Agenda Movie Club: The Spirit of the Beehive

The Spirit of the Beehive

Víctor Erice

1973

“Bit by bit, she’ll begin to forget.”

Probably, but is that really what we want?

There are a few movies that deal very well with the wonder and the terror of being a child– The Night of the Hunter, Pan’s Labyrinth, maybe E.T. (depending on what you take that one to be about). Where The Wild Things Are, to a slightly less exceptional extent (although don’t get me wrong, I think that movie is fantastic). The Spirit of the Beehive is every bit as good as the best of these.

How I hadn’t heard of this movie before a couple of months ago is a mystery to me. I was looking through Guillermo del Toro’s list of his favorite Criterion DVD releases and this was on there, and it seemed to me that it was probably a big influence on Pan’s Labyrinth, so I wanted to see it. Turns out, I can’t imagine anything that was a bigger influence (you can see it in his The Devil’s Backbone, too).

I’m guessing most of you haven’t seen this either, so, briefly: The movie takes place just after the end of the Spanish Civil War (and was made as the Franco regime was in its last days). A young girl, Ana, sees Frankenstein and becomes fascinated with the Monster, who her sister says is actually a spirit that lives nearby. She makes it her mission to meet the spirit. I’m not going to describe the rest of the plot.

There’s a lot more going on, of course, and certainly plenty of subtext about repression under Franco and the devastation of the war. I don’t know much besides the basics of the Spanish Civil War, so those things weren’t what grabbed me. I was moved by Ana’s eyes, by her deep curiosity, and by her reaction to the death of her “spirit.” Nearly every scene is bathed in this golden glow, the story moves slowly, and there’s a scene of shocking violence (shocking given the sweetness of what happens just before).

And then the doctor assures Ana’s mother that, bit by bit, Ana will forget. As most of us do.

For the couple of days after I watched this movie, I had this strange buzz– I realized it was because I felt so invigorated by watching this. It’s not often that you see something that immediately rockets onto your “best movies I’ve ever seen” list, but this one did. It really is one of the best movies I’ve ever seen.

I don’t want to say a lot more, I just want you to watch it.