Release Year: 2005 Rating: PG-13 Duration: 104 minutes Director: David Siegel, Scott McGehee Producer: Peggy Rajski, Mark Romanek, Dr. Winfried Hammacher Distributor: Fox Searchlight Pictures
Eliza Naumann spells words. Lots of words. Hard words. Long words. And with an effortlessness and understanding that surprises everyone around her. Her teachers, her fellow students. But especially those closest to her: her father, mother and brother. The people whose lives Eliza’s newfound genius will irrevocably change. As Eliza Naumann trains for the ultimate test of her spelling powers--the pressure-packed National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C--her family simultaneously begins to fall apart. Indeed the more amazing the words are that Eliza learns to spell, the more communication seems to break down all around her. Her father Saul, a religious studies professor, sees something transcendent in Eliza’s magical gift, and begins to teach her the secrets of Kabbalah. He becomes obsessed with her victories, living vicariously through her path to God. Her mother Miriam finds Eliza and Saul’s shared focus a painful reminder of the connection she once had with her husband and her own parents, who died tragically when she was a young girl. Meanwhile, Eliza’s older brother Aaron, once her father’s favorite, rebels against his withdrawal of affection, experimenting with other religions, and eventually seeking out a connection with a beautiful Hare Krishna. With her family disintegrating before her young eyes, it’s up to Eliza--and an unexpected act of selflessness and love--to put the broken pieces of her world back together.
cast
Flora Cross as Eliza Naumann Juliette Binoche as Miriam Naumann/ Wife Kate Bosworth as Chali/ Girlfriend Max Minghella as Aaron Naumann/ Son Richard Gere as Father/ Saul Naumann
At first glance, Bee Season seems to be just another clichéd family melodrama waltzing its way into your multiplex. But please, please, please give this film a chance. Based on Myla Goldberg's critically acclaimed bestseller, this film adaptation by directing team Scott McGehee and David Siegel strikes all the right notes. There's a veneer of family melodrama, but beneath it there's a deeply affecting story about each family member's sense of spirituality. I realize that the word "spirituality" alludes to images of What the Bleep do we Know?! and other pseudo-philosophic pieces you've suffered through, but Bee Season has little to do with those. For one, there's no hardboiled message tagged onto Bee Season. Actually, if anyone were to walk away from the film with a lesson, it would be that there is no right answer. It's up to you to figure one out for yourself. Second, there's more to Bee Season than "spirituality". There's a smart and well acted family drama to go along with it.
