Cria cuerios.

Is this beautiful young child capable of murder?

Conceived, written and directed by Carlos Saura, who was considered one of Spain’s great opponent’s of the Franco regime, Cria cuerios (1976) can be seen as a parable of the downfall of the Dictator and how a sense of freedom came about during the final days of his fascist regime. The story centers on an upper class Spanish family who live in a very large house in central Madrid surrounded by a high walled garden. The main character is 8 year old Ana and when the film opens we witness her father in bed with his beautiful mistress Amelia (Mirta Miller), but before he can fulfill the main reason he’s there he suffers a heart attack and dies. Ana believes she has succeeded in poisoning her cold authoritarian father (Héctor Alterio), a high-ranking military man whom she blames for the death of her much-adored mother whom he ill-treated and was continually unfaithful to. Now being brought up, along with her two sisters, by her sour faced Aunt Paulina (Mónica Randall) her only friend and confidant is the family maid Rosa (Florinda Chico). With little guidance and supervision, the children retreat into an insular world of their own.

 

The sour faced Aunt.

The dying  Mother.

A very effective drama beautifully told and photographed from a child’s viewpoint giving the finished product a somewhat hauntingly fantasied feel. The character of Ana, who is the one that really suffers in this deeply affecting portrait of innocence, death and grief, is played as the 8 year old by Ana Torrent previously seen in The Spirit of the Beehive (1973) another Spanish film that focuses on a young girl who has a fascination with the 1931 American movie Frankenstein. It’s her beautiful but melancholy looks that seem to portray the hope and fear of an approaching new political era in Spanish politics. She really was a gifted young actress, seen later in her career acting along side Natalie Portman and Scarlett Johansson in The Other Boleyn Girl (2008).  When asked to describe the nature of Ana's suffering, the director, Carlos Saura replied: Cria cuervos is a sad film, yes. But that's part of my belief that childhood is one of the most terrible parts in the life of a human being. What I'm trying to say is that at that age you've no idea where it is you are going, only that people are taking you somewhere, leading you, pulling you and you are frightened. You don't know where you're going or whom you are or what you are going to do. It's a time of terrible indecision[1]. Geraldine Chapman, who was Saura’s common law wife for twelve years, plays dual roles: Ana’s mother and Ana as a young woman.

 

Sisters left to their own devices.

Released at a time when Spain was just coming out of 40 years of Fascist rule the film was nominated for a Golden Globe and it deservedly won the Grand Prix at the Cannes Film Festival in 1977. Interestingly the title means ‘raise ravens’ from the Spanish proverb "Raise ravens, and they will pluck out your eyes", and alludes to a child's irrational compulsion for vengeance and self-destruction.

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[1] Rob Stone Spanish Cinema 2002

I’m So Excited.

My colleague, who saw the film with me at the GFT in Glasgow, described Pedro Almodovar’s I’m So Excited (2013) as a ‘Carry On movie with balls’ an apt description considering the subject matter!  His latest film is a return to the joyously wacky films included within his superb body of work and differs entirely from his previous film The Skin I Live In (2011) a much darker outing described as a ‘horror film for adults’ when it was screened at the RBCFT Film Club.

Most of I’m So Excited is set on a passenger plane bound for Mexico City. Its landing gear has been badly damaged when a pregnant baggage truck driver (Penelope Cruz) and her husband (Antonio Banderas), who is responsible for inspecting the removal of the airliners chocks, are involved in a minor incident on the airport runway. The plane is airborne before the crew discover that they will have to execute an emergency landing without the use of the landing gear! The passengers flying economy class are all in a deep sleep; drugged by the female cabin staff, while the seven business class passengers, a dominatrix to the rich and powerful (Cecilia Roth), a virgin clairvoyant who can sense the presence of death (Lola Duenas), a financier on the run wanted for a massive fraud, an actor fleeing a women who he once loved who is now threatening suicide, a Mexican hit man, a newly married young couple and the three gay male cabin crew, all of whom are fully aware of the impending disaster.  It’s these characters along with the bi-sexual pilot and co-pilot that are central to Almodovar’s comedic story. 

