Special Jury Prize (ex-aequo), Cannes 1976
Directed by: Carlos Saura
Year of production: 1976
Country: Spain
Genre: drama
Length: 107 minutes
Carlos Saura’s exquisite Cría cuervos heralded a turning point in Spain: shot while General Franco was on his deathbed, the film melds the personal and the political in a portrait of the legacy of fascism and its effects on a middle-class family (the title derives from the Spanish proverb: “Raise ravens and they’ll peck out your eyes”).
Ana Torrent (the dark-eyed beauty from The Spirit of the Beehive) portrays the disturbed eight-year-old Ana, living in Madrid with her two sisters and mourning the death of her mother, whom she conjures as a ghost (an ethereal Geraldine Chaplin). Seamlessly shifting between fantasy and reality, the film subtly evokes both the complex feelings of childhood and the struggles of a nation emerging from the shadows. (The Criterion Collection)
Carlos SAURA – Director
Carlos SAURA – Script / Dialogue
Teo ESCAMILLA – Cinematography
Hector ALTERIO
Mirta MILLER
ALMENDROS
Monica RANDALL
Florina Chico
Géraldine CHAPLIN
Josefina DIAZ
Conchita PEREZ
Ana TORRENT
Maite SANCHEZ
German COBES