THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (El Espíritu de la Colmena) (1973) - ♦♦♦♦♦

Directed by - Victor Erice
 
Written by - Victor Erice, Ángel Fernandez Santos (based on a novel by Francisco J. Querejeta)
 
Starring - Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent
 
 
 
"After attending a screening of James Whale’s Frankenstein, a six year old girl drifts into her own nightmareish world of imagination. Many have tried to replicate the atmospheric vision of Erice that is at once a shocking abandonment to childish ignorance and innocence as well as an important metaphorical look back at a difficult time in the socio-political history of Spain. What really strikes about the film is the controlled examinations of its themes and the way in which Erice allows the horror to flow naturally out of the ordinary tenderness and drama of the every day life of his protagonist; a little girl haunted by a fictional motion picture. While the thing that makes it work to such full effect is the way in which The Spirit of the Beehive feels so genuinely melancholic in its portrayal of loss of innocence, as a young one struggles with her realisations of the difference between the imagination and exterior life – and that is perhaps what is most frightening about the themes dealt with in the film. Sublimely photographed and moving at its own hypnotic pace, The Spirit of the Beehives also enjoys some of the best performances by a young cast of all time."
 
 
Thriller, Spain