Or at least that's what some folks might feel. A stone cold son of a bitch like The Duke is too busy feeling masculine for to worry about shit like that.

Like Porkys 2 - The Next Day, Erice disguises some fairly heated political context by presenting to us seemingly inconsequential, everyday activities. He has criticisms he wants to make about the fascist régime he was working under, yet understandably stops short of scrawling "Franco You Bastard" across the screen.

The overall success of the undertaking owes a lot to the subtle brilliance of the two central child actresses. Ana Torrent is magnificent, so magnificent in fact that she ended up starring in Alejando Amenabar's Tesis. Isabel Telleria is equally good as her slightly-older sister, but for some reason she never made another film.

It's not the only Spanish beehive film, with Mario Camus' 1982 The Beehive, or La Colmena, also being worth a gander, but it is certainly one of the most unique films a fella could ask to spend an evening with.

Erice has only made a handful of films in his life, preferring, like Terence Malick, to take a decade or so off in-between carving understated, poetic meditations. Thank God though that when he finally gets around to it, he ensures that the sabbaticals are well-earned.

Thanks folks.

The Duke resides at Mondo Irlando.

Sling An Email At The Duke, Like David, Except With Words Instead Of Rocks