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 written about any Spanish films on my blog yet. When i first read about ‘The Spirit Of The Beehive’ described as “Tarkovsky for kids” on John Cribb’s (thepinksmoke.com) old myspace blog, coupled with the fact that this was released through the criterion collection, i was pretty much sold on this film. Then after watching it for the first time a few years ago, i realized that brief description by John might be one of the greatest tag lines/summaries for a movie ever (shoulda been quoted on the DVD cover if you ask me). ‘The Spirit Of The Beehive’ is the perfect example of how one can learn a little bit of history and (Spanish) culture from films without necessarily reading a book. So the next time someone makes an empty generic statement like; “you cant get that from a movie” or “you cant learn anything from a movie”, just use the spirit of the beehive as an example.
Now, tarkovsky isn’t the only filmmaker/style that this film can be compared too. ‘The Spirit Of The Beehive’ shares many similarities with Terrance Mallick’s earlier work (‘badlands’ and ‘days of heaven’). The use of similar looking landscapes (specifically tall grass and fields of weeds), the cinematography, the atmospheric music, the lighting and the fact that all three movies (beehive, days of heaven and badlands) are all told from the perspective of a young main character (sissy spacek in ‘badlands’, Linda Manz in ‘days heaven’ and Ana Torrent in ‘Spirit Of The Beehive’) . These early films of the 70’s eventually went on to influence and inspire more recent stuff like; ‘Ratcatcher’ (director Lynne Ramsay actually used music from ‘Badlands’ in ‘Ratcatcher’) and ‘George Washington’ (its a well known fact that David Gordon Green is very much inspired by Terrance Mallick). When you place pictures and stills from ‘Bandlands’ or ‘Days Of Heaven’ next to ‘Spirit Of The Beehive’, they almost look like they come from the same film. And too take it even further, directors; Victor Erice (the spirit of the beehive), Terrance Mallick and even Lynne Ramsay are all very elusive, and don’t release films as often as your average director.
‘The Spirit Of The Beehive’ is a film with 2 different levels. On one level, you have a film about a young girl who becomes overly fascinated with ‘Frankenstein’ after seeing it for the first time at a local cinema. Eventually, after being told a lie about the movie by her older sister, she not only becomes fascinated with Frankenstein, but with the idea of ghosts & spirits as well.
On another level, we have a film that symbolizes the rule of Franco in Spain (like most Spanish films did during that time). This is why ‘Beehive’ and ‘Cria Cuervos’ will always be associated with one another. And the fact that both films starred Ana Torrent when she was young isn’t the only reason. Both films have lead children characters who are supposed to symbolize the “new” (non-Franco) Spain. Or to put it simply: “The Future” (what better way to represent the future than with children?). ‘The Spirit Of The Beehive’ is the perfect example of “coming of age” (along with just about every other film mentioned in this blog). And what makes the coming of age aspect so profound in the film is that its told through such young eyes. Generally, coming of age films ranging from ‘small change’ and ‘400 blows’ to ‘ratcatcher’ and ‘george washington’ are usually told from the eyes of kids aged; 8-16 or so. But the main character of ‘spirit of the beehive’ is only 6 years old, which makes the perspective of the film even more fresh, untainted, and pure. One of the most famous scenes of the film shows the 2 sisters watch a train whiz by them as they almost zone out and stare at it pass by, almost as if they’re frozen. Many people view this scene as a metaphor of the old Spain ruled by Franco passing them by (the train) or coming to an end, leaving behind the “new” Spain or “the future” (represented by the 2 young sisters).
Frankenstein obviously plays a major role in ‘Beehive’ also. As mentioned earlier, Ana becomes very fascinated with the film, specifically with the scene where the young girl, totally oblivious to the fact that she is standing next to an actual monster, sits down and becomes friends with it. Later on in ‘Spirit Of The Beehive’ after Ana comes to a serious revelation (something a normal 6 year old wouldn’t usually deal with), she runs away from home, and eventually hallucinates/dreams that shes meets the monster from Frankenstein while she’s hiding out in the woods. For a 6 year old, Ana shows an amazing maturity through out the film.
There’s so many great things about ‘The Spirit Of The Beehive’. Its one of the best executed ‘coming of age’ films to date. Through out the film we see Ana experience a lot of “firsts” (obviously a key elements for a coming of age films). Her first movie at the movie theater, experiencing death for the first time, realizing that she’s been lied to for the first time (by her sister). There’s also an interesting comment that Victor Erice makes about "family’. In ‘Spirit Of The Beehive’, never at any point do we see Ana, her sister, her father or her mother in same shot/frame at the same time. Lots of clever and subtle things in this film. Its not for everyone, especially people who bore easily. But i personally think its amazing.