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Reviews
The Silence of Bees (2008)
Not as great as the screenplay
When reading the screenplay for The Silence of Bees, it is intense, emotional and moving. The portrayal of this screen play is lacking. These emotions were not portrayed when seeing it on screen. I feel the actors are dry, less natural that I expected them to be. The scenery was not tropical like as I expected but looked more like a back yard in a Suburban California home. Being a low budget film I understand you have to make due with certain props but I feel more could have been done to create a real island feel. One thing that made me laugh a bit was the soup. It looked like Campbell's or Progressive chunky vegetable noodle soup, not something that she made. I think there were certain things that could have been emphasized more through camera angels, close ups and long shots. The camera angles also could have made the scenes more dramatic with close ups of things such as the rum bottle, typewriter or the note card. Also, some things are not portrayed on screen that is in the screenplay which could have given more depth to the film. For example, the pacing of Parker, in the screenplay, emphasizes how he is thinking and struggling about his writing and his relationship with his daughter. The film took this away. I do think they did a good job with the scene where she reads the note from the dad. This was the best scene in the film. Other than this scene the connection was not really there between the two actors. It was a bit emotionless. Overall, I think that with better actors, more emphasis on the connection between the actors and better props and scenery this film could improve. The intro music was beautiful though, I did enjoy that.I am curious to view the extended version. I am still confused about the Bees. Why are they symbolic?