Anna and the Wolves (1973) User Reviews

The Universe of the Spanish Society in Franco's Dictatorship

[claudio_carvalho · 8/10 · 18 July 2008]

The young but traveled Ana (Geraldine Chaplin) arrives in a manor in the countryside of Spain to work as nanny of three girls and finds a dysfunctional family: the matriarch (Rafaela Aparicio) is a sick old woman obsessed by death and having constant nervous breakdown; her son José (José María Prada) was raised dressing girl's clothes until his First Communion and is obsessed by military clothes and stuffs; Juan (José Vivó), the father of the three girls, is a pervert since his childhood that writes pornographic letters to Ana; his wife Luchy (Charo Soriano) has suicidal tendencies; and the mystic and religious eremite Fernando(Fernando Fernán Gómez), who was inflicted to flagellation in his childhood, lives recluse in a cave. The presence of Ana disturbs the three brothers with tragic consequences.

In the 70's, "Ana y los Lobos" was very successful in Brazil and one of my favorite movies of my adolescence. This film is actually a political allegory of Franco's dictatorship in Spain, with the mother and the three brothers representing the Spanish society of those times. The omnipotent mother is the old Spain; the oppressive José represents the authoritarianism of the military government of Franco; Juan the repressed sexuality and Fernando the Catholic Church. The story is bizarre with a weird atmosphere and characters and top-notch performances, with Geraldine Chaplin extremely beautiful and sexy. The DVD released in Brazil by the Brazilian distributor Platina Filmes is actually a VHS converted to DVD, with low-quality of image. The worst is the unforgivable and shameful mistake in the subtitles in Portuguese that wrongly translates, for example, "seho" (seal, in English) as cello, misleading in a non-sense way the viewer that can not understand Spanish. My vote is eight.

Title (Brazil): "Ana e os Lobos" ("Ana and the Wolves")

Ana with people worse than wolves

[esteban1747 · 7/10 · 22 January 2005]

A drama made in 1973 under the direction of experienced master Carlos Saura and with an active starring of then young Geraldine Chaplin (Ana). Ana is a non- Spanish lady coming to work to a big residence as a baby- sitter. There she finds a family consisting of three brothers and their mother, two of them single and the other one married with three daughters. The presence of Ana caused a kind of revolution in the house. She was young, good-looking and using normal provocative clothes of that time. The married man became crazy about her, and started sending letters declaring his desires to be with her using different names and origin in the letters. Obviously, this was at the end known by the eldest brother, who was less attracted by Ana, but wanted her to take care of his room-museum of military clothes. He also used to practice shooting. The last brother was the one very much religious, who organized himself in a near-by cave trying to live as an abstemious man. In addition to this environment, the old mother of these brothers was a person having serious nervous problems. At the end, Ana started to sympathize with the abstemious man, who rejected her at the beginning and wanted her to cut her hairs. The presence of Ana was disturbing in that house to the extent that the wife of the married brother, jealous, wanted to kill herself. Finally Ana decided not to live anymore in that house although initially she was clearly expelled from the house. She collected all her belongings, and when she was leaving the house the three brother came over her, the married man violated her with the aid of the others, then the abstemious cut her hairs and the military-like man finally shoot her.

It is an original film of Saura, and very interesting to all who like good films.

Another allegorical and surrealist tale by Carlos Saura

[Billiam-4 · 7/10 · 29 May 2022]

Another allegorical and surrealist tale typical of its director serves as a biting criticism of Franco-ruled Spain, at times irritating and disturbing and in the end devastating.

Once more Carlos Saura and his symbolism !!!

[elo-equipamentos · 7/10 · 5 July 2019]

That's stay clear that Carlos Saura's picture is hard subject to savour, he puts several symbolism to attack Franco's dictatorship, sounds weird to some tastes, the beginning is slow pace, sometimes really boring, many excess on some sequences, a typical art movie, the most interesting characters are the old brother with his odd collection of the military uniform and the young brother that opt to living in a cave praying in full abstinence of food or sex, all others waive any additional comments, an overlong picture that bother me mostly, the final scene is incredible subjective and highly violent, anyway and nasty experience at first look, wasn't allow to all tastes indeed, still, totally restored Saura's Box-Set containing six pictures with original audio !!!

Resume:

First watch: 2019 / How many: 1 / Source: DVD / Rating: 7

a bleak and beautiful film

[Natashenka_S · 9/10 · 31 July 2006]

I must admit that I liked this film a little less than Cria Cuervos and Elisa Vida Mia. The reason is that its political allegory is too straightforward. But I liked the doomed atmosphere of the film. The character of Fernando (the religious brother) is unforgettable, and his interaction with Ana is the most interesting storyline in the film as she is both appalled by him and attracted to his way of life, as if understanding why he wants to escape from the world. By the way, the actor Fernando Fernan-Gomez also plays Geraldine Chaplin's dying husband in the movie 'City of no limits'. There is a touching moment when the whole family gathers looking at the horny brother's wife attempting suicide, Ana hugs one of the girls and then Fernando takes the girl away from her. The ending of the film is too abrupt, but I still recommend Ana y los lobos to anyone who likes the film of this director.

