VFD_QMS Review of The Spirit of the Beehive

The Spirit of the Beehive (1973)

"Nostalgia is associated with a yearning for the past"

[9/10 · 10 April 2021]

I wouldn't call this nostalgic, but there is a certain awareness in this that harkens back to childhood extirpated of ultra-consumerist acquisitiveness, where allurement needs to be found within "empty space" itself, which obviously means the children will bestow it with their imagination and natural curiosity. Hence the titular "spirit of the beehive" is born, effected by Ana seeing Frankenstein's monster in the single film screened in the village, and through the influence of her sister. He rushes through her world like an unexpected train in the desolate land and makes it tremble with fear, anticipation and suspense. Just as the beehive is perplexing the adults, so is reality for the children - the interiors of their houses resemble a beehive, especially the windows through which they look at the world are like a layers of wax veiling their eyes. Imagination enriches the world with honey; the spirit carries abstract and emotional resonances and like the angel from the painting in the children's bedroom, he guides the little girl on the desolate land. Mystery and horror are integral to it. And in the end, Ana's fear and adventurous spirit seemingly made the village's adult community bind together by a common quest.