Filmmaker Guillermo del Toro has finally made his “Frankenstein,” a movie he’s been trying to make since he could pick up a camera (and almost did with a false start in 2008).
“The Modern Prometheus” changed del Toro’s life by teaching him to love monsters. His “Frankenstein” revises the book to merge his affection for Mary Shelley’s novel and the James Whale “Frankenstein” films. But there’s another story that guides del Toro’s love for “Frankenstein” — “The Spirit of the Beehive,” a 1973 Spanish film directed by Víctor Erice. In an interview about “The Spirit of the Beehive” with the Criterion Collection, del Toro called it “one of [his] top three films of all time.”
“Whatever I do in life, two shadows are cast upon my own,” del Toro proclaimed. “One is James Whale’s ‘Frankenstein,’ and one is Víctor Erice’s ‘Spirit of the Beehive,’ and they are both one and the same.”
“Beehive” is set in a rural Spanish village in 1940, immediately after the Spanish Civil War where the victory of Francisco Franco’s Nationalists put the country under authoritarian rule for decades. In this village, life is provincial; the opening of the movie depicts a truck entering the town, bringing film reels to give the children some needed fantasy. The film screened is the 1931 “Frankenstein” starring Boris Karloff as the Creature. Six-year-old Ana (Ana Torrent) is transfixed by the film and it warps her young perception of reality. Her older sister Isabel (Isabel Tellería) convinces her that the spirit of the Creature lurks their village at night.
“‘Frankenstein’ came to my life at that age, and when I was a kid, I transformed in the same way,” del Toro said to Criterion. In “Beehive,” Ana even sees “Frankenstein” dubbed into Spanish, del Toro’s native tongue.
The Spirit of the Beehive shaped Guillermo del Toro alongside Frankenstein
The early movie house scenes from “Spirit of the Beehive” verge on being a picture within a picture. “Frankenstein” plays intercut with reaction shots from the children watching. The sequence shown almost in full is when the Creature meets a little girl who is unfrightened of him ― whom he then accidentally drowns as they sit by a lake. This scene, which in “Frankenstein” shows the innocent minds of children who’ve not yet been taught bigotry, foreshadows Ana’s fascination with the Creature and the movie.
Ana, who doesn’t grasp the difference between fact and fiction, is confused why the Creature killed the girl, and in turn why an angry mob killed him. Isabel first explains they aren’t dead because the movie is “fake,” but then teases that she’s seen the Creature’s spirit.
Unlike Ana, “Spirit of the Beehive” stays tethered to reality. It’s a melancholic picture with little dialogue, and a yellow tint that brings out the rustic appearance of the village. As for the “Beehive” portion of the title, Ana and Isabel’s father (Fernando Fernán Gómez) is shown tending to beehives, and several shots feature yellow honeycomb-patterned windows.
In 1973, Franco was still ruling Spain (he died in 1975). Could the beehives, a social structure of drones serving one authority, reflect this dictatorship? In a 1993 interview with “Sight & Sound” magazine, Erice noted “Spirit of the Beehive” made it past Spanish censors by speaking “artistic language,” not a didactic political message.
“Frankenstein” itself was subject to censorship, including the scene where the Creature kills the little girl. Some critics, including Roger Ebert, have inferred that the “Frankenstein” print screened within “Spirit of the Beehive” is a censored copy, hence it cutting away from the girl’s death.
The Spirit of the Beehive is the original Pan’s Labyrinth
Guillermo del Toro himself has made two child-led films about the Spanish Civil War: “Devil’s Backbone” and “Pan’s Labyrinth.” “Devil’s Backbone” is set in a Spanish orphanage during 1939. Like in “Spirit,” the war is present even while it’s far away; there is an undetonated bomb lying in the orphanage’s courtyard. The orphans think there’s a spirit among them; unlike Ana, they’re right.
“Pan’s Labyrinth” takes place in 1944 and follows Ofelia (Ivana Baquero), young stepdaughter of Francoist Captain Vidal (Sergi López). Like Ana, Ofelia keeps her attention locked onto fantasy (fairy tale storybooks, specifically). She also sees magical figures that no-one else does.
While “Pan’s Labyrinth” suggests this magic could be real, “Spirit of the Beehive” has but one surreal moment: Ana looks into a lake and sees the face of Frankenstein’s Monster (José Villasante) looking back. The Creature himself appears and sits by her, mirroring the lake scene from “Frankenstein.” The Creature is silent and eerie, unlike the expressive Faun (Doug Jones) in “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
While “Spirit” uses yellow colors to downplay the spark of life, gold is the fantasy world’s color in “Pan’s Labyrinth.” The scenes in “reality” have a rainy blue color, reflecting a line the film draws narratively between Ofelia and the adults. The latter plot follows Vidal’s hunt for a cell of Spanish Republicans, unaware some of his servants are aiding the rebels. In “Spirit of the Beehive,” Ana feeds a wounded Republican soldier because she thinks he’s the “Spirit.” The soldier carries a pocketwatch, much like Vidal does in “Pan’s Labyrinth.”
“Pan’s Labyrinth” is del Toro giving “The Spirit of the Beehive” a makeover after his own heart, the same way he’s now done with “Frankenstein.”
“Frankenstein” is streaming on Netflix.
