CRIA CUERVOS
aka RAISE RAVEN

Year: 1976
UK: BFI Films
Cast: Geraldine Chaplin, Ana Torrent, Conchita Perez, Maite Sanchez, Monica Randall, Hector Alterio, Florinda Chico, Josefina Diaz, German Cobos, Mirta Miller, Juan Sanchez Almendros
Director: Carlos Saura
Country: Spain
Language: Spanish (English subtitles)
UK: 109 mins
UK Certificate: 12A contains moderate sex references and disturbing scenes
UK Release Date: 10 June 2011 (Limited Re-release)

Synopsis

Taken from the Spanish proverb: 'raise ravens and they'll pluck out your eyes, the film was shot in 1975 during General Franco's final days.

Orphans, Ana (Ana Torrent) and her sister, live in Madrid with their strict aunt Paulina (Monica Randall). Ana remains unsettled and deeply affected after the death of their parents, as she believes she poisoned her cold, authoritarian father (Hector Alterio), a high-ranking military man, whom she blames for the death of her adored mother (Geraldine Chaplin).

Exploring the theme of the family as a repressive force in Spanish society through the eyes of an eight year-old orphan, director Carlos Saura's CRiA CUERVOS is one of cinema's most hauntingly vivid depictions of a child's fantasy-imbued reality.