I don't think we have a seperate thread dedicate to this film yet, but we're going to need it! I am getting very excited for this film, and hope it opens near me soon. Getting alot of love from audiences, critics, awards groups, and it just looks like a genuinely imaginative and well crafted film.

I'm assuming its release next week will be here, but one never knows.

Dig up Andrew's review, since he saw this quite some time ago: http://www.worldofkj.com/reviews/andrew ... 201001.php

As a long time supporter of the Foreign and Independent Film sub-forum (actually I was even a contributor way back before it got demoted from full Forum status), I would be happy to add a copy of my review:

The odd thing is, when the International Film Festival was running I accidentally picked up a copy of Spirit of the Beehive, which was apparently a major influence of Del Toro's. I didn't manage to see it for the festival, and returned the Dvd. Now I need to reserve it once more, but its going to be interesting to trace Del Toro's cinematic influences. I'd never even heard of Beehive before a few weeks ago, and now it seems to be everywhere.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0070040/

Its a 1973 film by Victor Erice in which two young girls in Spain (1940's), set out to find Frankenstein.

I'll reserve my firther discussion of Pan's until I see it, but Bradley you bring up the point of reality being the true tale of manufactured monsters, which is interesting when one thinks of the history of Frankenstein, and what he meant as the product of ambition gone astray.

I'm excited to watch both movies, and hopefully will be able to very soon.

Did you see The Devil's Backbone, Dolce? If not, you should do before watching Pan's Labyrinth, as it shares some ideas and is also set during the same time period.

Erice is Spain's Terrence Malick, as he has done only 3 movies and a short in the last 33 years. Because of your love of painting you should watch his film El Sol Del Membrillo, as it's about the process of the creation of a painting.

Yes, I've seen Devil's Backbone. It actually began quite strongly, and was very rich in ambience. I thought it was a great story about haunting (literally) and national trauma (all those orphans) at the time. But the ending completely fell apart, and left a bad taste in my mouth. I wish del Toro hadn't tried to wrap up the explanation so neatly at the end. The more mythic elements of the movie (and the bomb) were ruined in some way for me. I think del Toro got a little lazy with the filming (space, color, rythm) near the end too. But I did like the first half of the movie, so I am hoping Pan's delivers where Devil faultered.

Its funnny you mention Membrillo, because I started reading up on Erice a day or two ago, and he's even been compared (online) to Caravaggio for his treatment of the screen like a canvas. I know Derek Jarman was always related to Caravaggio (in part because he did a docu-drama about him) and because he came out of formal painting (I think even showed at the Guggenheim). And I love Jarman, so I'm thinking the Erice descriptions really are right up my alley, and have tweaked my interests. I put Spirit of the Beehive on hold and am hoping to get it before this weekend. I want to watch Beehive and Pan's Labyrinth back-to-back.

You've seen Membrillo? How about Beehive? Also, have you seen Pan's Labyrinth yet?

Membrillo I haven't seen, but I have read about it and watch parts on TV.

Beehive I saw when I was like 9-10, and I don't remember liking it at that age, but it's always mentioned by critics in Spain as one of Spain's all time top 10 movies.

Pan's Labyrinth I will watch when it comes out on DVD. Because of work I have it hard to find time to go to the movies, so I catch them later on DVD. That's why I usually don't participate too much in recent movies discussions, as when I finally get to see the movie, 3-4 months have passed since it opened.

Btw, even if it has nothing to do with the Spanish Civil War, have you seen Del Toro's Cronos? I think there are two Del Toro's, the Hollywood one (Blade 2, Hellboy, Mimic) and the spanish language one (Devil's, Pan's and Cronos). Although all of his movies can be categorized in the fantasy/horror genre, the spanish spoken ones seem to have a more personal touch, probably influenced by childhood experiences, dreams and fantasies, as there are always kids involved.

Spirit of the Beehive arrived just in time! Just picked it up now, and will be watching it tonight or tomorrow night. I'll also be watching Pan's Labyrinth tonight.

superb movie

A+

Yep, saw it today. I don't know if I'm ready to give it quite the glowing love everyone else has, but that's only because I've seen alot of movies with kind of similar themes. I was also a bit weired out near the end when Del Toro's "Hellboy" past rears its head and Capitan sows his own lips (looks very plastic and fake, and I'm not quite sure why it was included in such a fashion in the movie). I did really like the rest of it aesthetically, I loved the dreamworld, and it had the simple yet strong tale of asking how far one will go in the name of their own self-promotion. Where should the line be drawn? Which clearly is meant to be a comment on the war, etc.

A-


For some reason, after watching this, Very Long Engagement went up in my estimations, and Life is Beautiful (which was already sinking) dropped even further down.

