Cría Cuervos (Cria!) (Raise Ravens) (1976)

100% of critics liked it
(15 reviews)
94% of users liked it
(3,174 ratings)

Carlos Saura wrote and directed this powerful psychological drama in which family crises which reflect the embattled soul of a nation are seen through the eyes of an unusually perceptive child. Ana (Ana Torrent) is an eight-year-old girl growing up in a troubled household -- her father Anselmo… More Carlos Saura wrote and directed this powerful psychological drama in which family crises which reflect the embattled soul of a nation are seen through the eyes of an unusually perceptive child. Ana (Ana Torrent) is an eight-year-old girl growing up in a troubled household -- her father Anselmo (Hector Alterio) is a general in the Spanish military during the waning days of Franco's repressive regime, and her mother (Geraldine Chaplin) is dead, Ana having witnessed her agonizing final moments. Anna, her older sister Irene (Conchita Perez) and younger sister Juana (Maite Sanchez) are looked after by their emotionally chilly Aunt Paulina (Monica Randall), while housekeeper Rosa (Florinda Chico) provides what little warmth there is to be found in the household. While Ana's mother is gone, the girl frequently sees and hears her mother's spirit, and is convinced Anselmo's emotional neglect and infidelity is responsible for her death, leading the youngster to take her own form of revenge against her father. The title Cria Cuervos is taken from a Spanish proverb -- "Raise ravens and they'll pluck out your eyes." The film was originally released in the United States under title Cria!, and has been screened in English-speaking territories as Raise Ravens and The Secret of Ana. ~ Mark Deming, Rovi

Rating, Runtime: PG, 1 hr. 47 min.
Directed By: Carlos Suara, Carlos Saura
Genres: Drama, Art House & International, Mystery & Suspense

In Theaters: Jan 1, 1976 Limited
On DVD: Aug 21, 2007
Studio: Criterion Collection

Critic Reviews

Allan Hunter, Daily Express
Blurring fact and fantasy in a haunting evocation of the repression that marked the Franco era.
Philip French, Guardian [UK]
The title refers to the old saying: "Raise ravens and they'll peck your eyes out."
Derek Malcolm, This is London
It's unsettling, moving and funny in turn, and a clear criticism of a regime that stifled the Spanish for decades.
Virginie Sélavy, Electric Sheep
The film fluidly moves between reality and fantasy, past and present, never delineating them clearly, suggesting they all have the same texture in Ana's mind and are part of the same continuum.
Peter Bradshaw, Guardian [UK]
The film is a masterpiece of form and technique, and Chaplin and Torrent are both outstanding.
Tim Robey, Daily Telegraph
It unfolds like a kind of morbid reverie, reverberating with strange frissons about what one generation passes to the next, and how even rebellion is a kind of heirloom.
David Parkinson, Radio Times
As the child who believes she has power over death after witnessing the demise of her father, Ana Torrent superbly conveys that mix of terror and innocence that is unique to childhood.
Tom Dawson, Total Film
A richly shot, impressively acted film containing a powerful, bleak vision of both childhood and a repressive adult world.
Emanuel Levy, EmanuelLevy.Com
Set in 1974, the last year of Spanish dictator Franco's regime, Carlos Saura's melodrama draws intriguing analogies between a girl haunted by hallucinations and the broader political context.
Fernando F. Croce, CinePassion
Rejection of "childhood innocence"
Dennis Schwartz, Ozus' World Movie Reviews
An hypnotic arthouse psychological drama that complexly mixes reality and fantasy.
Dan Callahan, Slant Magazine
A seamless story about memory and fantasy blurring together, Cría cuervos is unquestionably Carlos Saura's greatest film.
James Kendrick, Q Network Film Desk
a dream-like evocation of the shifting lines between fantasy and reality, living and dying, past and present
Doug Cummings, Filmjourney
The film's vaguely uncanny and disquieting tone is due to several factors, including its emphasis on death, loss, and decay...In many ways, the film is a lament and warning for Spain's future.
Dave Calhoun, Time Out
The allusions are as gentle as they are smart.

