The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)
"El espíritu de la colmena" (original title)

A sensitive seven-year-old girl living a small village in 1940 rural Spain is traumatized after viewing James Whale's "Frankenstein" and drifts into her own fantasy world.

Director:

Víctor Erice

Writers:

Víctor Erice (screenplay), Víctor Erice (story),

Stars:

Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent

7 wins & 1 nomination.

Cast

Complete credited cast:
Fernando Fernán Gómez	...	Fernando
Teresa Gimpera	...	Teresa
Ana Torrent	...	Ana
Isabel Tellería	...	Isabel
Ketty de la Cámara	...	Milagros, la criada
Estanis González	...	Guardia civil
José Villasante	...	The Frankenstein Monster
Juan Margallo	...	The Fugitive
Laly Soldevila	...	Doña Lucía, the teacher
Miguel Picazo	...	The Doctor

Storyline

In Castile c.1940, a travelling movie theatre brings James Whale's b/w film classic "Frankenstein" (1931) to a village. (Admission 1 peseta for adults, 2 reales for children.) Two young girls, Isabel and Ana, determine to find the Monster.

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Plot Keywords:

village | little girl | fugitive | spanish civil war | anatomy lesson | 

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Genres:

Drama | Fantasy

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Certificate:

Unrated

Details

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Release Date:

5 January 1977 (France)

Also Known As:

The Spirit of the Beehive

Filming Locations:

Hoyuelos, Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain

Box Office

Gross:

ESP 43,269,044 (Spain)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Elías Querejeta Producciones Cinematográficas S.L., Jacel Desposito

Technical Specs

Runtime:

97 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Cinematographer Luis Cuadrado was going blind at the time this film was made. He eventually went completely blind and committed suicide in 1980.

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Goofs

When Ana & Isabel first go to the well there are stones around the base. Ana steps on one to look down in to the well. When she returns later there are no longer any stones so when she looks in to the well she is much too short to see down in it.

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Quotes

[last lines]
Isabel: It's me, Ana... It's me, Ana...

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Connections

Referenced in Films to Keep You Awake: The Baby's Room (2006)

User Reviews

creatively captivates the viewer through images rather than words and leaves you wondering after the last scene has ended.

This is an enchanting movie about two young sisters caught in the silence of post-war Spain. While representing the isolation of Spain in that era and the lack of communication that persisted throughout the country, "El espíritu de la colmena," by Victor Erice in 1973, fascinated me with its use of dramatic chiaroscuro lightening, large panoramic shots and the use of fades to connect scenes while commenting on the time warp that Spain endured after the war.

Without using much dialogue in the movie, Erice artistically comments on the political tension in Spain through potent images and scenes. He uses symbols such as the two young sisters to represent the division between the Republican and Nationalist parties, and the leitmotif of the beehive to represent the "trapped" workers in Spain under Franco. The most amazing aspect is that all of the post-war commentary is said without any words and without mentioning the actual event! It is a "cine de espectáculo," or spectacle cinema, that symbolizes the connection between fantasy in the movies and fantasy in reality. Without knowing the history of Spain, a spectator could misinterpret the movie as a commentary about the imagination of a little girl after viewing the movie "Frankenstein." The character of Frankenstein is a main component contributing to Ana's, the younger sister, interpretation of reality in Spain, and it gains meaning as Frankenstein evolves from a character in the movie to an object of fantasy. It continues to evolve into a man of flesh and bones and finally represents the hope of Ana when all other sources of information in her life turn out to be faulty.

"El espíritu de la colmena" is a powerful movie that uses many metaphors (such as Ana for the young, innocent generation of Spain) to question the interpretation of reality. It is a powerful, artistically made movie that captivates the viewer through images rather than words. It should be seen more than once in order to understand all it's hidden messages.