A quick review from the article I'm writing:

3. <i>Pan’s Labyrinth</i>: Pan’s Labyrinth is the story of mental escapism in times of crushing inhumanity. Only reality is so suffocating it invades even the fantasy world of a little girl, forcing her to stand by her morals even in the land she has created for herself. When a young girl learns she is the princess of a fantastic realm, she goes on a haunting treasure hunt through the grounds of a 1940’s oppressive Spanish general. In the background is the horror of man, and in the foreground is a horrific decision she must make in order to assume her queenship. Pan’s Labyrinth is very simple. The good guys are all good, and the bad guys are all bad, and no point are any of the individuals truly well developed to the sense an anti-war movie demands. But the dream world is rich, and Pan’s is well crafted. It is a step in the right direction of merging digital effects and social conscience in a way that updates the conservative tendencies of past works such as the Lord of the Rings trilogy. Pan’s Labyrinth is an incredibly well told and visually stunning story that tried, and successfully bridged multiple genres.

I still want to see this

I don't want to go into the city to see it, cause that either means the train or paying 20 bucks for parking.

I dont want to do either.

Praying for an expansion to my theater in tooowwn! It DID have Memento!!!
!!!!

Let me know what you think of Beehive too, Dolce.

WOOOOOOOT!! It's opening this friday at my local theater!

I saw it, and it is now my top movie of 2006.

Hey Mr. Price, I can weigh in now on Spirit of the Beehive. After having watched it, my estimations of Pan have dropped a little further. Maybe to B+ instead. Not because I think they can be directly compared (though I noticed certain themes like the pocket watch come up in both), but because what I liked most about Pans was the theme, not the style. And the theme is much more complexly handled in Beehive. I basically thought Beehive was the smarter movie, and Pans may have been the nicer movie (the more entertaining one to watch) but I still think Del Toro went a little overboard with the lips sowing scene at the end. Thats when it crossed over from being a new handling of an older story to being a sort of special effects, comic book feel. That part wasn't so fun for me, because I felt the more 'fake' and magical looking moments should have been confined to that little girl's mind, and not to what was supposed to be the 'reality.'

I'm not sure if that makes sense, but I liked it when the fantastical elements were confined to the girl's mind, as her escapism that slowly became darker and more doubtful when the 'real world' horrors seeped into it. This is what Beehive does quite well, showing how these fun little girls have darker and darker experiences (and play darker and darker games...jumping through fire, searching for Frankenstein, faking their own violent deaths) as the real world seeps into their understanding and vision.

Its not really a direct comparison, but the more I think about it, the more 'simple' Pans was considering it was an adult-oriented movie about war, violence, and fantasy, etc. I still enjoyed it, and I definately enoyed watching it more than Beehive, but its going to be Beehive I think about and cite a year or two or three from now..not Pans.

Your memory of it, Mr. Price, is probably right. Its a very sort of minimalist movie. I think maybe if you watch it now you'll get alot more out of it (I wouldn't have liked watching it as a kid either) but it definately requires pro-active reading. You'll only get alot out of it if you 'overanalyze' it, heh.

So I just saw it.

Only A+ of 2006. Only the second one in two years.

Amazing. I left the theater speechless and amazed. I was hyped for it so I expected to be let down...but wow.

So few posts! *sad*

Yep, top film of 2006 pretty easily. (Want to see Volver though, but I doubt it could be better).

This is my favorite movie (A+ movies) since...oh man. Hmm. Probably Nightmare Before Christmas. Whoa. Thinking about it, I wouldn't give Moulin Rouge!, Rocky Horror Picture Show, or A Clockwork Orange an A+ grade, all A's easily though. So yea, this film almost tops my favorites list. Only movies that compare are Nightmare Before Christmas and The Little Mermaid.

However, Sweeney Todd is a VERY likely candidate to top my favorites list. My favorite director, it's a musical (favorite genre), and my favorite cast by far.

Here is the review thread: http://www.worldofkj.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=25495.

Yeah, ok, so my opinion has gone up. This is one of the bst films ever. Really tempting to pout it as my favorite, but it still lands at three, though it nearly overthrow RotK for second. So dark and exhilerating with a sad ending and a villain who is so ill-witted that it makes him the ultimate baddy. I would've liked to see more of the fantasy world but it was so unique watching the torture that it was still amazing, and it was best picture worthy. I think it should've swept the oscars. Too bad it didn't. Beautfiul score (my favorite of all I've heard) and fabulous set pieces.
A+++

It's brilliant as a mainstream film, however it's not much for an arthouse film (what one wold typically expect of a foreign film that makes it over to the U.S.)

So yeah, it definitely gets an A from me, but only in the same way I'd give Jaws or Jurassic Park an A. It's not A-grade festival stuff.

I have a hard time deciding whether this or Volver is my top flick of 2006.

They're my top 2 of 2006 as well, after a few viewings Volver just comes out on top for me.

This is in my top 10 of all time.

This is my number one of all time.

Oh, ofcourse. You just have to 1 up me don't you?