The oeuvre of Victor Erice is extremely small. Between 1973 and 1992 he made three films, on average one every ten years. All of them are good, but "The spirit of the beehive" is the most widely known.
Just like "Death of a cyclist" (1955, Juan Antonio Bardem) it was made during and is situated in the Franco years, but it is not an explicit political movie.
"The spirit of the beehive" is about a little girl growing up in fascist Spain. When a travelling film theatre shows the film "Frankenstein" (1931, James Whale) in the village were she lives, she is very much impressed and keeps looking for the monster. "The spirit of the Beehive" is a sort of mix between "Pan's labyrinth" (2006, Guillermo del Toro) (growing up in fascist Spain) and "Nuovo cinema Paradiso" (1988, Giuseppe Tornatore) (the effect of cinema on the fantasy of little kids).
I said earlier that "The spirit of the beehive" is not an explicit political film. That is not to say that all political symbolism is absent. Some believe that the monster of Frankenstein represents the Franco dictatorship. I have my doubts, after all the intentions of the monster of Frankenstein are good, and the intentions of the Franco dictatorship were evidently bad. I do believe however in another kind of symbolism. The father of the girl is keeping bees. At some point he compares the Spanish people under Franco with a bee colony, industrious but not very creative.
The bees also return in the design of the movie. Pay attention to the house were the girl lives and you wil notice many hexagons, just like in a beehive. The design of the film is very beautiful, also in other respects. Much if the film is shot during dusk and this gives the beautiful light we also see in a film like "Days of Heaven" (1978, Terrence Malick).
Just like "Death of a cyclist" (1955, Juan Antonio Bardem) it was made during and is situated in the Franco years, but it is not an explicit political movie.
"The spirit of the beehive" is about a little girl growing up in fascist Spain. When a travelling film theatre shows the film "Frankenstein" (1931, James Whale) in the village were she lives, she is very much impressed and keeps looking for the monster. "The spirit of the Beehive" is a sort of mix between "Pan's labyrinth" (2006, Guillermo del Toro) (growing up in fascist Spain) and "Nuovo cinema Paradiso" (1988, Giuseppe Tornatore) (the effect of cinema on the fantasy of little kids).
I said earlier that "The spirit of the beehive" is not an explicit political film. That is not to say that all political symbolism is absent. Some believe that the monster of Frankenstein represents the Franco dictatorship. I have my doubts, after all the intentions of the monster of Frankenstein are good, and the intentions of the Franco dictatorship were evidently bad. I do believe however in another kind of symbolism. The father of the girl is keeping bees. At some point he compares the Spanish people under Franco with a bee colony, industrious but not very creative.
The bees also return in the design of the movie. Pay attention to the house were the girl lives and you wil notice many hexagons, just like in a beehive. The design of the film is very beautiful, also in other respects. Much if the film is shot during dusk and this gives the beautiful light we also see in a film like "Days of Heaven" (1978, Terrence Malick).