In a small Castilian village in 1940, in the wake of Spain’s devastating civil war, six-year-old Ana attends a traveling movie show of Frankenstein and becomes possessed by the memory of it.
Produced as Franco’s long regime was nearing its end and widely regarded as the greatest Spanish film of the 1970s, The Spirit of the Beehive is a bewitching portrait of a child’s haunted inner life and one of the most visually arresting movies ever made.
Screening as part of “It’s Alive!!!” season – notes by Jay Hildreth:
As the Francoist Dictatorship begins to take control, things take a turn through certain mishaps in the family which result in the tale of Frankenstein truly coming alive.
Despite films criticising the Francoist State typically finding themselves with the burden of censorship or outright bans, The Spirit of the Beehive’s overseas reception brought it into the Spanish cinema spotlight and rightfully became a renowned classic in its own right, even cited as a favourite by Akira Kurosawa.