On the 4th of January it was Carlos Saura's birthday and it is my opinion that Saura is a director whom everyone with an interest in cinema should be or become well acquainted with. He directed one of two movies I recommend to those who view 'Pans Labyrinth' as "unlike anything they've ever seen" or was "so original how it dealt with Franco's horrible regime et-cetera" and that movie is 'Cria Cuervos' and was actually made during the last months Franco was in power. It deals with the regimes fascist "truths" and the effect is has on a family while focusing in on one of the children whose insecurities mirror those of an unstable post-Franco Spain. The film manages to blend reality and fantasy perfectly with strong storytelling and subtlety rather than relying on a crutch such as CGI or violence. I should note that the second of the two movies, 'Spirit of the Beehive,' was directed by Victor Erice in '73 only two years before 'Cria Cuervos' and both movies star the same actress, Ana Torent, who happens to play a child named Ana in both. 'Spirit of the Beehive' also deals with the Franco regime in a subtle way and also blends reality and fantasy quite perfectly. Unfortunately Erice, though an obvious and important master of cinema, has only directed a total of three movies. But Saura is still working today & perhaps Erice will show his face again in the future.
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