Films Studies: The Spirit of the Beehive and Cinema Paradiso
FILM 1051 - Introduction to Film and Media Studies
University of Cincinnati
November 4, 2023
Brief Overview of Films
The Spirit of the Beehive#(1973) and#Cinema Paradiso(1988), shot by
Víctor Erice and Giuseppe Tornatore respectively, refer to the
representation of the impact of cinema on children and the perception
of the world through their lenses. The first film is a story about a little
girl, Ana, who is impressed by the famous#Frankenstein#movie
directed by James Whale and the horror stories about the spirit
whispered by her older sister.
Ana persistently visits an abandoned house in the middle of a fields,
sincerely believing that the ghost will be there. The parents have little
interest in their child: The mother consistently writes to one of the
Republicans who had once been her fiancé, while the father works in
the apiary all day long. The girl accidentally meets a soldier who fled
from the persecution of the Republican forces, and Ana comes to the
conclusion that he is the very monster that she waited for for so long.
However, after the soldier is shot, she becomes shocked and afraid.
The second film focuses on a Sicilian boy, Salvatore (Toto), who
enjoys flashing back to his childhood and youth. Being a famous
director, he learns from his girlfriend that his mother called and is
informed that someone named Alfredo is dead. In his reminiscence,
Salvatore remembers several stories of the 1940s and the 1950s.
Introduction
These two films involve beautiful stories told about the time of
childhood, which is remembered forever by all five human senses and
even a kind of sixth sense. Cinema is represented as a real spirit of the
hive that attracts and frightens at the same moment yet helps to
overcome the power of time. Although children grow up and become
adults, their childhood memories, perceptions, and beliefs remain
intact, providing a strong basis for their spiritual lives that in fact
cannot be overestimated due to its integral nature in every human.
This paper aims to compare the mentioned films based on their key
theme of cinema’s perception through children. First of all, it seems
appropriate to provide historical and cultural background in order to
achieve an in-depth understanding of the messages conveyed by both
directors. After that, it is necessary to compare the films by discussing
the ways the cinema affects children and several other factors that lead
to the formation of their worldview. Furthermore, the discussion of
interweaved reality and fantasy will be conducted. Finally, the review
of filming and directing techniques will allow for a completion of a
comprehensive comparison of the films.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Historical and Cultural Background
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the action takes place in 1940 in one of
the Castilian villages of Spain. The film metaphorically ridicules the
times of the dictatorship of General Franco, reflecting the horrors of
the era. Precisely speaking, a new leader took a course on the alliance
with Hitler and Mussolini, thereby organizing the inner life of the
country according to the example of Fascist countries (Payne 127).
The slogans of this authoritarian regime were focused on controlled
economy, corporatism, and social harmonization. In everyday life, the
so-called Roman salute was introduced: It became obligatory to show
a raised right arm with an open hand (Payne 354). The domestic
policy was characterized by a relentless struggle against the
Communists. Franco became the Generalissimo and declared himself
a Caudillo (a leader).
In its turn,#Cinema Paradisois shot with the background of the 1940s
and the 1950s in Sicilia. This period is also characterized by the
alliance of Italy with Fascist Germany and the establishment of the
dictatorial regime. The Nazi oppressors launched a terror in the
country with mass executions of hostages and deserters who refused to
join their army (De Grand 50). Tens of thousands of people were
forcibly deported to Germany for forced labor. At this point, the
invaders had to encounter the resistance movement. However, it is
rather significant to pinpoint that none of the films involves political
or military scenes, yet they are guessed by the context. For instance,
Ana’s father repeatedly compares the beehive with a real-life flow, or
the adult life of Salvatore represents several political disputes through
which an observer comprehends the time period of the film and,
hence, the political and cultural background. Baetens states:
The frequent use of allegorical representations and children as main
characters are two well-known “symptoms” of artistic critique in
difficult political situations. In#The Spirit of the Beehive#is clearly such
an allegory, and the framing of an allegory through the eyes of a child
helps keep it as vague as possible. (60)
Furthermore, these hidden signs allow for understanding the message
the directors wanted to convey.
Cinema as a Tool of Children’s Perception of Life
It goes without saying that both films involve several themes and
conflicts. However, this essay will explore the power of children’s
attitudes and reminiscences in their life. The complication begins with
the cinema – Paradiso and an unnamed rural touring cinema. If Ana
watches#Frankenstein,#Toto remembers several old films he watched
in his childhood and matches them to the events of his life. Barnett
states that in the#Cinema Paradiso, “We see the people go to the
cinema to dream: by watching great movies, they forget all their
problems” (par. 14).
