Criterion is proud to present Víctor Erice’s spellbinding The Spirit of the Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena), widely regarded as the greatest Spanish film of the 1970s. In a small Castilian village in 1940, in the wake of the country’s devastating civil war, six-year-old Ana attends a traveling movie show of Frankenstein and becomes possessed by the memory of it. Produced as Franco’s long regime was nearing its end, The Spirit of the Beehive is a bewitching portrait of a child’s haunted inner life and one of the most visually arresting movies ever made.
—The Criterion Collection
Spanish director Victor Erice made two of his country’s most important and critically lauded films, El Espiritu de la Colmena (The Spirit of the Beehive) (1973) and Sur (The South) (1983). Erice had studied political science before entering the Instituto de Investigaciones y Experiencias Cinematográficas in 1960. Shortly after graduation in 1963, he worked as a film critic and worked on the script for Antonio Eceiza’s El Proximo Otoño (Next Autumn) (1963). He also collaborated on Miguel Picazo’s Oscuros Sueños de Agosto (Dark Dreams of August) (1967). Influential producer Elías Querejeta provided Erice his first opportunity to direct by assigning him a chance to helm one of three episodes in Los Desafios (The Challenges) (1969). Following his success with El Sur, Erice became a prolific director of television commercials and worked uncredited on numerous other feature films. In 1992, Erice reemerged on the film scene with his dream-like documentary of painter Antonio Lopez’s quest for… read more
A screening of Frankenstein in a quiet Spanish village has a profound effect on a 7-year old girl. Her fantasies of meeting the monster are transferred onto the reality of meeting a wounded deserter...This quiet and contemplative film is a subtle critique of post-civil war Spain under the dictatorship of Franco. It is also virtually plotless, being a mood piece of haunting originality and astonishing visual beauty...
The movie brims with a sense of innocence and wonder for those moments and feelings we all eventually have to come across but not always wish to do so, the evocations of childhood memories achieved here are as striking as no other movie I've experienced before. Beautiful film.
No words to describe how beautiful this film is. That's what I'm talking about. So simple....
The cult director of Two-Lane Blacktop returns with his first feature in twenty years.
THE WANDERING JULIEN During his American phase, exiled from France in the occupation, the great Julien Duvivier made an anthology film called
Whats up everybody? I’m taking it back to my old myspace blog days to talk about a movie that i use to always bring up on there. I just got back from my second trip to Barcelona, and realized i haven’t… read review
First of all, i wanna said thank you to Victor Erice, for making this visually breathtaking film. Without this film, i guarantee there will be no Pan’s Labyrinth. It is clear cut that Guillermo Del… read review
Absolutely loved the imagery in this film. I watched it last night and can’t stop thinking about it. A couple of scenes have been imprinted in my psyche: Isabel strangling the cat, Isabel jumping over… read review
Watching this movie will take you back into your childhood. Your fascination with movies and monsters. You can’t really decipher what all the symbolism and the actual plot is all about, but the way… read review
