The spirit of the beehive is about a little girl who, in the childs dreamy desire to make sense of her world, constructs a frankenstein monster of both benevolence and violence. West germany 14 january 1977 tv premiere denmark 2 september 1977. The spirit of the beehive directed by victor erice spain, 1977, 1h 37min, 35mm, in spanish with english subtitles. The spirit of the beehive 1973 the criterion collection. Not only does it rival any filmic work that touches upon the subject of childhood, the film also makes way for an unexpectedly powerful political message about not just the era it depicts but society as a whole. Some of the audience, restless at the films slow pace, even booed. The spirit of the beehive 1973 cineshots submitted 2 years ago by. Its a film that gets more beautiful with each viewing, the dulcet tones brought to life by a cinematographer slowly going blind who would end up committing suicide. The spirit of the beehive lyrics, songs, and albums genius. If you like the spirit of the beehive you are looking for atmospheric, touching and serious movies about with spanish civil war, cat, civil war, innocence lost, beehive, youth and family relations themes of drama and fantasy genre shot in spain. Yet the spirit of the beehive is a classic example of one strand of spanish filmmaking at that time. The spirit of the beehive is screening as part of metrograph a to z, a collection of. So much so that, after attending a complete retrospective of jeanluc godard in. The spirit of the beehive is a 1973 spanish drama film directed by victor erice.
A traveling roadshow of the film frankenstein comes to the small, francoera village where eightyearold ana ana torrent, her sister isabel isabel telleria, and their family reside. Ana torrent and isabel telleria are wonderful as the girls, and the scene that director victor erice captures of the young and old watching the movie during its. The spirit of the beehive a film where the macabre and the delicate melt together in images of great beauty directed by victor erice. The film inspires her to seek out misfits and outcasts, with unintended consequences and impacts on. Close to magicone of the most beautiful and arresting films ever made. The score of the spirit of the beehive also contains strings, and possibly even an organ, but the introductory sequence is enveloped in a fairytaleesque tone mostly due to the recurring flute motif. As the spirit of the beehive draws to a conclusion, ana flees the home and her father, fearing reprisal for aiding a runaway soldier. The beehive orderly but alien and spiritless seems to symbolise for the father, who. Then its ana herself who makes escapades, especially when she makes good friends with a fugitive. Her misunderstanding of the scene will shape the events to follow in victor erice s the spirit of the beehive 1973, believed by many to be the greatest of all spanish films.
The spanish civil war has ended but the stink still hangs in the air, the specter of mechanized. Its depiction of childhood is tender, the story simple and clear. View the tcmdb entry for the spirit of the beehive 1973. Spirit of the beehive is a thoughtprovoking, highly symbolic work about the isolation engendered by francos stultifying reign, made by one of a generation of spanish filmmakers forced to cloak. In a small castilian village in 1940, in the wake of the countrys devastating civil war, sixyearold ana attends a traveling movie show. The film was erices debut and is considered a masterpiece of spanish cinema the film focuses on the young girl ana and her fascination with the 1931 american horror film frankenstein, as well as exploring her family life and schooling. The spirit of the beehive is a wonderfully evocative portrait of childhood innocence and obsession.
This film is now considered a masterpiece of spanish cinema. Best movies like the spirit of the beehive bestsimilar. This film was made in 1973, but it looks brand new in this transfer, which should thrill fans of the film. In 1973, the year of the spirit of the beehive, the francoist regime in spain was rotting from the inside. The spirit of the beehive full set wkncs the lounge duration. We look at the world as children do in victor erices cinematic masterpiece, the spirit of the beehive, the greatest spanish film of the 1970s. For the two girls, especially ana ana torrent, this makes a dramatic impression. In a small castilian village in 1940, in the wake of the countrys devastating civil war, sixyearold ana attends a traveling movie show of frankenstein and becomes possessed by the memory of it.
In a small castilian village in 1940, in the wake of spains devastating civil war, sixyearold ana attends a traveling movie show of frankenstein and becomes possessed by the memory of it. Spirit of the beehive, the 1973 movie clip your last mushroom. Association of latin entertainment critics new york, 1977. The spirit of the beehive is a thematically driven film that explores what happens to a childhood when subjected to extreme isolation.
