El espíritu de la colmena (1973)

Director:

Víctor Erice

Writers:

Víctor Erice (screenplay)
Víctor Erice (story)
(more)

Release Date:

5 January 1977 (France)

Genre:

Drama

Plot:

A sensitive seven-year-old girl living a small village in 1940 rural Spain is traumatized after viewing James Whale's "Frankenstein" and drifts into her own fantasy world.

Plot Keywords:

Village | Rural | Spanish Civil War | Fugitive | Cat

Awards:

7 wins

Cast

Fernando Fernán Gómez	...	Fernando
Teresa Gimpera	...	Teresa
Ana Torrent	...	Ana
Isabel Tellería	...	Isabel
Ketty de la Cámara	...	Milagros, la criada
Estanis González	...	Guardia civil
José Villasante	...	The Frankenstein Monster
Juan Margallo	...	The Fugitive
Laly Soldevila	...	Doña Lucía, the teacher
Miguel Picazo	...	The Doctor

Directed by
Víctor Erice

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Víctor Erice		screenplay
Víctor Erice		story
Ángel Fernández Santos		screenplay
Ángel Fernández Santos		story
Francisco J. Querejeta		writer

Produced by
Elías Querejeta	....	producer

Original Music by
Luis de Pablo

Cinematography by
Luis Cuadrado

Film Editing by
Pablo González del Amo

Art Direction by
Jaime Chávarri

Set Decoration by
Adolfo Cofiño

Costume Design by
Peris

Makeup Department
Ángel Luis De Diego	....	assistant makeup artist
Ramón de Diego	....	makeup artist

Production Management
Primitivo Álvaro	....	production manager
Pedro Esteban	....	assistant production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Francisco Lucio Ramos	....	second assistant director
José Luis Ruiz Marcos	....	first assistant director

Art Department
Fernando Hermoso	....	property master

Sound Department
Luis Castro	....	sound effects
Luis Rodríguez	....	direct sound
Jean Michel Sire	....	sound effects (as Sire)

Visual Effects by
Pablo Núñez	....	opticals

Camera and Electrical Department
José M. de Nicolás	....	second assistant camera
Teodoro Escamilla	....	camera operator
Estanis González	....	camera operator
Laureano López	....	still photographer
Juan Margallo	....	camera operator
José Villasante	....	camera operator
Santiago Zuazo	....	first assistant camera

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Angelines Castro	....	wardrobe

Editorial Department
José Salcedo	....	first assistant editor
Juan Ignacio San Mateo	....	second assistant editor (as Juan San Mateo)

Other crew
Pablo Núñez	....	title designer
Miguel Picazo	....	special collaborator
Francisco J. Querejeta	....	script supervisor
Laly Soldevila	....	special collaborator
Alicia Tellería	....	title designer
Isabel Tellería	....	title designer
María Tellería	....	title designer
Ana Torrent	....	title designer

Production Companies

• Elías Querejeta Producciones Cinematográficas S.L.
• Jacel Desposito

Distributors

• Bocaccio Distribución S.A. (1973) (Spain) (theatrical)
• Contemporary Films (1974) (UK) (theatrical)
• Janus Films (1976) (USA) (theatrical) (subtitled)
• Bowjapan (1985) (Japan) (theatrical)
• Connossieur Video (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Tamarelle's International Films (1988) (USA) (VHS)
• Optimum Releasing (2003) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• Vídeo Mercury Films (2005) (USA) (DVD)
• Criterion Collection, The (2006) (USA) (DVD)
• C.B. Films (Spain)

Also Known As:

The Spirit of the Beehive

Runtime:

97 min | USA:95 min

Country:

Spain

Language:

Spanish

Color:

Color (Eastmancolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.66 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

UK:AA (original rating) | UK:PG (re-rating) | USA:Unrated | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

Hoyuelos, Segovia, Castilla y León, Spain

Company:

Elías Querejeta Producciones Cinematográficas S.L.

Trivia:

Cinematographer Luis Cuadrado was going blind at the time this film was made. He eventually went completely blind and committed suicide in 1980.

Goofs:

Continuity: When the fugitive jumps from the train and rolls down the hill, he's wearing boots, but in the next shot he's wearing low-cut shoes.

Quotes:

Isabel: Papa, have you ever picked a bad mushroom?
Fernando: No. You know why?
Isabel: Why?
Fernando: Because I always do like my grandfather told me.
[he gets up and starts to walk; the girls follow]
Fernando: If you're not sure a mushroom's good, don't pick it. Because if it's bad, and you eat it, it's your last mushroom and your last everything too.

Movie Connections:

Features Frankenstein (1931)

creatively captivates the viewer through images rather than words and leaves you wondering after the last scene has ended.

This is an enchanting movie about two young sisters caught in the silence of post-war Spain. While representing the isolation of Spain in that era and the lack of communication that persisted throughout the country, "El espíritu de la colmena," by Victor Erice in 1973, fascinated me with its use of dramatic chiaroscuro lightening, large panoramic shots and the use of fades to connect scenes while commenting on the time warp that Spain endured after the war.

Without using much dialogue in the movie, Erice artistically comments on the political tension in Spain through potent images and scenes. He uses symbols such as the two young sisters to represent the division between the Republican and Nationalist parties, and the leitmotif of the beehive to represent the "trapped" workers in Spain under Franco. The most amazing aspect is that all of the post-war commentary is said without any words and without mentioning the actual event! It is a "cine de espectáculo," or spectacle cinema, that symbolizes the connection between fantasy in the movies and fantasy in reality. Without knowing the history of Spain, a spectator could misinterpret the movie as a commentary about the imagination of a little girl after viewing the movie "Frankenstein." The character of Frankenstein is a main component contributing to Ana's, the younger sister, interpretation of reality in Spain, and it gains meaning as Frankenstein evolves from a character in the movie to an object of fantasy. It continues to evolve into a man of flesh and bones and finally represents the hope of Ana when all other sources of information in her life turn out to be faulty.

"El espíritu de la colmena" is a powerful movie that uses many metaphors (such as Ana for the young, innocent generation of Spain) to question the interpretation of reality. It is a powerful, artistically made movie that captivates the viewer through images rather than words. It should be seen more than once in order to understand all it's hidden messages.