Matthew Britt
12/19/10
Spirit of the Beehive
Victor Erice
1973
Drama
Spanish

"The Spirit of the Beehive" is commonly reffered to as a masterpiece in Spanish filmmaking. A gloriuius film that masterfully incorporates subtle-political commentary, Spirit of the Beehive is a timeless piece of cinema that will always have a special place in the history of cinema and history in general, especially in the discourse of post-civil war Spain. The film has extraordinary depth, and while offering insightful political-scrutiny, it also deals with the isolation of childhood, and a child's reliance on the imaginary and fantasy. As mentioned earlier, the film deals with heavy symbolism pointing to a political message. Its characters, dialogue, and production all contribute to this groundbreaking and memorable film.

Chris Darke's article "Les Enfants et les Cinéphiles" The Moment of Epiphany in The Spirit of the Beehive" deals with the concept of the "epiphany" in film, and how this is transmitted to the viewer. Darke elaborates on this moment, and emphasizes the importance of such moments in film. An NY times review of the film mentions the atmosphere of "evasive silence", and how this silence within the family points to a larger picture of "evasive silence" in Spain. The review also offers a complete well-written review of the film that captures the essence of the movie.

In Darke's article, Darke speaks of the moment where Ana, the main character in the film, is watching Frankenstein, and describes her intense emotional-reaction to what she sees in a specific scene where Frankenstein interacts with the little girl (in Frankenstein) by the river. Darke describes this moment as an "epiphany" and relates this to the overall singular power of film. Although as viewers of the film, we don't exactly see what Ana sees in the movie, we see her full emotional response to what she is seeing. The filming techniques, and the use of jump shots and effective lighting allow us to fully experience this "epiphany" ourselves as viewers. I definitely can relate to this feeling , because due to the masterful presentation of this film, I felt many strong feelings throughout this film, particularly with this scene.

This film was definitely one of the best films I've ever seen. I appreciate how layered this film is; how on the surface it seems to be a story of a little girl's imaginary relationship with a fictional character, but is really about the social and political effects on a torn country forced to silence after a bloody civil war. This is without a doubt a milestone of cinema.