A thought-provoking and brooding film in which stands out the extraordinary acting

[ma-cortes · 6/10 · 15 May 2022]

An interesting and moving picture analyzing the mechanisms of power in the Spanish traditional family in relation with the Francoist dictatorship . A British governess (Geraldine Chaplin) comes to an isolated house to take care of the children of an offbeat family. There she has a confront a peculiar family . The complainer matriarch (Rafaela Aparicio) is an ill old woman usually shooting and often on the edge of nervous breakdown and her three outlandish sons are really rare people : the religious Fernando (Fernando Fernán Gómez) who lives in a cave , the erotic and married Juan (José Vivó) who writes naughty letters to Anna , and José who loves military dresses . The presence of Ana disturbs the three brothers with fateful consequences resulting in a shocking finale .

This film was notorious in the years of the Franco's downfall dictatorship including provoking and polemic issues , including some surrealist elements in Luis Buñuel style . It depicts a family microcosmos reflecting the convoluted society at the time , but it results to be too much symbolic and simplist . Ana y los Lobos 1973 is one of Saura's undisputed masterpieces and fundamental in his filmography where shows efficiently some peculiar characters and shot at the height of his creativity, in a period cultural difficult , where the enormous censorship of the political regime exacerbated the ingenuity and imagination of the scriptwriters. Early Seventies director Carlos Saura analyzed the mechanisms of power of the reactionary Spanish bourgeoisie in an irregular trilogy , about scripts written in collaboration with Rafael Azcona and for the producer Querejeta . It begins with the unsuccessful ¨El Jardin de las Delicias¨, continues with this excessively symbolic and elongated production ¨Ana y los Lobos¨and ends with the most successful ¨La Prima Angelica¨. Seven years later, Saura returns with the same characters to perform under his own script, ¨Mama Cumple 100 Años¨, in a comedy tone , far from symbolism and with irregular results. Main and support cast are frankly well . Geraldine Chaplin is splendid as the sexy nanny , and , the dysfunctional family is finely played by Rafaela Aparicio as the grieving mother obsesssed by death , Fernando Fernán Gómez as the eremite , lonely son , Jose Vivo as the sex-obsessed husband , Charo Soriano as his suicide-tendence wife and José Maria Prada as another strange brother adding to the extravagant family .

It contains an evocative cinematography by Luis Cuadrado , Saura's regular . The motion picture perfectly produced by magnificent producer Elias Querejeta was originally directed by Carlos Saura , a good Spanish movies director. He began working in cinema in 1959 when he filmed ¨Los Golfos ¨(1962) dealing with juvenile delinquency from a sociological point of view . From his first film : Los Golfos , Saura has got a long and prestigious career . He subsequently made LLanto por Un Bandido (1964) starred by an European all-star-cast . Saura is a well recognized filmmaker both nationally and internationally, and in proof of it he won many prizes among which there are the following ones: Silver Bear in Festival of Berlin for Peppermint Frappé (1967) and the successful La Caza (1966) that also won numerous prizes in International Festivals and in which four characters facing each other and terminating into a jarring burst of violence . Saura achieved Special Jury Awards in Cannes for La Prima Angélica (1974), in 1973, and for Cría Cuervos (1976), in 1975. Also, the film Mamá Cumple Cien Años (1979) got an Oscar nomination in 1979 as the best foreign film, and it also won the Special Jury Award at the San Sebastian Festival. He subsequently made ¨Deprisa , Deprisa¨ based on facts about juvenile delinquency in Spain since the 80s , as he tried to take a position in favour of outcast people and he got to make a both lyric and documentary-style cinema . In 1990, he won two Goya , The Spanish Oscar , as best adapted screenplay writer and best director . Saura became an expert on Iberian musical adaptations as ¨Carmen¨ , ¨Amor Brujo¨ , ¨Bodas De Sangre¨ , ¨Sevillanas¨ , ¨Iberia¨ , ¨Salome¨ , ¨Fado¨, ¨Flamenco ¨ and even recently Opera as ¨Io , Don Giovanni¨ . Rating : 6.5/10 . The pick will appeal to Geraldine Chaplin fans.

Great film

[PunkCapitalist · 9/10 · 9 June 2006]

9/10

This is a great film, but for understanding its necessary to have some basic knowledge of the Francisco Franco's government(do some research, I'm not an expert to post good enough historical info). The film deals with the oppressive, military and authoritarian government of Franco (represented by Jose)and the religion-fanaticism of Spanish society (Fernando).(i, yet, have not figured out what represents the last brother, but i've only seen it once). Fans of Federico Garcia Lorca might like this movie for being in the same historical context, also film-art fans should like this. Great movie, watch it if you can find it.

