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6.6/10
Senior Film Conservator
A definitive 6.6/10 rating for a film that redefined the boundaries of cult cinema. The Keeper of the Bees remains a cornerstone of transgressive art.
Honestly, unless you are a die-hard fan of 1930s melodrama or just really love bees, you might find this one a bit of a slog. It’s for the folks who like their movies to feel like a dusty book pulled off a shelf in an attic. If you want high-octane thrills or sharp pacing, you will probably hate this. It moves at the speed of a tired horse.
There is this moment about halfway through where the protagonist just sits there, looking at a hive. He does it for a long time. Maybe too long. But there’s something about the way the light hits the trees in that scene that made me stop checking my phone.
It’s not as gritty or desperate as I Am a Fugitive from a Chain Gang, which came out a few years earlier. Instead, this movie feels like it’s trying to be a warm blanket. It fails sometimes, but the effort is kind of sweet.
The dialogue is thick with that old-fashioned, stagey delivery where everyone sounds like they are reading from a greeting card. It works, though. It feels like a campfire story that has been told one too many times.
I found myself wondering if they actually used real bees. Some of those shots are uncomfortably close. It’s not exactly The Light That Failed in terms of emotional gut-punches, but it holds its own.
The pacing is a total mess. Sometimes the movie races through a plot point like it’s being chased by a swarm, and then it just stops cold for five minutes of people walking through tall grass. It’s a bit jarring. I kind of liked it. It felt like the movie was deciding what it wanted to be as it went along.
There is a lot of staring off into the horizon. Everyone is always looking at the horizon in this one. Maybe they are waiting for the plot to show up? Who knows. It’s just a weird, quiet little film that doesn't ask for much, so I didn't mind giving it an hour or so of my life.
