Bee Season (2005)

Directors:

Scott McGehee
David Siegel

Writers (WGA):

Myla Goldberg (novel)
Naomi Foner (screenplay)

Release Date:

17 November 2005 (Australia)

Genre:

Drama

Tagline:

Words may define us, but it's love that connects us.

Plot:

A wife and mother begins a downward emotional spiral, as her husband avoids their collapsing marriage by immersing himself in his 11 year-old daughter's quest to become a spelling bee champion.

Plot Keywords:

Stolen Goods | Shard | Husband Wife Relationship | Oakland Tribune | Plant

Awards:

1 nomination

Cast

Richard Gere	...	Saul
Juliette Binoche	...	Miriam
Flora Cross	...	Eliza
Max Minghella	...	Aaron
Kate Bosworth	...	Chali
Corey Fischer	...	National Spelling Bee Pronouncer
Sam Zuckerman	...	National Spelling Bee Judge
Joan Mankin	...	Ms. Bergermeyer
Piers Mackenzie	...	Dr. Morris
Lorri Holt	...	Ms. Rai
Brian Leonard	...	Mr. Julien
Jamal Thornes	...	Wiseacre Boy's Mate
Kathy McGraw	...	Regional Bee Pronouncer
John Evans	...	Regional Bee Judge
Alisha Mullally	...	Young Miriam

MPAA:

Rated PG-13 for thematic elements, a scene of sensuality and brief strong language.

Runtime:

104 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English | Hebrew

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby Digital | DTS | SDDS

Certification:

USA:PG-13 (certificate #40910) | South Korea:12 | Iceland:LH (video rating) | Argentina:13 | Canada:14A (Ontario) | Netherlands:AL | Australia:M | France:U | Singapore:NC-16 | Sweden:Btl | Finland:K-7 | Brazil:12 | Mexico:B | UK:12A

Filming Locations:

1075 Mariposa Ave., Berkeley, California, USA

Company:

Bee Season Productions Inc.

Trivia:

Dakota Fanning was originally going to play Eliza, but directors thought that Flora Cross looked like Juliette Binoche and selected Cross instead.

Goofs:

Continuity: The writing on the chalkboard (especially the underlines) changes between shots when Aaron and Eliza visit Saul while he is teaching his class.

Quotes:

Saul: There are people who believe that letters are an expression of a very special primal energy and when they combine to make words they hold all the secrets of the universe...
Saul: Remember the Vikings?
Saul: [Takes a green apple] Ok, Vikings called this "aepli".
Saul: Now when they took it across the sea in their ships it became "apfel".
Saul: Crossed another border, it became "appel".
Saul: By the time it got to us it was "apple".
Saul: Its spelling contains all of that.
Saul: It holds its history inside it.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Live with Regis and Kathie Lee: (2005-11-14)" (2005)

Soundtrack:

Hare Krishna Kirtan

Excellent Movie

I know most people don't give this movie a very good review and that's unfortunate. It is a very deep movie and the viewer is made to think. It's not the kind of movie where everything falls into place and everything ends up happily ever after. If that is the kind of movie you like then this one is not for you. If you like a movie that is deep and has a very serious story line then this is the one.

I will try to put this in as simple terms possible; the story is mostly based around Saul Naumann, the father (Richard Gere) and his daughter Eliza (Flora Cross) both superbly acted by the way. Saul is a professor on the Jewish Religion and he very much wants to get closer to God but is unable to. Saul is a very domineering husband and father, very self-centered, so is unable to see the problems that are dividing the family, or maybe he sees it and doesn't want to admit it.

When his daughter begins to win at spelling bees he thinks that somehow Eliza is linked with God and that is how she sees the word and can spell it correctly. He begins teaching her like she was one of his students by using the thesis he wrote to become a professor. In this thesis it lays out the plan to get closer to God, he tried it for himself but couldn't, so he decides to try it on his daughter.

Saul's wife Miriam (Juliette Binoche) has many problems stemming back from the time her parents were killed in an auto accident when she was a young girl. I'm not going to go into specifics here but if you pay close attention to the scene where he is talking to his class you will understand how this is linked to Miriam's problem and how she has decided to solve it. Also pay attention to the scenes where I'm assuming they were fist married (flash backs) and he is explaining to Miriam the same thing he has been talking about with his class in that scene I mentioned. Because Saul is so domineering and self-centered he doesn't realize that she even has a problem until it all explodes and he finally becomes aware of what she is doing. Miriam tries to explain to Saul why she did what she did and if you listen closely to what she says you will understand.

The son Aaron (Max Minghella) has a good relationship with his father and is shown a lot of attention by him until Saul begins to spend more and more time with Eliza. I think Aaron may be a little jealous of Eliza because she is now getting all the attention but I don't think that is his real problem. I think he also wants to get closer to God and is not sure how so begins exploring other avenues other religions. He becomes involved with another religion and feels this may be what he has been looking for. When Saul finds this out all hell breaks loose and he finally realizes that the whole family has many problems.

Meanwhile Eliza thinks she is the reason for all that is happened and tries to converse with God to correct it. By this time Saul is convinced that God is interacting with Eliza when they go to the final spelling bee, The Nationals.

This is just a very basic outline of the movie, of course I have left out a lot of the movie because I don't want to give too much away and you should see this for yourself and come to your own conclusions. Give this movie a chance and I think you will like it.