Spirit of the Beehive (1973)

Spirit of the Beehive (El espiritu de la colmena)
Directed by Victor Erice
Written by Angel Fernandez Santos and Victor Erice
1973/Spain
IMDb page
Repeat viewing/Criterion Channel
One of 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die

Ana: If he only comes out at night, how can you talk to him?
Isabel: I told you he was a spirit. If you’re his friend, you can talk to him whenever you want. Just close your eyes and call him… It’s me, Ana… It’s me Ana…

Erice explores the vulnerabilities of children in times of crisis in this contemplative, beautiful film.

The story is set in a Spanish village in 1940 during Franco’s reprisals against Republicans following the end of the Spanish Civil War.  Seven-year-old Ana (Ana Torrent) lives with her parents Teresa and Fernando and older sister Isabel (who is maybe nine or ten).  Ana’s father keeps bees.  Ana has great big brown eyes with which she surveys the world and is clearly very sensitive.  James Whale’s Frankenstein (1931) draws a large audience when it comes to town.

Ana and Isabel attend.  Ana is completely engrossed in the story and wants to why the little girl and the monster had to die.  Isabel first tells her nobody died because the movie is a trick.  Then she mischievously switches tacks and tells Ana that the monster is living as a spirit in the family’s sheep shed and only comes out at night.

Ana becomes obsessed with the sheep shed, eventually working up the courage to enter. One day she encounters a man in rags who has an injured leg hiding there.  She adopts him as the monster and tries to help him.  I’ll stop there.

The story takes place at that mysterious juncture between reality and imagination through the eyes of a child trying to make sense of the world around her.  It has little dialogue and Erice seems fond of Ozu-like ellipses where key events are cut away from.  Anyway, this is a very beautiful film painted largely in golden light.  Ana Torrent gives one of the great child performances ever.  It’s sad but recommended.