Víctor Erice

The Spirit of the Beehive

The Spirit of the Beehive

Criterion is proud to present Víctor Erice’s spellbinding The Spirit of the Beehive (El espíritu de la colmena), widely regarded as the greatest Spanish film of the 1970s. In a small Castilian village in 1940, in the wake of the country'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, 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.

Film Info

  • Spain
  • 1973
  • 99 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.66:1
  • Spanish
  • Spine #351

Special Features

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer
  • The Footprints of a Spirit, a documentary featuring director Víctor Erice, producer Elías Querejeta, coscreenwriter Ángel Fernández-Santos, and actor Ana Torrent
  • Víctor Erice in Madrid, an interview with the director
  • Interview with film scholar Linda Ehrlich
  • Interview with actor Fernando Fernán Gómez
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Paul Julian Smith

    New cover by Michael Boland

Purchase Options

Collector's Sets

Collector's Set

Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films

Essential Art House: 50 Years of Janus Films

DVD Box Set

50 Discs

$650.00

Out Of Print

Special Features

  • New, restored high-definition digital transfer
  • The Footprints of a Spirit, a documentary featuring director Víctor Erice, producer Elías Querejeta, coscreenwriter Ángel Fernández-Santos, and actor Ana Torrent
  • Víctor Erice in Madrid, an interview with the director
  • Interview with film scholar Linda Ehrlich
  • Interview with actor Fernando Fernán Gómez
  • New and improved English subtitle translation
  • PLUS: A new essay by film scholar Paul Julian Smith

    New cover by Michael Boland
The Spirit of the Beehive
Cast
Ana Torrent
Ana
Isabel Tellería
Isabel
Fernando Fernán Gómez
Fernando
Teresa Gimpera
Teresa
Queti de la Cámara
Milagros
Credits
Director
Víctor Erice
Cinematography
Luís Cuadrado
Editing
Pablo G. del Amo
Screenplay
Àngel Fernández Santos
Producer
Elías Querejeta
Screenplay
Víctor Erice

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