The Spirit of the Beehive

MFAH screens a Spanish classic

Comments (0) By Olivia Flores Alvarez Thursday, Oct 25 2007

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Frankenstein makes an appearance in Víctor Erice’s The Spirit of the Beehive (El Espíritu de la Colmena), but he isn’t the movie’s monster. That role is filled by Spain’s dictator, Francisco Franco. Considered one of the best Spanish films of the 1970s, Spirit of the Beehive follows two young girls, Ana (played by Ana Torrent) and her older sister Isabel (Isabel Telleria), as they maneuver through life under the totalitarian rule of Franco. Living in the countryside so that their father can study bees, the girls are captivated when they see Boris Karloff in Frankenstein at the town’s makeshift movie house. Confused and upset, six-year-old Ana is worried about what happened to the monster after the film; to appease her sister, Isabel tells her the monster is alive and well — and living in a nearby barn. When the girls find a wounded soldier hiding in the barn, the stage is set for Ana to live out her own dramatic tale. 7 p.m. Museum of Fine Arts, Houston, Brown Auditorium, 1001 Bissonnet. For tickets and information, call 713-639-7515 or visit www.mfah.org. $6 to $7.
Sat., Oct. 20, 7:30 p.m.; Sat., Oct. 27, 7 p.m., 2007