Tied for the best movie I have ever seen

Purely Joyful Movie!

It is an exhilarating, distressing, funny and profound film, with one of the more memorable film scores in years,

Great example of an old-fashioned, pure-at-heart escapist event movie that doesn't pretend to be anything that it's not and has boat loads of fun being its own ludicrous self.

Like Saura's recently-viewed THE HUNT (1966), this is considered among the greatest Spanish films ever – and deservedly so. Incidentally, it also assumes a child's viewpoint throughout – an aspect shared with yet another movie that ranks very highly on such national polls, i.e. THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (1973). Featured in the central role (the second youngest of three girls involved) is the same talented performer – Ana Torrent – as the protagonist of the latter masterpiece by Victor Erice.As with Saura's own COUSIN ANGELICA (1974; which I have also just watched), then, this adopts fantasy elements – Torrent is constantly seeing her deceased parents around the house and, at one point, even 'witnesses' herself committing suicide by jumping off a rooftop! – and interchangeable actors – the writer/director's then-current partner, Geraldine Chaplin, plays both the sickly mother and Torrent's character as an older woman – to tell a similar tale of a marriage break-up (actually two) and the resulting illicit affairs – which Torrent always somehow manages to be the sole witness to – but, thankfully, without resorting to the heavy-handed political/religious allusions which marred the earlier film. A supposedly discarded bottle of rat poison also provides black comedy touches throughout as Torrent is forever scheming to use it on herself, her grandmother or her aunt…but whether she actually ever does is left open-ended! Another strong point here is the soundtrack, making repeated use of a melancholy piano tune and an equally haunting pop song. The meaning behind the film's title is anybody's guess – unless the mentioned bird's reputation for ill omen is being equated to the kids' difficult relationship with their extended family: they have been placed in the care of their attractive yet unmarried aunt in a household that also includes their mute, wheelchair-bound grandmother and an earthy middle-aged maid.

It is hard to be a child no matter what country or times you live in. It is unbearably painful for a child to lose their most beloved and close person in the world, to miss them enormously, to try to come to terms with their loss, to make sense of it. It is hard to live during the time of historical changes in your country even if you live during the time of peace when the devastating wars are over and your family belongs to the privileged ones. Is childhood really a happiest, most innocent, brightest time in life of a person or is it confusing, scary, sad? Or both? Is a child who honestly wishes her caregiver dead, a little psycho or is she innocent and the wish is her way to cope with the reality that her beloved mother would never again smile at her, kiss her and play piano for her and nobody would ever substitute her however hard they try? I kept asking all these questions while watching the truly beautiful, dreamlike, absolutely non-sentimental, serious yet optimistic and darkly funny film Cria Cuervos aka Raise Ravens or Secret of Ana written/directed and produced by one of the Spanish most celebrated filmmakers, the favorite director of Luis Bunuel, Carlos Saura. Nine years old Ana Torrent, a delicate little girl with the huge sad dark eyes that look directly in your soul and see something way beyond this world, is IMO one of the most memorable and touching children actors I recall. Continuing with the theme of her fascinating and unforgettable debut at 1973 Spirit of the Beehive, she gives in Cria Cuervos performance of the life time as a little girl who creates the fantasy world where death has no power over her love for her dearly departed mother. Cria Cuervos is an amazing must see movie. Very much can and has been said about its complexity and symbolism, and analogies with the real changes in the political and social life in Spain at the time. I just want to add that it is a perfect sublime movie made by a very talented and intelligent director about complexity of the times of childhood that could be happy yet very sad.

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.

Like almost everyone i found this movie extraordinary touching and beautiful when i first saw it. I watched it several times and i realized something, it's really about Spain under Franco's dictatorship. Every character is a metaphor of Spain , the beautiful mother killed, cheated on by her military husband, the collaborating auntie who tries to educate the children, the old mute grand mother, who only wants to remember the old days (the republic) etc... every line in the movie can be heard in a completely different. The young rebel Ana is a true symbol of the spanish youth who can't stand anymore the military oppression, and who wanna be free to see the outside world (the song is reggae !). and the final scene with the hope of a new era coming (when the kids are arriving at school as a new year is beginning) is the reflection of what was about to happen in Spain (Franco died the same year). Anyway, whether you want to see its political message or not, it's just a wonderful movie, one of my favorite.