Set in rural Spain just after Franco's victory in the Spanish Civil War, Victor Erice's debut film The Spirit Of The Beehive is a remarkable story of a child's innocence amid post-war traumas. Ana Torrent gives a stunning performance as a young girl adjusting to the new Fascist rule. When a travelling cinema comes to town and shows the Boris Karloff film Frankenstein, Ana starts to worry about the fate of the Monster. Goaded on by her sister, who tells her the Monster lives on the edge of the village, she finally summons up enough courage to visit the house. She discovers a fugitive on the run who becomes a surrogate for the Monster of her imagining, and she naively tries to protect him from the villagers and police.
Directed by
Víctor Erice
Written by
Víctor Erice (screenplay); Víctor Erice (story); Ángel Fernández Santos (screenplay); Ángel Fernández Santos (story); Francisco J. Querejeta (writer).
Starring
Fernando Fernán Gómez (Fernando); Teresa Gimpera (Teresa); Ana Torrent (Ana); Isabel Tellería (Isabel); Ketty de la Cámara (Milagros, la criada); Estanis González (Guardia civil); José Villasante (The Frankenstein Monster); Juan Margallo (The Fugitive); Laly Soldevila (Doña Lucía, the teacher); Miguel Picazo (The Doctor). Please contact SFC to add other cast members and characters.
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