Thursday, February 11, 2010

Inspiration: The Spirit of the Beehive



Have you ever seen a movie that just left you in awe; visually, emotionally, intellectually and even in an auditory way? I have a short list of films that inspired this reaction in me...Dreyer's The Passion of Joan of Arc, Kieślowski's Red and The Double Life of Veronique, and F. W. Murnau's Faust are a few that easily come to mind. After first seeing each of these films, I instantly felt the urge to watch them again, to immerse myself in them, to read reviews and critical analysis in order to understand them (and my own reactions) in deeper ways. And every time I view each of these pictures, I feel like I've understood and appreciated more of the subtle nuances that make each of them so moving.

Yesterday afternoon I watched The Spirit of the Beehive for the second time. Its such an ambiguous, lovely film that deals with the aftermath of the Spanish Civil War by following one family, particularly the two very young daughters, in a small village. There aren't any grand political statements or images of dramatic violence. The film is more about isolation and subterranean emotional dismay in everyday life and the crossroads between innocence and the knowledge born of pain and difficult experience. Its hard to describe exactly what the movie is about in words...so I'll leave you with some images, while looking forward to the next time that I get to see it.




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Oh and its also sort of about Frankenstein:)

11 comments:

  1. I've never seen this but it looks interesting! Sometimes some of the films I watch kind of "haunt" me so much that I keep thinking about it for a few days. And other times I watch something and love it so much I watch it again the very next day.

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  2. Thanks so much for writing this post. I really MUST watch it - I've been saying it for months! Also thanks for the list of other films. Sometimes I want to watching something other than comedy/action/thriller but it's hard knowing where to start! But now I have a ready made list :)

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  3. It's interesting how some films stay with you, I remember Babette's Feast from years ago and I still think about it.

    The pictures posted are interesting, they accentuate the smallness of the children by the much larger surroundings. It looks quite intriguing.
    xxx

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  4. wow, great screen shots!

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  5. I haven't heard of this, but the visuals are stunning and the plot sounds intruiging. Thanks for sharing!
    -indigo

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  6. Very nice post ! I love the pictures !

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  7. It is on instant play on netflix so hopefully I will get a chance to watch it this weekend.
    xoxo
    starship narcissus

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  8. I hadn't heard of the film but the screenshots are beautiful - haunting even. The one with the girl at the window reminds me of a scene in the film A Little Princess that makes me cry everytime.

    And I didn't have time to comment on your last post - I love that peacock feather clip!

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  9. great pictures! love your blog!

    http://hauteandfauxie.blogspot.com/

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  10. This looks way too dark and sad for me! But the photos are gorgeous.

    iamemmamusic.blogspot.com

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  11. looks good!
    it appears we have similar taste. joan of arc and faust are amazing. when i first saw them, it was hard to believe how ahead of their time they were. i'll add this to my netflix queue.

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I'd love to hear your thoughts!