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Blancanieves Movie Review

Blancanieves is a 2012 Spanish silent drama film directed by Pablo Berger and starring Macarena Garcia and Maribel Verdu. It is an incredible feat in visual storytelling.

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“For you, and for our unborn child!“

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Rescued from her evil stepmother by dwarves, a young woman becomes a bullfighter like her late father. First and foremost, I have to praise the sheer existence of this movie. It is not just done in black-and-white, but it is also a silent film, which made it a truly artistic, timeless viewing experience.

The film isn’t just homage to those silent films of the past. Quite the contrary is the case as the filmmakers used actually modern techniques, especially in terms of cinematography that made the movie contemporary. It basically represents what a 1920s silent film would look like with current filming  technology. The use of wide shots and close-ups was particularly inspired here.

Blancanieves is not just gorgeously shot with some truly impressive black-and-white photography on display, but it also features stunning production design, an excellent use of intertitles and a particularly outstanding score that mixes the standard orchestral pieces present in silent cinema with the more lively Spanish tunes. This inspired mixture made the auditive experience quite eclectic.

The acting is also superb. It is both modern and old-fashioned in relying on big facial expressions, but never going into over-the-top territory. The male actors were great and the dwarfs were particularly endearing as this more modern bunch. They got little screen time unfortunately, but they were so great that they still made an impact.

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Macarena Garcia as Snow White is just phenomenal. She has this very cinematic look to her face, especially her big, expressive eyes that are reminiscent of a hand-drawn Disney Princess. She was perfect for this role and it was heartbreaking following the character’s many travails. The standout obviously has to be Maribel Verdu as Encarna, the evil stepmother. She is so delightfully villainous and easy to hate. She is one of the worst and most despicable versions of this character as this grounded in reality, but still very much evil woman.

While the second half did feel a bit rushed in my book, most of the film is very well paced and stupendously directed by Pablo Berger. The storytelling is exceptional as this is not your standard, straightforward Snow White adaptation, but a more modern, darker take on the story that still retains the classic elements that made the story so influential in the first place.

It’s a very Spanish take on the source material that includes bullfighting as Snow herself becomes a bull fighter in the second half of the movie. The dwarfs being human and the stepmother having no magical powers made this a drama instead of a fantasy, which worked as the emphasis on honoring both silent cinema and Spanish culture was impressive.

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The darker elements were also intriguing and quite modern. You think you are watching a classic 20s silent film, but when you see the stepmother being a dominatrix, you realize that this is a 21^st century story. A lot of praise should be directed toward the ending, which is not a happy one at all. This decision was the best one not just to distinguish this adaptation from countless others, but also to honor those gorgeous European tragedies of the twenties that the movie clearly was inspired by.

Beautifully shot in gorgeous black-and-white cinematography that is also quite advanced in its techniques and featuring an eclectic mix of orchestral pieces and lively Spanish tunes in its score, Blancanieves is this incredible homage to silent cinema that is also very much contemporary, especially in its darker elements that made it easily distinguishable from countless other Snow White adaptations. The Spanish culture elements are wonderful here as was the terrific acting from its talented cast. Blancanieves represents European arthouse cinema at its finest.

My Rating – 4.5