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Information
- A.k.a.
- The Spirit of the Beehive
- Year
- 1973
- Runtime
- 98 min.
- Director
- Víctor Erice
- Genres
- Drama, Fantasy
- Rating *
- 8.0
- Votes *
- 13,363
- Checks
- 4,487
- Favs
- 635
- Dislikes
- 48
- Favs/checks
- 14.2% (1:7)
- Favs/dislikes
- 13:1
Top comments
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Siskoid
Spanish director Víctor Erice's The Spirit of the Beehive has to be part of the inspiration for Pan's Labyrinth. It just has to be. Set during the Spanish Civil War, it stars a couple of young girls who, after seeing Universal's Frankenstein, reimagine him as an immortal spirit and come to believe he resides in an abandoned barn. For the older girl, the world of spirits seems an excuse to give in to dark impulses. For the younger - whose eyes will SWALLOW YOUR SOUL, gosh - it is a mystery she herself creates in trying to understand death. Certainly, there's a lot of tension in the film just from the girls putting themselves in odd kind of dangers, both physical and spiritual. The film operates like poetry, with images overlapping and resonating, but does not easily give up its secrets. It's gorgeous, quiet, intriguing, at times eerie, purposefully lyrical, and for all its art and spare image making, still captivates. Del Toro fans would do well to check it out, but it's a recommendation I extend to all true cinephiles. 5 years 6 months ago -
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Friends
Login to see which of your friends have seen this movie!In 21 official lists
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This movie ranks #2 in Caimán's Top Spanish Films
Caimán's Top Spanish Fil…
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This movie ranks #3 in Nickel Odeón's Best Spanish Films
Nickel Odeón's Best Span…
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This movie ranks #22 in iCheckMovies's 1970s Top 100
iCheckMovies's 1970s Top…
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This movie ranks #27 in Empire's The 100 Best Films of World Cinema
Empire's The 100 Best Fi…
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This movie ranks #46 in Butler's Fantasy Cinema: Impossible Worlds on Screen
Butler's Fantasy Cinema:…
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This movie ranks #54 in Stanley Kubrick, Cinephile
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This movie ranks #67 in Akira Kurosawa's A Dream Is a Genius
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This movie ranks #81 in Sight & Sound's The Greatest Films of All Time
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This movie ranks #93 in Empire's The 500 Greatest Movies of All Time
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This movie ranks #112 in TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest Films
TSPDT's 1,000 Greatest F…
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This movie ranks #186 in iCheckMovies's Most Favorited
iCheckMovies's Most Favo…
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This movie ranks #224 in Harvard's Suggested Film Viewing: Narrative Films
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This movie ranks #297 in The Guardian's 1000 Films to See Before You Die
The Guardian's 1000 Film…
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This movie ranks #345 in BFI's 360 Classic Feature Films Project
BFI's 360 Classic Featur…
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This movie ranks #362 in Halliwell's Top 1000: The Ultimate Movie Countdown
Halliwell's Top 1000: Th…
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This movie ranks #390 in The Criterion Collection
The Criterion Collection
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This movie ranks #407 in Roger Ebert's Great Movies
Roger Ebert's Great Movi…
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This movie ranks #559 in 1001 Movies You Must See Before You Die
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This movie ranks #767 in David Thomson's Have You Seen?
David Thomson's Have You…
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This movie ranks #811 in The New York Times's Book of Movies
The New York Times's Boo…
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This movie ranks #863 in Time Out's 1000 Films to Change Your Life
Time Out's 1000 Films to…
863