The Beekeeper (1986)

A bee keeper, Spiros, travels from the north to the south of Greece with his bees to meet the spring.

Director:

Theodoros Angelopoulos

Writers:

Theodoros Angelopoulos, Tonino Guerra

Stars:

Marcello Mastroianni, Nadia Mourouzi, Serge Reggiani

1 nomination.

Cast

Credited cast:
Marcello Mastroianni	...	Spyros
Nadia Mourouzi	...	The Girl
Serge Reggiani	...	Sick Man
Jenny Roussea	...	Spyros' Wife
Dinos Iliopoulos	...	Spyros' Friend
Vasia Panagopoulou
Iakovos Panotas	...	Solder / The Girl / Side Boyfriend
Rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Stamatis Gardelis
Mihalis Giannatos
Karyofyllia Karabeti
Konstandinos Konstandopoulos	...	(as Kostas Konstadopoulos)
Nikos Kouros
Christoforos Nezer
Stratos Pahis
Dimitris Poulikakos

Storyline

Spiros retires as a schoolteacher, his daughter is married, and he starts his annual journey with his bees to get honey from different areas. In his truck he finds a young girl who has just been abandoned and has no roots. Spiros lets her follow for a day. Seeing her difficulty in getting further hitch-hiking, he takes her back. They will meet and part several times. Later she will say that Spiros is the only one who has ever been kind to her. But his emotions are so restrained that he cannot show anything until a volcanic eruption breaks through. He does not seek serious contact until the eruption makes him drive the car right through the glass wall of the café in which the girl is sitting. She immediately follows him. But after this criminal event they can no longer live at hotels. From the beginning she was willing to sleep with him. But when he finally kisses her, her justified reaction is to repeat "Not in this way!" A friend had a shut down cinema where they could sleep. ...

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Plot Keywords:

bee | cinema | road movie | hitchhiker | suicide | 

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Genres:

Drama

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Did You Know?

Trivia

Part II of "A Trilogy of Silence".

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Connections

Referenced in Air Doll (2009)

User Reviews

The Beekeeper :A good Theo Angelopoulos film about two lonely people.

It is amazing that it is only on two occasions that the great Greek director Theo Angelopoulos [1935-2012] chose to cast major film stars of international reputation in his films. In 1995, he directed "Ulysses' Gaze" with one of American cinema's greatest actors Harvey Keitel. The Beekeeper/O Melissokomos was his first film with a major star,Italian actor Marcello Mastroianni who is known to all those who appreciate great cinema. It is interesting to note that in both these films, Theo Angelopoulos has extracted unglamorous performances from these two actors who are known to ordinary cinema audiences as mere 'film stars'. The decision to cast Marcello Mastroianni must be viewed as an artistic challenge for Angelopoulos as he was already a middle aged man when he was paired against a young girl in a film about hopelessness, uselessness wherein one comes to realize the futility of one's drab existence. Through his film about a man and his passion for bees, Theo Angelopoulos teaches us that happiness is fleeting. One learns the most crucial lesson in life that even though bees are sweet for honey their bite is extremely dangerous. This is precisely the lesson which the film's protagonist experiences after a series of minor incidents which happen in his life when he travels across Greece in the company of a young girl. The notion of "So near yet so far" appears to be this film's leitmotif as even though the protagonist stands near his wife for a photo shoot, discontent is always visible on their faces. This notion makes its second appearance when the protagonist meets a young girl who is hitch hiking across Greece. Lastly, no film director has attempted to show the love felt by a young girl for an old man in an extremely personal manner as depicted by Angelopoulos in "The Beekeeper" as mutual respect is the key element in this film.One could also state that the young girl allowed herself to be treated well by the old man. This is the reason why the young girl feels that the old man is the only person who has treated her well.

Details

Country:

Greece France Italy

Language:

Greek French

Release Date:

29 April 1987 (France)

Also Known As:

El apicultor

Filming Locations:

Ioannina, Greece

Company Credits

Production Co:

Greek Film Center, Greek Television ET-1, Theo Angelopoulos Films

Technical Specs

Runtime:

122 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.37 : 1