weekly film recommendation
CRIA CUERVOS! (1976)
Director: Carlos Saura With: Ana Torrent & Geraldine Chaplin Written by: Carlos Saura
Can film really allow you to see the world through the eyes of a child? That is, without being juvenile or condescending? Carlos Saura does so in a way that few filmmakers have acheived. Well, with the help of Ana Torrent, who turned in an equally phenomenal performance in Victor Erice’s Spirit of the Beehive (1973). Ana, as Ana, experiences guilt, death, and family strife as well as the fleeting frivolity of youth, through eyes so vulnerable and yet knowing. Each glance conveys a depth of understanding that goes beyond what the two-dimensional screen actually contains. Fans of Guillermo del Toro’s Pan’s Labyrinth (2006) (why?… why?) will be astounded at how much Saura was able to get out of Ms. Torrent, and without the assisstance of special effects.
Cria Cuervos! will be screening Wed. Aug. 15 in Brooklyn. See http://projectfilmschool.blogspot.com/ for details.The DVD is available at the Criterion Collection, www.criterionco.com, on Tues. Aug. 14.
