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31 of 31 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
CROWS - Polish perfection!, July 15, 2002
CROWS (WRONY) was the second full-length feature from director Dorota Kedzierzawska, and is that rarity, a perfect polished gem of a film. It reaches into the very soul of the viewer, touching and inspiring by its simple but pointed message, that (to quote the director)"love bears love."
A wistful waif, ten year-old Wrona (Crow)(played with extraordinary conviction by first time actress Carolina Ostrozna), starved of love at home, abducts a smaller child and goes on the run with her. Stirred by an insatiable desire to give love and be loved in turn, Wrona tells the confused infant that she is her "new mother". The rest of the film follows the pair on their adventures in and around the small Polish seaside town that is the film's setting. Eventually Wrona realises the futility of her dreams and delivers the sleeping child back to her home... her own mother seems hardly to have noticed Wrona's absence.
At just over an hour long, CROWS never outstays its welcome. Direction, photography and music are uniformly excellent, and the two children are entirely believable in their roles. However, cute though these children are, this is no Disney tale: the tone can be dark at times (rather like life itself), and there is brief, non-exploitative child nudity. CROWS is a micro-masterpiece and this video is thoroughly recommended.
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A Child With A Conscience is Rare Indeed, January 3, 2002
I saw this first on a Satellite "premium" channel on a dreary afternoon when I was sick with the flue. Astounded, pointedly touched, and enraptured by this portrait of a young girl who is struggling between two desires: To be loved by her mother, and to be a loving mother to another. I ordered it the next day.
There is only one main character, a beautiful child of 9 years old who at once yearns to be loved and cared for like the child she is, and to become a strong and caring mother like she wishes she had. She tries to fulfill both desires by "kidnapping" a 3 year old next-door neighbor and running away with her. She tells the toddler that she is her real mother, and they set off for unknown destinations. The two become friends and the older child (main character) realizes that the younger does not belong to her just as she (the older child) does not belong out on her own.
This is a very focused film choosing to develop only one character, the older child's, and it takes the viewer into her world. There is loneliness, abandonment, sexuality, and love surrounding this child as she searches for the place she fits in. The visual imagery is complementary to the mood of the script and the simple plot-line is only a thinly veiled vehicle for an accurate, if stylized, view into the mind of a neglected and outcast child. It is beautiful.
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6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Flawless, December 22, 1999
Brilliantly photographed, well-paced, with excellent dialogue and performances, Crows also is short - only 67 minutes - and uses the time to maximum advantage. The sound editing, cinematography and other technical elements of the film are all outstanding. The story details the perils of a young girl summarily ignored by her peers, teachers and even her mother. Wanting to give and receive affection, she kidnaps a small girl for a day and wanders through an eerily empty city in Czechoslovakia. The results are beautiful and startling. Crows is haunting, insightful, quiet, and very affecting. Don't miss it.
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