yougotitdude-32583 Now I found this movie completely in accidnet. I was originally looking for a song from How I Met Your Mother and I found the song in a video with clips from this movie. After watching the video I knew I had to watch it. I did some research first to see if it was worth my time. And it was. From what I found many had said it was just a drama movie and what not. Until I watched the movie and realized how deep it actually is. While watching it I realized the little girl was curious about death. Another thing I didn't know was that the entire movie was a flashback which makes it much better too. The way she stands there and looks at everything going on in the world she didn't acknowledge any of it until she was older and retelling of that summer. Now the movie is in Spanish but there is an English version on YouTube if you look up the English title "Raise Ravens" you can find it. Just a warning that the English voice over isn't completely correctly translated and the voices don't match the characters well at all but there isn't that much dialogue in the movie anyways so it's easy to get over. But if you get the chance I say watch this movie. It will stick with you like it has with me.

Ashkan Kazemian After her successful appearance in The Spirit of the Beehive (1973), Ana Torrent again becomes the centre of a film about childhood experiences.In Cria Cuervos, Ana once again delivers her role successfully, thanks to the innocence and honesty she puts in her character. What's more, she delivers her role without repeating her character in The Spirit of the Beehive.SPOILERS FROM HEREFor young Ana, a major crisis in life begins very early when she witnesses the painful death of her mother and then the death of her father. The concept of death haunts her from then on as she remembers the happy memories she had with her mother and how her father constantly cheated on her mother. In real life, however, she has to face an aunt who tries to educate Ana and her two sisters in her strict manner now that she has become their guardian after the death of their parents.As I went on to experience Ana's past, in her memories, and her present, in her relationship with her sisters, her aunt and others, the question which, especially in the final half hour of the film, came to my mind was if Ana would be able to form a kind of mother-daughter relationship with her aunt.

jamesmartin1995 As yet unavailable on DVD in the UK, this brilliant Spanish classic is now back on the big screen in a beautifully restored print. Thirty five years after it was made, Cria Cuervos is (by and large) just as potent and relevant as it was when first released.There is a scene, quite early on in the film, where a young girl called Ana, and her two sisters, walk into their aunt's bedroom and start playing with her makeup and wardrobe, rouging their cheeks and applying lipstick in copious amounts. I think, at that point, almost everyone in the screening, tried to hide a sardonic smile.However, it is not for its ironies when seen in the present day that we remember this film most. We remember it because it offers us something we very rarely see in cinema: an honest, sincere evocation of childhood and the gradual, warped loss of innocence. That is the premise of dozens of films, I realise, but seldom is anything like this achieved; movies of this type are either cloying and sentimental, or else sensationalised and melodramatic. Neither obtains the poignant sense of disquiet that 'Cria Cuervos' generates.The film begins with Ana losing her father. Her mother, we quickly learn, died a few years ago, and Ana is left an orphan. She and her two sisters are sent to live with their aunt – a fundamentally kind, but authoritarian guardian who Ana, yearning for her own mother, instinctively rebels against. We follow Ana's story from the time of her father's death to the end of the summer holidays, after which she will start school with her sisters.This, I hasten to add, is a very simplified, desiccated overview of the plot. It is a film packed with nuance and subtlety. We learn that Ana's father was in fact a soldier under Franco's regime, and had at one time fought alongside the Nazis. In one of the most memorable scenes in the film, Ana finds her father's gun, still loaded, leading to a tense scene with her aunt and her aunt's lover.Ana is a fascinating child. The eagle eyed film buff might remember the actress who plays her from 'The Spirit of the Beehive', another Spanish classic which deals with similar themes, albeit in a different way. Most striking are those large, brown eyes of hers; Ana is a quiet, observant child, disturbed by her brief glimpses into the adult world, gradually accumulating as she grows older. How much does she understand? Obviously, when Ana grows into an adult and narrates the story through flashback, hindsight will let her comprehend the things she has seen. But what of when she is younger? The answer is largely subjective. The film draws many comparisons between Ana's grandmother and the young Ana herself – the old woman is paralysed, in a wheelchair. She is capable of hearing and seeing – and understanding the things other people say. But she never says anything. Whether this is part of her affliction, or a conscious choice, is left deliberately ambiguous. What we can see is that Ana sympathises with her grandmother, and a gentle, compassionate relationship evolves between the two.I could go on. Perhaps the most impressive thing about the film is the way it seamlessly blends fact, fiction and memory so beautifully and precisely, without ever losing sight of its ultimate goal; indeed, this very blending lends the film an incredible authenticity. Ana feels isolated and alone – her fantasies, from the shocking to the seemingly banal, are desperate and painful. The opening montage, as well, of a collection of family photographs, is extremely subtle and masterful in the way it has us beginning to formulate questions and suspicions – some of which are assuaged, some of which aren't.What a treat this is for any film fan! Carlos Saura (the director), was of course one of the great opponents of the Franco regime, while also rated as one of the most important Spanish directors of the 1970s. This is probably his most well known and powerful film. Childhood can be a frightening, confusing, and sad time, and Saura, with what is arguably his masterpiece, has captured that beautifully. Don't miss!

Daniel Hayes This film is such a splendid experience that it's difficult to really describe objectively why. The plot, the characters are revealed at a perfect tempo, keeping the audience engrossed and anticipating what's next. Any film with such sparse dialogue needs to make the rare lines worthwhile, and Saura certainly does, probably learning from Erice, the master of indispensable dialogue. Ana Torrent invites all sorts of Erice comparisons, but I see Saura taking a step beyond him here visually."Beehive" was a landmark film, and unlike anything that had been made. But the camera maintained the same distance and the story was fundamentally allegorical. Saura experiments with distance, sometimes following the characters closely, sometimes giving an omniscient birds eye view of the area. Sometimes remaining a mere witness to what's happening. It's very carefully calculated to best enhance the scene and keep these extraordinary events within the realm of possibility.If there's such a film as a director's film, this is it. Although it is certainly worthwhile for the performances as well.5 out of 5 - Essential