Die Buchstabenprinzessin

Okay, I can see how this film got lost in the shuffle- it's a quiet odd smart film that deals with quiet odd smart people. But it's worth seeing.

The acting is wonderful, the children and Juliette Binoche are magnificent. And Richard Gear was lovely too, although I thought miscast. Not having read the book, though, perhaps he was perfectly cast, but I found him so handsome that I couldn't believe he had these problems! Shallow on my part, I know, but there it is.

The children and the complex rich story carry this film, and they do it well. It was photographed lovingly, and the music was great too.

But as a Juliette Binoche fan, she remains the main reason to see this gem.

It's true.. the book is always better than the movie. I thought that this movie was very disappointing to watch after having reading the book.

The movie moves too fast, though I can understand because of time limit, to actually give the viewers the concepts that the book gives. A lot of details and events are cut from the book that is important to the story as a whole. The script seems undeveloped, and the actors/actresses carried out their character with mediocre performances.

Saul (Richard Gere) is somewhat true to his character. The only thing he is obsessed with is to enable Eliza to communicate with God. He does this in a way that is the most true to novel.

Aaron's (Max Minghella) appearance is very different from that described in the book. He is described as a pale and scrawny young man, who is incapable of getting dates and is a social outcast. His search for a new religion seems unreasonable and spontaneous in the movie, and I thought it didn't really capture his true character.

Miriam's (Julliete) kleptomania is weird in both the book and the movie. Her actions in the book seems more reasonable when I knew her purposes for doing it. In the movie I thought it was a very random thing for her to do.

Eliza (Flora Cross) is a young actress, and is limited to what she can do. Her acting is very mediocre at best, and does not convince me of Eliza that is in the novel.

Chali, which I am surprised to see, have been transformed from a middle-aged man into a young blond girl. I can understand why they did that, but that just adds to the falseness of Aaron's character.

Overall I think the movie is an average depiction of Bee Season. I can't say that they did a nice job of sticking to the plot. It's almost impossible to transform a novel into a movie with everything in the book.

Since I have not read the novel upon which Bee Season is based, I cannot evaluate the film's interpretation of the book. It seems, however, that there is more occurring within the characters of this story that is not stated or developed within the screenplay. And unfortunately more needed to be conveyed, and developed in order for this film to affect the audience in a useful way. Plot Summary: The film is about an intellectual, dynamic family. Eliza (Flora Cross) enters a school spelling bee, wins, and soon realizes she has the ability to visualize words and their correct spelling. She says she feels and sees the word "talking to her." Her father, Saul Naumann (Richard Gere), a professor of Judaic Mysticism at a San Francisco university later decides that Eliza has the unique ability to speak to God. He becomes preoccupied with nurturing and developing this "gift" within his daughter, and in the process falls out of touch with his son Aaron (Max Minghella), who becomes disillusioned with his faith in Judaism and rebels against the influences of his father. Aaron begins studying Buddhism after meeting a female romantic interest who is sympathetic to his expressed feelings of emptiness and detachment. Saul's Wife, Miriam (Juliette Binoche), struggles with her own detachment from reality as she continues to mourn the death of her parents who died in an accident when she was young girl. My Analysis: Like some of the characters in the film, I too left the film somewhat empty, or unfulfilled. I wanted to know more about what was going on with this family. The relationship between Gere's character and his son is somewhat familiar -- a son rebels against a father who is too strongly pushing his faith and interests. This form of rebellion seems typical of most adolescents. The mother and daughter share the unusual relationship; both of whom seem to possess certain supernatural powers. While it is the daughter's power to visualize and spell that is the focal point of the film, it may well be a similar ability that drives her mother to mental illness. The relationship between them should have been developed more, however. I wanted to know what the mystical-supernatural ability meant, but the screenplay doesn't explain much, and this is frustrating. In addition, when it becomes apparent that Miriam is suffering from a severe mental disorder and continues to mourn the death of her parents, I questioned why her husband was so utterly unaware of her suffering as it had been going on for some time. He was an intelligent man who had great concern for the welfare of his family, and it didn't seem to fit his character. The film might merely be about a domineering father and the influence his beliefs have over his family. But I'm hoping it's more than that. The story goes to pains to make it clear that there is a very real supernatural element at work here, but the film doesn't do enough to convey what this means and why it's important. I appreciate movies that are efficient, that don't hold my hand through everything and that give me credit for making inferences to tie a storyline together, or even leave the story purposely ambiguous so as to allow for interpretation, but in the case of the Bee Season, the subject matter is too abstruse and the story is too underdeveloped. I could not reach a satisfactory understanding of what occurred and why it was important. The acting was strong, however. Binoche, Gere and company make the best of an underdeveloped script. The quality of the acting makes the problems with the script even more frustrating because it seems like this film could have been much more.

This is one of the most powerful movies I've ever seen. Richard Gere gives, in my opinion, a career-best performance, and don't be too surprised if you see his name in a many Best Actor nominee lists pretty soon. Julia Binoche is flawlessly observant and unendingly compassionate toward her very damaged character...the portrayal is done perfectly, with no mental scar left unillustrated. But the secret weapon of this movie is Flora Cross- words cannot begin to describe how talented this young actress is, and it boggles my mind to conceptualize the future work awaiting her.

This movie is powerful because it details, much more authentically than films like "Ordinary People" and "American Beauty", the way a family can start out with the hopes of happiness and the grasp toward achievement, community, and fulfillment, but end up discovering what, alas, we all discover eventually- that our need for control and refinement and altering others' lives often leads to ours and their unhappiness. "Bee Season" also evokes the need of God in our lives- in whatever way we define that, whether it be religious community, personal spirituality, or deep connections to others. Mostly, the message of this film seems to be that spirituality, as Saul defines it, often disconnects and alienates, rather than connects and fulfills. Oftentimes the little embraces and big love we give to our families and friends on a day-to-day basis constitute divinity in our lives.

A+...Powerful...You don't want to miss it.

Imagine growing up in a family of academics, musicians, and Jewish mystics. When 12-year-old Eliza (Flora Cross) wins both the district and regional spelling bees, her father, Saul (Richard GereJewish mysticism, begins to tutor her daily. Not only is he preparing her for the state spelling bee competition, but Saul is also training his daughter to be the mystic he wasn't able to become. Bee Season is not only a movie about meditation, but it is also itself a meditation. This family is consumed with finding God, but they all look outside of the family to find it, and in the process, the family falls apart. Eliza's older brother Aaron (Max Minghella) is so jealous that his sister is getting all of the family's attention that he goes off and joins a Buddhist cult, and everyone in the family is so focused on their own problems that no one notices the mother (Juliette Binoche) going slowly insane! Bee Season is transcendent and thought-provoking, and it even makes me want to go out and look for God.