomable to her.
Most of the film deals with Ana and her sisters and their daily lives. It is probably realistic to a fault. I usually like realism in whatever I'm watching, but since not much happens to these kids the energy is squashed out of the viewing experience. I found the ideas to be fascinating and somewhat brave. I also loved the use of the song "Por Que Te Vas" by Jeanette. Whenever a pick me up was needed that song showed by the spread pure Spanish bubblegum joy. The scene where the sisters danced around their room while listening to that song was very touching, and probably my favorite of the film. It captured the very real feeling of being a kid and loving a song like you love nothing else. Also, the repeated use of it portrayed something universal in all of us in the way that a song can define a time period in our lives. Watching these kids in a pre-MySpace world is quaint, but also a little depressing. How could anybody wish for a childhood in which cutting pictures out of a magazine is considered a fun activity? The director would like us to see the world through Ana's eyes but that simply isn't possible. We know the implications of everything going on. Affairs, death and disease are all serious matters whether Ana knows it or not. Baking soda . . . not so much. Unfortunately, I can't recommend this film. I appreciated the effort, and the atheistic streak in it, but there simply wasn't a strong enough story arch for me. If nothing else I hope that it serves the purpose of reminding adults that while being an adult is fine and good, childhood has some dark secrets of its own. ***
Movie Review: The most Begmanian Saura 's film!
Summary: 5 Stars
Saura murdered two birds of one only shot in this magisterial and introspective movie. The repressive atmosphere of the Franco Regime works out as fundamental frame to accent two awful and dramatic events lived by a disturbed woman. Being just a child she witnesses the ambiguity Eros-Thanatos when simultaneously his father dies while his mother makes love with his best friend' s wife. But years after when her mother dies of cancer she will expiate her inner demons through a blame' s transfer with her stepfather.
Repression, emotions not surpassed, restrained anguish, emotional memories imprisoned under a brutal regime make of this film not only a sumptuous artwork but maybe one of the most complex and fascinating psychological portraits of the human soul ever filmed.
Movie Review: Saura's Masterpiece
Summary: 5 Stars
Once upon a time, there was a dictator who ruled Spain whose name was Franco. While the most famous Spanish director, Luis Bu?uel, left the country to work uninhibited in France and Mexico, and the next generation's most famous director, Almod?var, was just an infant, Carlos Saura was the director who remained in Spain making films that were critical of the dictatorial regime but escaped the vigilant eyes of the censors because of their subtlety and his use of metaphor and symbolism. Cr?a is the product of this masterful director who dared to challenge the authoritarian government.On the surface, it is the story of a young girl, Ana, who is obsessed with death because she witnesses the slow death of her mother from a painful disease; but she also witnesses the infidelities and hypocrisy of the adults that surround her: her father who dies while having intimate relations with a close family friend, an aunt who is left as her guardian who is incapable of affection, and a bawdy maid who doesn't know how to appropriately deal with this young girl.
When one views the film for a second or third time, he/she realizes that it is a scathing indictment of the treatment of women in traditional Spain, the Spain that Franco was intent on re-creating. There is the invalid grandmother, unable to speak, who symbolizes the forced silence of women or, at least, the failure to take them seriously during the Franco era. There is the mother (exquisitely portrayed by Geraldine Chaplin) who sacrifices her career as a budding concert pianist to become a mother and wife (again, the traditional role of the repressed Spanish woman). Her pleas for help and her insistence that she is ill are ignored by her (equally traditional)unfaithful husband because women and their concerns simply were unimportant. Finally there is the adult Ana who appears in a series of stark interviews who is also portrayed by Chaplin to demonstrate that nothing will change from one generation to the next. (The final scene reinforces this idea.)
Symbolism abounds in this film, and all of it leads to a moving description of the role (or lack thereof) that women occupied in Franco's Spain.
In short, along with the film "The Hunt" (La caza) this film remains one of Saura's masterpieces that withstands the test of time and proves to be an historical document of an era as well as a compelling drama in its own right.
Movie Review: Reality and imagination merge for orphaned Ana
Summary: 4 Stars
"Cria!" tells the story of a little girl named Ana (Ana Torrent), who has lost both of her parents. However, they are still in her thoughts, so this captivating work from writer-director Carlos Saura merges her thoughts with reality. Ana continues to talk with her parents, especially her mother, also named Ana and wonderfully played by Geraldine Chaplin (yes, I was surprised to realize it was her in this film as well). Throughout this film you will be wondering what is real and what is imagination, although it is clear as to which is more important to Ana. It is nice to see that this film appears letterboxed and digitally re-mastered with new subtitles. However, if you can watch this film with somebody who knows Spanish you should get them to tell you the words of the song little Ana keeps singing, because it is that song which is her "cry" in this film. One of the strengths of this film is how Saura using camera angles to reflect the little girl's perspective on the world. This is an intelligent as well as an affective portrayal of a young child dealing with the loss of her parents. Originally released in Spain as "Cria Cuervos," this film won the Cannes Festival Special Jury Prize.Movie Review: Exceptional!
Summary: 5 Stars
The plot structure is emotionally intricate, with many subtleties and moments of serenity and passion. The cinematography captures the drama perfectly and the soundtrack weaves beautifully into the texture of the movie. Highly recommended.
Summary of Cria!
In haunting memories, a woman relives the disturbing summer of her father's death. Outside her father's bedroom door, the nine-year-old Ana hears him making love to his best friend's wife, then take his last gasp of breath. When, years earlier, her mother died of cancer, Ana blamed her father; now she blames herself for his demise. In Saura's compelling vision of the child's world, past and present blend imperceptibly. Fantasy and reality become one as dead characters take their place beside the living. Cria! is graced by two remarkable actresses: Ana Torrent (The Spirit of the Beehive) as the guilt-ridden girl and Geraldine Chaplin (Peppermint Frappe) as both the grown-up Ana and her deceased mother.General Video
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