Among the incisive peaks of Saura's major period

[philosopherjack · 10 March 2023]

The title of Carlos Saura's Anna and the Wolves likely evokes a children's story, a suggestion supported by the opening shots of Anna (Geraldine Chaplin) arriving at the isolated mansion where she's to take care of three young girls, and the notion of playacting and invention that runs throughout the film. Any sense of innocence though is rapidly squashed out: all three of the brothers who occupy the house have their eye (and often hands) on Anna as soon as she arrives, and the roleplaying (including, over time, that of Anna herself) becomes increasingly malevolent and perverse. Juan, the only married brother, bombards her with lewd anonymous letters, raiding the family stamp collection to make it appear that they come from around the world; Jose maintains a private museum of military uniforms, guns and other memorabilia; Fernando becomes increasingly mystic (he's even seen levitating in one impressionistic moment), retreating into a hermit's cave and hardly eating, for a while impressing Anna with his apparent lack of designs on her, until his underlying perversion comes to light. The twistedness of course has deep roots: the family matriarch, prone to sudden fits of collapsing which seem to be largely strategic, maintains boxes of childhood mementos for each son, although the labeling system is chaotic, and the contents include such items as a spiked thimble that was used to stop one of them from sucking his thumb (we're told it lacerated his mouth for some five months). Nevertheless, the film's shocking ending clarifies that for all the bourgeoisie's dysfunction and internal dissention, it ultimately sticks together in perpetuation of its interests, with outsiders paying a brutal price (Anna's fate, and an earlier sequence involving a buried doll, bring to mind the masses of the Franco-era disappeared). Overall, the film belongs with The Hunt and The Garden of Delights among the incisive peaks of Saura's major, generally under-screened period.

Is This More Than A Story Of Crazy People?

[boblipton · 6/10 · 23 August 2023]

Geraldine Chaplin goes to a Spanish home to tutor two small, motherless girls, and finds a bunch of maniacs; the grandmother is subject to rages and fits; one brother writes her anonymous pornographic letters; another dresses in antique military uniforms and interrogates her; the third has whitewashed a cave on the property and moved in to try to attain spiritual perfection. As the three men lust for her, Miss Chaplin uses the opportunity to observe and torment them.

Commenters claim there is a satire of Franco's Spain lurking behind the bizarre situations. Perhaps. Miss Chaplin's motives remain obscure to me. Sometimes she seems the amused observer, sometimes the bewildered participant. If there was an attempt at satire, it was sufficiently subtle that the censors, always on the lookout for such things, didn't notice it.

anna and the wolves

[mossgrymk · 8/10 · 13 September 2023]

A sometimes powerful, sometimes silly (the levitation scene) and always heavy political allegory. And I do mean allegory. You literally cannot move without bumping into a character/symbol and as usually occurs when humans stand for abstractions like The Military, The Church, or Moral Squalor, they lose whatever quirks and contradictions make them interestingly human and instead, as happens here, become stiff, posturing caricatures.

I will say, however, that director Carlos Saura's idea of wrapping his condemnation of Francoist Spain in a feminist package, so to speak, where hatred of and desire to dominate women is the engine that drives the whole corrupt enterprise, is an inspired one and gives this film a force that cannot be denied, so that the ending is more shattering than simply over the top. And Geraldine Chaplin's alternately playful and scornful performance as the embodiment of Threatening Womanhood is, in my opinion, the best thing she's done. Give it a B.

over my head

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 23 August 2023]

Ana (Geraldine Chaplin) is the new foreign nanny for three girls of a troubled family in an isolated mansion in Spain. José (José María Prada) is an uncle who seems to maintain control of the household and trying to impose his will on Ana.

I did read some analysis of this film as an allegory of the Spanish fascist dictatorship. I'm out of my leagues with all that. I don't have the understanding of their domestic politics during that time. Without all that, this is still compelling as a psychological horror. It would however be missing its internal spirit and a lot of this is going over my head.

Preposterous

[karengarthe · 1/10 · 23 September 2022]

Film. Franconian Spain is no excuse. Not a "dysfunctional" family but a collection of psychopaths whose characters are essentially boring. How did the children know exactly where their muddied mutilated doll was buried? Why didn't Anna read the omen? She's there to mind and educate the children yet they are minor, they barely register. Everyone is a one trick pony regardless of which trick they prefer. Most of Anna's time is spent cavorting with or thwarting the brothers's various obsessions. Her future is that of the mutilated buried doll. Watching this in 2022 it is just a simple minded, mostly bad film.