Read all 15 critic reviews

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Featured Audience Ratings

Matheus C

"Cría cuervos y te sacarán los ojos." This stunningly directed Spanish classic is a perverse, dark and funny portrayal of childhood.
Elvira B

Astonishing, powerful, quiet classic. As far as I've seen, it might represent the pinnacle of 70s Spanish cinema. An adult Ana reminisces about the events of her childhood and their consequences, especifically her mother's death and her turbulent… More
Astonishing, powerful, quiet classic. As far as I've seen, it might represent the pinnacle of 70s Spanish cinema. An adult Ana reminisces about the events of her childhood and their consequences, especifically her mother's death and her turbulent relationship with her father. I can say that without a doubt Cria Cuervos is the most realistic depiction of sadness and nostalgia I have ever seen. Ana Torrent as the young Ana brings an emotional credibility to her characters that is without precedent in child performances. She doesn't limit herself to putting on a sad face because her mother died. Ana continues to see (imagine) her mother, and the contrast between the bliss of these illusions/memories of happyday-to-day life with her mother, and the awfully lonely reality that she experiences is literally heartbreaking. Geraldine Chaplin plays Ana as an adult and also Ana's mother. I can barely remember a performance or a scene as mortifying as Ana's mother agonizing in bed shortly before her death. Chaplin plays to perfection an unhappy wife, purposefully nonchalant about her husband's infidelities, with an immense need for love. Little Ana remembers her mother's pain and most likely what brought her the disease that killed her, and so she develops a horrible hate for the people who are left alive. The best thing about Cria, though, is that Carlos Saura doesn't idealize or soften the real, raw, ugly process of mourn that Ana has to undergo: the things she misses, the things she remembers, the things she clings to, the search for new people to love. Also, after her father dies, Ana and her 2 sisters are left under her aunt's care, and Saura doesn't try to maker her into saint, or a devil. She is only a woman dealing with a sudden responsiblity, and making mistakes, out of nervousness or inexperience, that mark Ana's life forever. That's real life -things happen that you can't predict, or control. But it also goes on, and that's what happens here. The cinematography is beautiful, haunting, as is that eternal theme song that is often played throughout. Ana Torrent is even better here than in The Spirit of the Beehive, and Geraldine Chaplin is wonderfully adorable and melancholy. Beware people with a weak stomach or who cry easily. Cria Cuervos is a masterpiece of cinema, the closest portrayal of mourn on film.
Stella D

a dark film about childhood starring the wonderful ana torrent as a willful and imaginative girl haunted by the deaths of her parents. en espanol
Eric B

Like the earlier "The Spirit of the Beehive" (also starring Ana Torrent), "Cria Cuervos" is a story told from a child's perspective. It's as if the film's pace and structure are wholly steered by Torrent's own natural rhythm. She's an… More
Like the earlier "The Spirit of the Beehive" (also starring Ana Torrent), "Cria Cuervos" is a story told from a child's perspective. It's as if the film's pace and structure are wholly steered by Torrent's own natural rhythm. She's an unusually somber little girl whose heartbreaking brown eyes are soaked with melancholy, and she spends much of the film just silently watching and thinking. Torrent's character (also named Ana) is the middle sister of three. Her mother (Geraldine Chaplin, superb in a small role) and father both died in the recent past. He was a cold military officer and a philanderer, and the marriage was not happy. Ana and her sisters are being raised by their well-meaning but irritable aunt Paulina, while a matronly housekeeper is another guiding hand. Ana's grandmother, mute and paralyzed from a stroke, also lives in the house. Nothing pleases her except blankly gazing at old family photos. She seems to connect more with Ana than her sisters, and their scenes together provide some of the more intriguing moments. Ana's departed mother regularly appears to her -- presumably, this is a fantasy but it's left somewhat ambiguous. Since the film also includes plenty of flashbacks, the entrances of the mother can be confusing. Adding to the near-surreal disorientation, Chaplin also portrays Ana as an adult and inserts some external commentary. As the story continues, the sadness deepens into a surprisingly dark tone. Ana quietly shows some murderous tendencies, and it's insinuated that she may have poisoned her father and could even kill again. Thankfully, the film retreats from becoming just another claustrophobic tale of gothic horror. Some critics interpret "Cria Cuervos" as an allegory about clashing forces of Spanish politics (it was shot during dictator Francisco Franco's final months). Resonances emerge in the grand but stifling home and the ceremony surrounding the father's death, but I suggest restraint in pursuing this metaphor too far. However, if this line of analysis could explain the repeated shots of refrigerated chicken feet, carry on!
Quinto W

I know this film achieves so many more wonderful things, but right now I just can't stop thinking about Ana Torrent, without a doubt the best child actress ever. She looks just like a child, with her constantly expressionless face, but if you look just close enough in her eyes… More
I know this film achieves so many more wonderful things, but right now I just can't stop thinking about Ana Torrent, without a doubt the best child actress ever. She looks just like a child, with her constantly expressionless face, but if you look just close enough in her eyes you'll find the torment and confusion her character is always in.