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She can spell, but can she save her family?

There's a scene toward the end of the film when Eliza's on her way to another bee, her mom has gone off the deep end, and her brother Aaron calls his dad to say he's joined the Hare Krishnas and is never coming home. Saul replies, "I can't take this right now." I wanted to mutter an "amen." Why did the scriptwriters think we in the audience could take any more heavy, unexplored plot lines either? Though the acting is great and the special effects of Eliza's mystical letter-visualizing are a delight to watch, the film suffers from too much family baggage.

Early in the film Saul explains the Jewish concept of tikkun olam: that the big bang of creation shattered God's divine light into a million little shards, and it's our responsibility to reassemble and fix what's broken. Similarly, this movie feels like lots of shards—Eliza's magical word abilities, Saul's funky spiritualism, Aaron's religious meanderings, Miriam's haunting past and troubled present—that have yet to be gathered and crafted into a whole piece. Words and letters may hold all the secrets of the universe, as Saul asserts, but 104 minutes wasn't enough to hold and resolve all the secrets and mysteries of Bee Season.

Talk About It

1. The film shows the profound effect an earthly father has on a child's spiritual beliefs. How did your earthly father affect your faith? If you have kids, how are you affecting theirs?
   
   
2. In what ways are Saul's spiritual beliefs accurate? In what ways is he deceived?
   
   
3. Why do you think Aaron began questioning his faith? What do you think he found in Hare Krishna beliefs that he felt he was lacking?
   
   
4. Think about the many inclusions of the color red throughout the movie. What do you think they were trying to communicate with this theme?
   
   
5. Trace the theme of light throughout the movie. How does light affect or interact with each family member? What do you think the filmmakers are trying to communicate about light?
   
   
6. What did you think of the ending? Why do you think Eliza does what she does in the final spelling bee?
   

The Family Corner

Though the main character is a sixth grader, you probably wouldn't want to take children that young to Bee Season. The religious themes are confusing enough for adults, let alone for impressionable kids. And do you really want them to see a meditating and convulsing sixth-grader and a dancing and chanting high schooler? There's also a bit of bad language and a non-nudity sex scene between a married couple.

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© Camerin Courtney 2005, subject to licensing agreement with Christianity Today International. All rights reserved. Click for reprint information.

Another novel buzzing to the big screen this week, Myla Goldberg's Bee Season is drawing attention for the way it illustrates ideas central to Jewish mysticism.

This is the story of a religion professor (Richard Gere) whose wife (Juliette Binoche), formerly a French Catholic, converted to Judaism when she married him. Together, they must contend with personal crises and unexpected developments, such as their spelling-bee-champion daughter Eliza (Flora Cross) who has what seems to be a supernatural gift for spelling. Eliza's triumphs end up teaching each family member something, including Aaron (Max Minghella), Eliza's brother.

"The idea that words and language can serve as conduits to the divine is shared by many religions," says David DiCerto (Catholic News Service), "finding expression not only in Jewish mysticism, but in Buddhist chants and the Christian tradition of 'lectio divina.' Early on, Saul tells Eliza that 'God is in the words, God is the words,' echoing the Gospel of John: 'In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.' Unfortunately, the movie reduces Saul's pursuit of transcendence to a spiritual study aid—a mystical Hebrew version of Hooked on Phonics. Several of the other story lines, including Miriam's meltdown, remain unresolved. … Ultimately, though intelligent and finely acted, Bee Season doesn't have much of a dramatic sting."

Mainstream critics are divided in their opinions—some find it emotionally affecting, others complain that they weren't moved at all.

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