 

Don't get to excited!

This is the first of the Spanish directors films where in the opening credits he uses his full name rather than just Almodovar. But the film retains the rich colours provided by regular cinematographer Jose Luis Alcaine and the opening credits are in his normal 1980’s style. Although not a complex film Almodovar does attempt an analogy of modern Spain and its economic crisis[1]. The movies comic highlight is a mime by the very camp stewards of the Pointer Sister’s 1982 hit record that gives the film its English title. To be a cinemagoer is to be a kind of voyager, connected to strangers in the dark, warmed by the promise of shared pleasure, despite what horrors may be unfolding in the the bright light of reality [2]. I can promise that for the 90 minutes that Pedro Almodovar’s entertaining film takes to unfold its colourfully risqué story you will forget the bright light of reality.

Flying Business Class.

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[1] In a recent interview with Shereen Low of The Independent Almodovar states that the metaphor of the crippled plane has darker resonances ‘going around in circles without knowing when you’re going to land, making emergency landings and living with a sense of uncertainty and fear reflects the situation in Spain’

[2] Alexandra Oliver April 2013.

800 Bullets.

Alex de la Iglesia has become a cult director in his native Spain for his stylish genre parodies; with 800 Bullets (2002) it’s the western. Although set in contemporary times Iglesia allows us to look back to a time in Spanish filmmaking when spaghetti westerns where made in the Province of Almeria in an area known as Texas Hollywood.

Carlos.

Granddad Julian.

The story centres on a young boy, Carlos, brought up by Laura his mother (Carmen Maura an actress best known for her roles in some of Pedro Almodovar’s best movies) and his grandmother. He discovers that his grandfather, Julián Torralba a former film stuntman, is still alive and entertaining an ever-dwindling tourist crowd on the old western film set located at Tabernas near Almeria in Southern Spain. Carlos, along with mother’s credit card and much against her wishes, finds his way to the old film set to meet his grandfather and hopefully find out what happened to his dead father. When Laura finds out she sets out to close down Texas Hollywood and destroy Julián along with his eccentric bunch of colleagues.

Carmen Maura as Laura, Carlos mother

I really appreciated this movie, mainly I suppose because I had visited the very place where it was made (see link above) and it was great fun picking out the locations. But saying that it was immensely entertaining, very amusing and portrays its straightforward narrative in a way you can’t help but enjoy and at times it looks and feels like a real western. If you can’t get to Almeria then this movie is the next best thing, I wonder if they need any extra’s next summer?

You don't want to mess with this young lady?

Who Can Kill A Child?

An unusual subject for a horror film? Who Can Kill A Child (1976) sets out its stall with a fairly lengthy montage of documentary film showing the mass slaughter of children in various fields of conflict.  A serious horror film dealing with famine and war? Well not quite, although I think the Spanish director, Narciso Ibáñez Serrador, who also wrote the screenplay, had the best of intentions in mind.

The films narrative involves a smug and unlikable English couple that goes to an idyllic Island off the coast of Spain to have a quite holiday before their expectant child is born. When this naïve couple arrives they encounter grim faced and silent children who appear to be the only inhabitants, these youngsters appear to be playing some kind of macabre game. I’m sure you don’t require me to expand on this story and can probably work it out for yourselves but it appears that director has set up this juvenile rebellion as a metaphor for the wrongs done to children by their natural enemy: adults!

We're going somewhere different next year!

Shoot in nine weeks and using various Spanish locations this film does not seem like your normal horror film. There are no night scenes; the sun-bleached cinematography seems to have been deliberately shot to replicate a non-horror film, although the children are reasonably spooky.  The worse thing about this film is the male lead, even the director has been reported as stating that he did not like Lewis Flanders portrayal of the husband Tom, originally wanting Anthony Hopkins to play the part! Tom’s wife Evelyn is played by the TV actress Prunella Ransome. This movie had been virtually unavailable until its release on DVD in 2007. It’s a real curiosity, probably only of interest to a horror enthusiast?