Toto perceives the cinema as a true kingdom of dreams and a paradise
where they find their immortality, nostalgic emotions about
irretrievably gone events, and good humor and love toward enchanted
naive reactions (screenshots one and two) (Schmerheim 132). The
mentioned attitude is quite evident as, after all, every person came
from childhood as well as cinema that was watched in the early years.
The movies sometimes can be more real than one’s life—even a
burned and dilapidated movie theater still looks like the abode of
memory with never disappearing spiritual beings that are much more
alive and fulfilling than the life of the adult Salvatore, who is painfully
dissatisfied with the way he lives and behaves.
Similar to the above film,#The Spirit of the Beehiveattracts a spectator
by its penetration of childhood. What is missing in enthusiastic Don
José from a lesson of anatomy? It is, indeed, something incredibly
significant, namely, eyes that refer to the children’s eyes full of
curiosity, like a solitary, bottomless well among arable lands. The
world around Ana is endless yet is limited by a view (Arata 30). It is
full of images and visual aids, including a house, watches, light, and a
poisonous mushroom. Imagination animates objects and objectified
spirits, while everything leaves a trace in the mind of the little girl:
things, people, and spirits. The magnificent Ana with huge brown eyes
is a symbol of the deceived childhood with a strong faith in the future
still. It seems that the offender appears thanks to the imagination of
the girl. Thus, three points of view on this person can be
distinguished: the artist believes in his creation, the society classifies
the deserter as a criminal, and Ana believes in a good spirit. The
perceptions of the girl become a symbol and expression of the whole
picture that is free from unnecessary ambitions and social clichés. Ana
believes in life despite the death and unselfish help instead of
punishment.
Reality and Fantasy (Human Subconscious)
The observation of death can be seen as one of the main driving
factors in both films. Cinema acts as a repository of the memory of
these children, promoting stream of consciousness that, in turn,
integrates reality and fantasy. It is also essential to pinpoint that the
seemingly unimportant characters of the films present some thought-
provoking roles. For instance, Toto’s friend Alfredo suffered from the
fact that he was not the director of the film and did not realize that
without him, a film piece would be just a thing on the shelf. Toto
comprehends, mostly unconsciously, that it is Alfredo and his work
that make viewers a little different and powerfully affect him.
It is essential to note the fact that Ana’s position toward cinema is
more serious than that of Toto and is also supported by her sister
Isabel, who tells her sister that the monster shown in the movie is real
and that everyone willing to communicate with him should just close
his or her eyes and imagine. Furthermore, Isabel theatricalizes a scene
of the attack to frighten Ana. In effect, the little girl strongly believes
in the existence of a spirit. After the so-called spirit was killed, Ana
experiences shock and cannot understand what had happened. On
screenshots three and four, one can note that Ana tries to call him, and
he comes merely in her imagination. Thus, the director depicts the
interlacement of fantasy and reality.
Likewise, the film by Erice is something more than a metaphorical
description of a single society. Behind the sophisticated
interpretations, it is possible to miss the point: an amazing naturalness
with which the little Ana acquires a mystical and cinematic experience
(Miles 198). If the children in the film are opposed to adults, then the
film is opposed to all the isolation and madness that is akin to adults
and the insight into the true nature of the world. This film is slightly
melancholic and thoughtful, multi-layered, and metaphorical; it tells
about the life of people, but only at their edges, by comparing them
with the bees that constantly work in a beehive. It seems that a real
life exists only in childhood, according to the film. In childhood, there
are so many amazing, unsolved, and even mystical issues, while
adulthood turns to a honey bee that should serve the beehive, having
no time and desire to enjoy the life.
At the same time, both Ana and Toto are affected by their parents, like
any other child. The parents are like shadows for these children
because they are looking inward and totally deprived of basic
opportunities of expression. According to Hope, “One function of the
film’s outwardly nostalgic ambient was to provide a reassuring though
temporary refugee against disorienting effects of social and cultural
change” (69). When the war that they regarded as a nightmare ended,
many returned to their homes and gave birth to children, but
something inside of them was severely crippled—that is why they
seem absent. As a result, where adults are killing each other in the
heat of the war, hunting for deserters, and living in the captivity of the
stillborn ideas of their pasts, children become carriers of a spirit.
Someone can blame the directors in the excessive desire for
manipulation of spectators’ emotions—others, in a slightly predictable
script. However, these are exceptionally representative Italian and
Spanish films with completely astonishing endings.
Filming and Directing Techniques
Tornatore shot his film as a kind of requiem for a dying cinema and
theaters. Some critics “read the#Cinema Paradisoas postmodern
nostalgia, offering a conventional pop-cultural version of history
instead of a more genuine relation to the experience of the past” (Galt
163). In those years, the production of the Italian Empire of Dreams
fell to some very deplorable numbers, and the director decided to
remind the public how it was a decade ago, in his childhood (Galt
159). The paradox is that this film turned out to be so successful that
the director did not dare to disclose the true causes of the creation of
this film.