Usa 23 september 1976 new york city, new york france 5 january 1977. Eightyearold ana lives in a closeknit castillian village with her daydreamer mother teresa, older. Subtlety, however, often jams the radar of even the most suspicious despot, which may explain how the ghostly parable the spirit of the beehive made it into theaters in 1973, at the tail end of francos regime. Political reform was voted in, putting an end to the dictatorship.
In the spirit of the beehive, this purpose could be virtually anything, but the films ending moments lend credence to a particular interpretation. Film notes spirit of the beehive university at albany. The cover of their 2015 ep you are arrived but youve been cheated juxtaposes the rare beauty of an urban sewer canal during sunset. With fernando fernan gomez, teresa gimpera, ana torrent, isabel telleria. Victor erices haunting spirit of the beehive is a lyrical portrait of the wonder and vulnerability of childhood. Like such films as charles laughtons the night of the hunter 1955, it is a masterpiece that can only cause us to wonder what we lost because he didnt work more. The spirit of the beehive a movie where a vision of the infantile universe has been wonderfully combine with a sensitive poetic visualization of the world of dreams. Setting his film after the devastation of the countrys 1930s civil war, erice brilliantly enters a girls mysterious inner world, creating a transfixing portrait of childhood informed by movies and imagination. Scene from victor erices the spirit of the beehive.
Upon being exposed to the film, the siblings, especially the younger one, discuss the creature in the film as if it is real and ana subsequently begins searching for the monster. Fruit of her labors torrent offers food to her new friend. Set in 1940, the film is a condemnation and an elegy, a lament for spain after the civil war that brought franco to power. Produced as francos long regime was nearing its end and widely regarded as the greatest spanish film of the 1970s, the spirit of the beehive is a bewitching portrait of a childs haunted inner life.
The spirit of the beehive, a 1973 spanish movie now at the outer circle 2, seems to provoke extreme responses. Although the time is not specified, it would have been clear to spanish audiences that the film is set soon after the end of the spanish civil war, which began francos long dictatorship so soon after that the same day, a wounded opponent of the regime takes refuge in the barnlike outbuilding. One of the key spanish films of the seventies and a masterpiece of european cinema in general, the spirit of the beehive 1973 was the feature film debut for director victor erice. The print shows some debris at times, but that is minimal at worst and the level of grain present is almost nill. But when ana goes looking for it, she instead discovers a fugitive soldier and decides that he, like the monster, needs help. The spirit of the beehive is one of only three features and a short subject directed by erice born 1940. Indeed, most of the dialogue and sound, for that matter. The spirit of the beehive is a one of a kind masterwork, lighting in a bottle. The film was erices debut and is considered a masterpiece of spanish cinema.
The ohio union garage closes for an annual cleaning on saturday, june 17. The spirit of the beehive letterboxd your life in film. A film about a woman whose drive to pursue the things she believes in leads her on an unexpected path to selfdiscovery. Ana and isabel love to make escapades to the abandoned building, where the spirit is supposed to be living. In 1940, after watching and being traumatized by the movie frankenstein 1931. The year is 1940, a time when civil war rages in spain. The following film notes were prepared for the new york state writers institute by kevin jack hagopian, senior lecturer in media studies at pennsylvania state university. Indeed, most of the dialogue and sound, for that matter in the film is synchronized. Hauser and spirit of the beehive, in movietone news seattle, june 1977. It is simple, solemn, and in the casting of young ana.
The symbolladen work is often considered a coded commentary on life in the authoritarian franco regime, which was marked by isolationism and the persecution of. The first image is generated from the actual film frankenstein, while the second one is the hallucination that the young girl ana sees in the lake. Beekeeper fernando fernando fernangomez with his daughters ana ana torrent and isabel isabel telleria, discussing mushrooms, in postcivil war spain, in victor erices the spirit of the beehive, 1973. Figueira da foz film festival italy september 1974 pesaro film festival uk 10 october 1974 london usa 18 october 1974 san francisco film festival sweden 14 march 1975. One day anna and her sister, isabel, see the film frankenstein. Completed at a time when franco still had its iron fist placed over the country the story of young ana and her quest for the elusive monster is as beautiful to behold as it. Reddit gives you the best of the internet in one place. Her big sister tells her scary stories about the monster, and a spirit that lives in an abandoned farm nearby. The spirit of the beehive 1973 victor erice duration. The spirit of the beehive have a fascination with contrast.
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