David Conrad Reportedly, this film is a critique of the Franco regime, couched in metaphor so as to get past the dictator's censors. Even knowing that, it is difficult to understand exactly what director/screenwriter Victor Erice is saying, so perhaps the censors' purpose was sufficiently achieved. It is clear that the story takes place in Spain in the 1940s, and we meet an apparent rebel as well as a military officer. The story follows two sisters, each no more than 10 years old, as they whisper to each other in their bedroom, attend school, and search for their Karloff-inspired vision of Frankenstein's monster. We also get occasional glimpses into their mother's past and into her husband's thoughts about life and beehives (their house gives the impression of a beehive, with its yellow honeycomb windowpanes). Slowly the pieces come together, if only into a vague picture, but then a new puzzle presents itself as we have to confront the strange experience of Ana, the younger and more introspective sister. Clips from the 1931 film "Frankenstein" serve as a guide for us, just as they inspire the sisters, but can take us only so far toward a clear resolution. Happily, there is enough quality for an enjoyable viewing experience regardless of comprehension. These child actors are much more natural and convincing than most, and a wide, time-lapse shot of a green valley is starkly beautiful.

jotix100 Victor Erice, the director of one of Spain's best films of all times, reminds this viewer of his American counterpart, Terence Malik, they do not have a long list of films in their resumes, but both have the capacity to create unusual films of unusual beauty, about unusual themes. It is certainly a loss for the audiences attracted to their work. Having seen this film years ago, the occasion for taking another view came when it was shown on a classic channel recently.At heart, "The Spirit of the Beehive" is about the terrifying effect on an impressionable young girl's of things happening around her in the Spain of 1940, right after the civil war and its devastating effects on the country. Ana and her sister Isabel are the daughters of parents who have stopped loving each other. It becomes clear Teresa, the mother is in love with a man who has disappeared from her life, but she keeps longing for his return. Fernando, the father, lives in his own world, surrounded by the bees he so lovingly keeps in his large estate.Ana and Teresa, like small children they are, love to get into things that normally would not be approved by their parents. Watching James Whale's "Frankenstein" at the makeshift city hall where the pictures are shown, has a profound effect on the girls. Ana and Teresa love straying from home, unsupervised, to the abandoned structure where they believe to be haunted. Ana, the bolder girl gets a big surprise as she surprises an escapee running from the law.Victor Erice shot this film in a Spain still under Franco's control, a daring move because of the reigning atmosphere in his native country. There is a lot of symbolism in the picture, although subtly done. Ana's fears are at the center of the story, but it has also a lot to do with the situation of the country in 1940, a sad period for the survivors of the civil war. The best thing is Ana Torrent whose innocence, expressive eyes, and her luminous presence works wonders to enhance the film. Fernando Fernan Gomez, a giant in the Spanish cinema gives a wonderful performance. Teresa Gimpera is effective as the wife and Isabel Telleria shows she was a natural as the other sister.Victor Erice showed why is one of Spain's most talented directors of all times.

ma-cortes Sensational film that dispenses a thought-provoking plot and considered to be one of the best Spanish films , in fact was voted third best Spaniard film by professionals and critics in 1996 Spanish cinema centenary . It deals with a rural Spain soon after Franco's victory , wasteland of inactivity and poorness . It's 1940 in a small, stark Castillian village , there a sensitive seven-year-old girl named Ana (Ana Torrent) , her sister Isabel (Isabel Telleria) along with their parents (Fernando Fernan Gomez , Teresa Gimpera) are living a small village in 1940 rural Spain . The father gets relief by the industriousness of bees in their hives . Ana then is traumatized after viewing James Wale's 1931 "Frankenstein" and drifts into her own fantasy world . The movie leaves a lasting impression on seven year old Ana and she is heavily traumatized . The fragile , single little Anna dreams of meeting the monster and befriends a fugitive man just before he is chased . Sensitive film full of feeling , haunting mood-pieces , wonderful images and sense of wonder . This extraordinary flick spells through intricate patterns of frames , sets , sound and color . Interesting screenplay by the same director Erice based on a story by Angel Fernandez Santos . Luxurious photography by magnificent cameraman Luis Cuadrado helped by another excellent cinematographer , Teo Escamilla , Cuadrado was going blind at the time this film was made , he eventually went completely blind and committed suicide in 1980 . Moving and emotive musical score by Luis De Pablo . Good and evocative art direction by subsequently filmmaker Jaime Chavarri , showing faithfully rural scenarios , as the deserted building next to the well was actually an abandoned sheep-shed , being filmed on location in Hoyuelos, Segovia, Castilla y León and Parla, Madrid . The motion picture well produced by notorious producer Elias Querejeta was stunningly directed by Victor Erice , nicknamed the Spanish Terence Malick . He filmed a total of exactly 1000 shots in the film , exactly 500 are inside, and 500 are outside ; there is no shot of all the family in a single frame in the entire film : even in the dinner-table scene, the actors are shown separately . Erice has made only two films more , the generally well regarded ¨El Sur¨ , ¨El sol del Membrillo¨ and some Shorts too . This touching picture will appeal to Spanish films buffs . Rating : Top-notch and outstanding movie , worthwhile seeing .

coltcompton This is one of the most ponderously dull movies I have ever seen. I have read about all the 'metaphors' herein and I am not a dumb person, and this is absolute drivel. I understand that the characters represent Spain and Franco and it's very political. I understand the undertones about the power of youthful imagination and the magic of cinema. That being said, I have no idea how it is rated as the best movie from Spain ever, much less the best movie of the seventies. This is supposedly one of Guillermo Del Toro's faves, and I have to say I enjoyed every single one of his movies, even the atrocious Blade II, far more. To give you some perspective, I LOVE the movie Solaris (the original), which I thought was the slowest paced film ever made until I had watched a single hour of this movie. If you can get through the first hour without going into an art-house coma or becoming unspeakably pretentious about supposedly 'metaphorical' pseudo imagery, then I salute you. Supposedly this movie is heavy on metaphor, which I take to mean that the movie is a metaphor for what it must be like to be a child with the dullest existence possible. The little girl that plays Ana is very good, but this movie is akin to reading a book of Richard Dawkins' with a hipster outside a cafe in France while listening to the Shins: That is, as pretentious and boring as possible.Do yourself a favor and watch the beginning if for no other reason than that you can then argue about it when someone brings it up at a party trying to sound smarter than you. Don't blame me if you are falling asleep twenty minutes in though.