The structure of the film is based on the reception of flashbacks. The
very tone is sentimental, touching, romantic, and light. The childish,
enthusiastic fantasies are confused with childhood memories and
intertwined with the uncomfortable reality of the poor Italian
province. The actor performing as Toto, a ten-year-old Salvatore
Cascio, was found by the director among many other boys that he
viewed in Sicilian schools. Perhaps the decisive factor in favor of his
selection were his huge dark eyes, reminiscent of children of
neorealist films. Thus, the atmosphere of Tornatore’s film is
undoubtedly nostalgic—a sad memory of those times when people
went to the movies and when there was good and varied cinema able
to capture the young, pure souls and when both the filmmakers and
the audience were fanatically devoted to the cinema. Speaking of
genre, it is possible to claim that this is drama, where sad and funny
and the sublime and daily are inextricably merged together as in real
life. The director takes hold of the plethora of opportunities by using
appropriate shooting and filming techniques involving light, sound,
focus, and others.
In#The Spirit of the Beehive, the world is filled with the tense glow
that implicitly “electrifies” the frame. The scenes of interiors are filled
with honey tones with viscous light flowing through the windows and
echoing the shape of honeycomb. The scene presented on screenshot
five is an especially noticeable one: The face of Ana is lighted by
either externally pouring light or somewhere from inside that
coincides with the color of the beehive. This color scheme penetrates a
view deep into the mind of the main character and allows for feeling
the same emotions yet only to some extent.
It should be noted that “the script is laconic (many of the best
sequences are entirely silent), and the shooting style says it all” (“The
Spirit of the Beehive” par. 32). The elliptical film structure, where
some points of the narrative are deliberately omitted, appeals to a
viewer’s engagement so that he or she can develop the meanings. In
the latter, there is no shortage; for example, the dual image of the
monster implies sophisticated yet clearly ambiguous interpretation—
some people interpret him as a symbol of Franco’s Spain, while others
consider this image as one that is devoted to victims of the dictatorial
regime. Almost ethnographic sketches of life in the Castilian
countryside and an apparently filmed live viewing of the#Whale#film
in a makeshift movie theater complete the monotonous rhythms of
interiors. The frames are static and balanced, and that also gives them
the properties of picturesque. Erice paid precise attention to the
texture of objects, their shape, and the distribution of light and shade,
which specifies the number of objects, filling them with symbolic
power.
Conclusion
In conclusion, it should be emphasized that both films represent
children and their attitudes towards the cinema that, in turn, becomes a
world of dream and a source of reflection of a real life. Both films
have similar cultural and historical post-war-time backgrounds that
caused apathy and emptiness in parents and caused their children to
admire cinema movies. However, the pivotal difference between those
films is that#The Spirit of the Beehiveis more pessimistic and
touching, while#Cinema Paradisoreveals more optimistic yet lost
images. In any way, both films are excellent examples of the
reflection of childhood beliefs and perceptions related to the world
where reality and fantasy are interconnected and blurred.
Works Cited
Arata, Luis O. “‘I Am Ana’: The Play of the Imagination in the Spirit
of the Beehive.”#Quarterly Review of Film Studies, vol. 8, no. 2, 2009,
pp. 27–33.
Baetens, Jan. “‘Transmedial Aesthetics Is Ordinary’: Some Remarks
on Victor Erice’s ‘The Spirit of the Beehive.”#Kritika Kultura, vol. 17,
no. 2, 2011, pp. 57–69.
Barnett, Laura. “Salvatore Cascio: ‘Cinema Paradiso Is about the
Power of Dreams’.”#The Guardian, Guardian News and Media. Web.
De Grand, Alexander.#Fascist Italy and Nazi Germany: The “Fascist”
Style of Rule. Psychology Press, 2004.
Galt, R. “Italy’s Landscapes of Loss: Historical Mourning and the
Dialectical Image in Cinema Paradiso, Mediterraneo and Il
Postino.”#Screen, vol. 43, no. 2, 2002, pp. 158–173.
Hope, William.#Italian Cinema: New Directions. Peter Lang, 2005.
Miles, Robert J. “Reclaiming Revelation: Pan’s Labyrinth and The
Spirit of the Beehive.”#Quarterly Review of Film and Video, vol. 28,
no. 3, 2011, pp. 195–203.
Payne, Stanley G.#The Franco Regime, 1936–1975. University of
Wisconsin Press, 2011.
