At what the symbolism of the beehive is? I can't come up with a good theory, only that the apartment was a beehive (check the pattern on the glass back door) and the family were the bees, and had all those attributes the father described the bees as having...of which I can't remember.
"You can't always get what you want, but if you try sometimes you might find you get what you need"
One part in the film.. when the father talks about the bees mechanicaly going around their busniess, etc. This made me think of any totalitarian dictatorship government, the rulers want the civilians simply to work, contribute to the economy and not express any idea contrary to the government's views.. in other words self-sacrafice. In my opinion the beehive.. is a mechanical structure, regulated by concrete rule.. something that any dictator would love... lack of change, devoid of critiscism and oposition. The SPIRIT, is the will and inteligence to WANT to CHANGE your sorroundng or your conditions... or it is the action of being aware of something you think should be different or somethign that you realise as being wrong (bees doublessly lack this ability so the title to me is ironic)... it is the realisation that you want something different. Now if we look at what time and place this film is made it lines up well with my ideas.. that the spirit of the beehive is a concious mind awakening in the midst of a controlled stated that opresses people's expression.
Spirit of the Beehive: Original thought coming out of a seemingly mechanical institution. The beehive is a place where no one can think as an individual.. and the spirit is the part that HAS to think as an individual (history major could equate this to the conditions in Spain under which this film was made perhaps).
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Honeybees are the most social of insects and their society depends upon co-operation, not coercion. The film itself presents a stunted, unproductive village with its adults traumatized by the recent civil war and functioning through fear. Teresa the wife is locked in her own memories and unresponsive to her husband. Fernando has constructed a crystal beehive in order to study his bees and is mystified by their erratic, self-destructive behavior in this alien environment. Only the children are open to the wider world. And only Ana is attempting to create an emotional narrative and a sense of empowerment for herself. Not for nothing is the fact that the entire family is never shone together as an unbroken unit. This is a deeply sad film that ends disquietingly
with Ana poised between two worlds.
Very insightful, Gregory. Thank you for sharing that.
share There is a great book written by a wonderful Spanish writer,Camillo Jose Cela, that is called "The Beehive",talking about Spanish society during the dictatorship.I recommend it to everyone.
Also,I think it is of some importance to know that Frankenstein's monster's appearence in the 40's movie is based on a drawing by Francisco Goya and it is actually the portrayal of a man into an asylum.You must not forget that it is very common in totalitarian regimes that the enemies of the regime are tortured or given shock-treatment until they go crazy or are just put in the asylum after being horribly torured.The story of the movie takes place right after the end of the civil war and of course this is the worst time for "losers".