Spain, year zero In his full-length debut, without which the updated lists of “best films ever” rarely do, Victor Erise turns to 1940, the year of his birth. When mentioning the first year of the Nazi rule, the historian will draw your attention to the general desolation and devastation, and the conspiracy theorist will necessarily point to the connection between the names of Franco and Frankenstein.
But the creative impulse, in indifference throwing minute attention unknown where the train of political upheavals, is carried away to a remote Spanish village. To see the birth of a new universe in the dark eyes of six-year-old Ana. Only their childishly innocent and childishly piercing look is able to contain the fullness of the suffering world.
"Why did the monster kill the girl?" asks Ana's older sister after a screening of James Whale's "Frankenstein." How could this frightening giant, playing with wild flowers, throw a little girl into the river?
An alarming question reveals to Ana the meaninglessness of the dilapidated dying house - this empty hive with windows glazed with hexagons of cells. This question puzzles Ana swarm of bees, mindlessly moving in their incomprehensible world. A disturbing question irritates the stupidity of Sister Isabelle's games. It, like the most dangerous mushroom, comes across a girl while walking with her father in the woods. The incessant buzz of the train this question deprives Ana even of the opportunity to sleep.
A terrible and desirable meeting with the “monster” is a childish and correct response to the merciless roar of the surrounding world. To stop the senselessness of the hive, you need to offer an apple in response to the barrel of a gun. But if the Gift suddenly turns into a Bullet, all that remains is to run. Disappear in the depths of the night forest trails, where no fungus is no more dangerous than its own reflection, which is seen in cold dark water.
"The Spirit of the Hive" - the terrifying discovery of the ubiquitous and uncompromising Death - ends with hope, the soft moonlight penetrating Ana's room. The silence of the night, which hides the endless noise of the day hive, greatly enhances the whisper of the child’s call, which can make up for even the sounds of the train. "It's me, Ana."
10 out of 10
Original