Mix Tape: "Porque Te Vas" in Cría Cuervos
Saturday, April 9, 2011 at 11:40AM 
Andreas from Pussy Goes Grrr here, to talk about one of my absolute favorite uses of popular music in film.
It's from Carlos Saura's Cría Cuervos, an underseen but beautiful film about three orphaned sisters being raised by their aunt in the twilight years of Franco's Spain. The whole film is seen from the (often distorted) perspective of the sensitive 8-year-old Ana, played by Spirit of the Beehive's precocious Ana Torrent, as she reckons with the loss of her adultering Fascist father and her sick, emotionally fragile mother, whose ghost is played by Geraldine Chaplin.
As she retreats into her inner world of memory and fantasy, away from the mundane realities of school and her strait-laced aunt, Ana has one major ally: the song "Porque Te Vas" ("Because You're Leaving") recorded by the British-Spanish musician Jeanette in 1974. It's a surprisingly downbeat pop song, but still fairly generic, and that suits Saura's purposes perfectly. After all, a song doesn't need to be perfect to be the cultural centerpiece of a small child's world.
For Ana, "Porque Te Vas" is special. It speaks to her. It's not profound, but it boasts a catchy beat and unapologetically emotive lyrics, including a refrain that roughly translates to, "All the promises of my love will go with you...", and that's more than enough. Cría Cuervos is partially about how kids can latch onto otherwise insignificant things—be they jokes, anecdotes, photographs, or throwaway pop tunes—and pour so much into them that they become powerful and poignant. "Porque Te Vas" is the premiere example.
Even though it only plays for a few short minutes in the middle of the film, and twice more at the end, it feels like the song is diffused across all of Cría Cuervos's running time because it's so strongly identified with Ana's mindset. It lets her bond with her similarly adrift sisters, as they all dance, both alone and in alternating couples, while the record player drones on. It also lets her rebel against her well-meaning but ignorant aunt, who asks her to turn it down and could clearly never understand the song's secret beauty.
As sympathetic as she tries to be, Aunt Paulina belongs to the adult world and "Porque Te Vas," like Ana's desires and repressed trauma, is beyond her ken. Throughout the film, Ana's younger sister behaves like a typically needy, hyperactive child, and her older sister gropes her way toward maturity, but Ana stays quiet and stone-faced, staring out at the world with those soulful brown eyes. She's far from adulthood but has no solace in childish joy or innocence, and the song is emblematic of her alienation; it's an external analogue to her deep interior sadness.
If Cría Cuervos had never been made, "Porque Te Vas" would probably have remained in relative obscurity, another forgettable piece of cultural detritus. But through his sensitive, humane filmmaking, Saura gave it a second life. By making it a stand-in for all the little secrets tucked away in a depressed 8-year-old's mind, he imbued it with immense emotional power. As Saura uses it, it's a fundamental ingredient in the film's startling blend of magical realism and allegorical tragedy—and he gets all the beauty he can out of Jeanette's plaintive voice and Ana Torrent's inmitable eyes.
Ana Torrent, Carlos Saura, Cría Cuervos, Mix Tape, foreign films
Reader Comments (11)
I love that song and found its use in the film to be really perfect. I still listen to it in the car sometimes.
one of my all time favourite films.
i wonder why it's so rarely discussed.
it's a true classic.
it's defiitely rarely discussed. Honestly, I'd never heard of this when Andreas told me he was doing a post on it. Though I do know who Carlos Saura is. ;)
OMG! I can't believe someone wrote about this HUGE favorite of mine. Nathaniel, you MUST see this film. Ana Torrent's performance in "Raise Ravens/Cria cuervos" as the distraught girl conveys an anguish and heartbreak in a child that--in my opinion--was only matched years later in the film "Kolya." (I have to admit that I chose not to see "Ponette"). I remember that when I saw Cria cuervos in Buenos Aires back in 1976 a woman was carried out of the cinema with a crying fit. The final scenes of Geraldine Chaplin (the mother) were too much for her. I simply adored and was moved by "Por que te vas" and bought it. Wonder where it is now... Kudos to Andreas!
Here's a link to a scene in the film where the song is played. It's from YouTube and it's got what I believe are subtitles in Chinese:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=25ckdkg1xCw&feature=related
And this is the trailer with English subtitles:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HpGv5NL3x8A&feature=related
A word of warning, though. The final lines of the trailer should be "I want HIM to die." Not "I want her to die."
Amazing movie, amazing song. I saw it once some years ago, and it's still stuck with me.
Actually, when I saw Pan's Labyrinth, it reminded me a LOT of Cria Cuervos. Or is that just me? *crickets*
Wow! I never would have expected to see a mention of this movie on an American website! Not very well known, Spanish... a very intense film that was seen by a whole generation, then by the next one in school... and then forgotten.
I need to see this one again, all I remember is being impressed by Geraldine Chaplin... and the song! I saw it in my high school Spanish class, probably in 93 or 94. Anyone who was in that class would randomly find themselves humming the first bars of "Porque te Vas" YEARS later! And someone else would probably continue with the beginning of the lyrics. Was always this little moment for us. I still love the song.
Thanks for reminding me of this film! I'm definitely going to have to look it up and watch it again! :)
and now I'm going to have this song stuck in my head for the rest of the day! :p
"Hoy en mi ventana brilla el sol. Y el corazón. Se siente triste contemplando la ciudad. Por que te vas.:
Thank you Andreas for featuring this somewhat forgotten spanish masterpiece. It is one of my all time favorites and my brother and sister and me used to dance at this song the same way as they do in the movie. What fond memories i brings back. Thank you for that!
"Ante la estación yo lloraré igual que un niño,
Por que te vas, por que te vas..."
Lovely post Andreas! That song seems to be eternal...
Cría cuervos features very good performances. Special mention to Florinda Chico (the nanny) who recently passed away.
I love this film and love this song. I grabbed it off iTunes right after I saw the movie and it was on a loop on my iPod while working on my own dead mother play.
Thanks, everyone, for the positive reaction! I was lucky enough to encounter Cria Cuervos a few years ago thanks to Criterion, and I've been madly in love with it ever since. I'm glad I was able to remind so many people about this unforgettable song and movie.
If you HAVEN'T seen it, and this piece piqued your interest, then I definitely recommend following Marcos's links and getting a taste of what the movie's like. Or at least downloading this song. It's certainly one of a kind, though Pan's Labyrinth is a mild approximation of what it's like (fantasy elements included).