Well, it is a very special film,and i’m looking forward to seeing it again in a few days when i reunite my old video and videoplayer. I don’t know if anyone has really pinned down the film’s meanings, whether political, social, familial…anyway i love its elusiveness, its mystery, like the wonders of childhood, grasping at new experiences, the world outside. Victor Erice manages to get an almost miraculous performance from Ana Torrent, while Fernando Fernan Gomez, distinguished actor (and director too) was apparently confused by his role, but it all comes off perfectly. Not forgetting the fine performance by Isabel Telleria as the older sister too. What lovely Vermeerian painterly quality, warm honey, amber stained glass- and cinematographer Luis Cuadrado was going blind at the time apparently!- and some of the scenes, such as the children whispering in bed, or listening at the railway track, the cat, the moonlight, the awed fascination watching the film Frankenstein- Erice said capturing this was the most important moment in any of his films-, or…well, it’s all marvellous; tender, beguiling, magical, compassionate.
What I took from this film was that ‘man’ is the monster, so yes that would include her father. Ana and Isabel’s entire childhood experiences were damaged by civil war and the horrible things that they must have seen and the effect that it had on their parents. I agree Kenji, the performances of these two young girls were almost miraculous. I loved this movie.
Oh and type Spirit of the Beehives into the SEARCH feature for more threads and discussion on this film.
Monsters are a defilement of the human form, an ugly botch, a deformation. The fault is not the monster’s but his creator’s; the monster is a sympathetic consciousness trapped in a repulsive form. The creature’s appearance immediately makes manifest his creator’s violation of social norms, for the monster’s ugliness exemplifies his impurity. The monster is an allegory of the time and it’s politics.
I think the “monster” is everything that is genuine and good in life; when Ana befriends the runaway republican soldier, we see a moment of true candor and genuine emotion that does not even require any words (as in the scene where Frankenstein’s creature befriends the little girl in the movie). That is however destroyed by the forces of reaction (the real monster) and everything goes back to the way it was, a choking alienation that is only kept at bay by the temporary innocence of childhood.
Haha, I LOVE this film!!!! I love how everyone has their different opinions on it, and all of them are right.
I get different things from the film at different times, but the last time I watched it, I saw that imaginary monsters are better than real monsters. Ana was fascinated by this monster, because she lives in a world of monsters, or zombies, more like it. But this monster can kill. This monster does things, unlike her father, who she barely ever interacts with. She wants her father to do something, anything, with her, or to her. Her imagination is the best place she can retreat to, because everything there is infinitely more interesting. The excitement of death is a happier existence than where she resides now.
That’s the first time that I pulled that from the film. Next time, I am sure it will do something different for me.
I have a 2500 word Essay to write on the aspects of the “mise-en-scene” that allude to the effect of censorship of post Civil War in spanish cociety. So many things to say! Dunno where to begin!
I have a 2500 word Essay to write on the aspects of the “mise-en-scene” that allude to the effect of censorship of post Civil War in spanish cociety. So many things to say! Dunno where to begin!
ringostarr
II watched this film last night (4 am) on TCM after waking up and not being able to fall asleep; it did not help to make me sleepy to say the least. The film moves at such an ethereal, intoxicating pace that it was impossible to ignore. There are many metaphors, allegories, and symbolic representations, that to fully appreciate what the director is presenting demands further viewings. I have not stopped thinking about the film for many hours and plan to buy this film and share it with others. One theme that keeps coming to mind is the relationship between Ana and her father. I’ll have to revisit this, however, Frankenstein’s monster, I believe is her father and Ana was hallucinating that he was the monster. Also related to this scene is that Ana is near a pond when approached by the “monster”, however, when they find her she is sleeping beside a ruin, which suggests that she was moved there by the monster. Any comments about my thoughts on this magnificent film are welcomed.