The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)

The fact that most if not all of the major characters in this picture use the actors' real names led me to assume that it was an indie. IMDb tells me that it was just to avoid confusion for six-year-old lead actress Ana Torrent. But independent or not, this art film doesn't exactly look expensive.

In Spain circa 1940, Ana and her slightly older sister, Isabel (Isabel Tellería), watch a dubbed airing of the 1931 Frankenstein. Ana takes special interest in the scene where the monster befriends a little girl. Meaning to poke fun at her, Isabel says that the monster is a spirit who can be summoned in real life. Ana fully believes it, or at least wants to, and goes looking in a vacant sheepfold. Outside of her imagination, the closest thing she finds to that spirit is an injured fugitive (Juan Margallo).

Oh, the beehive part? Well, the girls' father (Fernando Fernán Gómez) is an obsessive beekeeper, despite not having a high opinion of bees. Their mother (Teresa Gimpera) is also aloof, leaving the housekeeper (Ketty de la Cámara) and their teacher (Laly Soldevila) as the main authorities in their lives.

Yes, the beehive is symbolic, as are a lot of other elements. Director Víctor Erice intended a critique of the Francisco Franco regime but had to keep it stealthy to pass the Spanish censors. Had I known this while watching, I might have felt more engaged. (Viridiana reportedly did something similar, but that does nothing to increase my respect for its nastiness.)

On the surface, not much happens in the slow 97 minutes. The plot largely meanders episodically, which helps with credibility but made me struggle to keep caring what would happen. The stopping point seems arbitrary. With little dialog, it's hard to get a sense of characters' personalities. Ana might be the most developed, and she's far from admirable; for example, when she hears a crash and a scream, she just moseys over to the source.

I did find a few things to like. The cinematography is good, especially considering how Luis Cuadrado was going blind from a brain tumor. I'd hardly have guessed it was made as early as the '70s. Many viewers praise the young actresses. I get the feeling that Torrent was just acting natural -- after all, she actually believed in Frankenstein's monster on set -- but natural isn't bad.

Perhaps the best thing about TSotB is that inspired Guillermo del Toro. I certainly thought of Pan's Labyrinth more than once. Of course, that was more overt in its political theme. Perhaps you'll get more out of your own viewing now that you know what I didn't.