The above screenshot is cropped from a Facebook reply (written by a family friend) to a Note written by my sister, inviting her to a local upcoming film screening. I hadn't even heard of Day of Wrath, but the other movies mentioned seemed pretty significant given my last posting; Taxi Driver, The Passion of Joan of Arc, and The Spirit of the Beehive.
DeNiro and his chariot in Taxi Driver
Woman Warrioi Jovovich clone gestates in Resident Evil
The Spirit of the Beehive came across my radar as one of the inspirations for Pan's Labyrinth, which is one of the films that opened my eyes to the Mother Goddess pattern. It's a great film in it's own right, but for the pattern's bee significance, see my last post (edit: and my addendum at the end of this one) . Vouch.
THE SPIRIT OF THE BEEHIVE (1973), Víctor Erice
Set in the 1940s in a small village in post civil war Spain, Victor Erice's "The Spirit of the Beehive" is a haunting story seen primarily through the eyes of a young girl, Ana (Ana Torrent). After watching "Frankenstein" at the community theater, Ana becomes obsessed with the monster, and her sister, Isabel (Isabel Tellería), convinces her he is living in an abandoned building in the field by their house. One day she discovers a wounded soldier holing up there. Thinking he is the Spirit (as Isabel named the monster), she brings him food and clothing. When the soldier is discovered and killed, Ana's life and view of the world around her changes drastically. One one level, "The Spirit of the Beehive" is a probing account of a little girl and her dreams, imagination and the space she inhabits. The scenes with the two sisters interacting are priceless. However, on another level, one is aware of allusions to Franco, the political turmoil in Spain, and a country torn apart by civil war. The world of youth is never free from these darker allusions. Vast stretches of empty land and a village that appears to be inhabited primarily by children are haunted by their presence more than relieved by their innocence. Seen numeroud times, "The Spirit of the Beehive" will reveal different, yet always compelling, interpretations of how children are part of this complex larger world.
How's this for a beehive:
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1/29/09 | 2:02 PM
The Spirit of Jennifer Hudson
Frakenstein... Spirit... You gotta be kidding me!
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