The Spirit of the Beehive

Opens September 27

Part of: Crucemos al Otro Lado

1973 99 min 35mm

In Spanish with English subtitles

Rated
ur
Víctor Erice
Ángel Fernández-Santos de Blázquez, Víctor Erice
Fernando Fernán Gómez, Teresa Gimpera, Ana Torrent

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. (Janus Films)

1973
Spain
Spanish
English
99 min
Drama
Limited Availability

Music Box Theatre screens films of all genres and from every era of cinema, both new releases and repertory. These films may sometimes contain upsetting, outdated, or offensive material. While we aim to introduce many of our screenings, we do not always provide warnings about potentially triggering content within the films we screen. We encourage our patrons to research the film before they attend using trailers, reviews, or content information found on Common Sense Media, IMDb and DoesTheDogDie.com.

Showtimes for The Spirit of the Beehive

Reviews

Arguably the finest and most beautifully wrought first film of the European ‘70s, a mysterious crucible as elusive, concrete, and visually primal as anything by Herzog, Straub, Olmi, or Denis.

The Village Voice

The story that emerges from [Erice’s] lovely, lovingly considered images is at once lucid and enigmatic, poised between adult longing and childlike eagerness, sorrowful knowledge and startled innocence.

A.O. Scott, The New York Times

One of the most haunting films I have ever seen. So simple and pure and quiet and dreamlike and stimulating. A fantasy that makes more sense than what passes as reality.

Alan Rudolph, Criterion