Do not be fooled by the title – Bee Season has nothing to do with the stinging insects, and surprisingly very little to do with spelling bees.
The directors of The Deep End, Scott McGehee and David Siegel, made this film centered around family dysfunction and spiritual rejuvenation. The religious context specifically involves the Kabbalah – Jewish mysticism – and the ability for average human beings to “heal” the world through selflessness.
Such thought-provoking ideas, supported by stunning visuals, are admirable; however, the film fails to hold the viewer’s attention or earn sympathy for its characters.
Based on Myla Goldberg’s novel, Bee Season tells the story of a Jewish family struggling with spiritual uncertainty. Saul Naumann (Richard Gere, Chicago) is a Judaism scholar who unknowingly pressures his family to fulfill his expectations. His wife, Miriam (Juliette Binoche, Chocolat), a Jewish convert with a mysterious past, quietly descends into mental illness.
Their young daughter Eliza (newcomer Flora Cross), once seemingly ignored by her father, suddenly becomes the apple of his eye when she wins the district spelling bee. Saul becomes obsessively interested in his daughter’s newfound talents and tells her that she can “reach the ear of God” through words.
While Eliza is coached by her father in spelling and its spiritual potential, her brother Aaron (Max Minghella) – the former family prodigy – rebels against his father and becomes a Hare Krishna devotee.
The words “Hare Krishna” are part of a mantra that has been well known in India for 500 years. This mantra is from an ancient text called the Kali Santaran Upanishad. The word “Hare” refers to the energy of the Lord, and the word “Krishna” refers to the Lord himself.
At the center of the film is an idea in the Kabbalah known as “tikkun olam,” which translates in Hebrew as “repairing the world.” The belief is God tried to place his divine light in a vessel, which subsequently shattered. The shards of the vessel represent the shattered pieces of the world, which can only be repaired to “hold the light” if people perform selfless deeds.
Eliza’s ability to arrange letters into words symbolizes the rejoining of the shattered fragments. The directors use beautiful imagery to make this point. When the girl is struggling to spell “origami,” she closes her eyes and a paper bird shows her how. When she is unsure of the final letter in “macrame”, suddenly every “e” in the room, from Exit signs to Welcome banners, begins to glow.
The visuals are effective and one of the film’s better aspects. Unfortunately, it relies so heavily on visuals that the character development is lost. We are provided so little background on the Naumann family that it becomes difficult to care about their problems. Too much of the movie is spent on visual metaphors rather than real human emotion.
The result: a bored, apathetic audience.
In a nutshell, Bee Season is about letters and God. Eliza finds she can repair her family through selflessness and, yes, spelling. In doing so, she “repairs the world” a tiny bit. Although the movie sometimes feels like an infomercial for the Kabbalah, it ultimately presents the message religion is about self-sacrifice, not self-interest.
If you are a spiritual person, you will most likely be moved by such a message. If you are intolerant of religious suggestion, you may find moments of the film unbearable. For everyone in between, you will at least find pleasure in the unique visuals.
Contact reporter Heather Seebach at diversions@dbk.umd.edu
