I'd seen this film back in the 80's, and it had stuck in my mind though I subsequently forgot the title/director. Came across the work of Angelopolous when I watched his 'The Weeping Meadow'. Re-watching The Beekeper I found it compelling, Mastroianni is phenomenal in his playing of a desperately sad and unhappy late middle aged chap, for whom life has clearly gone wrong, or he's got wrong. And of course Angelopolous likes the long take, always a winner with me.
An unhappy combination of visually unappealing, tedious and clichéd narrative and some very unpleasant scenes - I wonder why I stuck with it to the end. Actors who failed to project their feelings or the nature of their relationships to the audience, leading to actions without apparent motivation or cause. Some 'sex' scenes that contrived to be, at the same time, pornographic and un-arousing - deeply dubious in a post-#Metoo context. I'd quite like to read the young actor's perspective on the filming of those scenes - might she share have a lot in common with Maria Schneider? Even the beekeeping activity is factually dubious. My advice is don't waste your time