Blancanieves (2012)

blancanieves

Link: Blancanieves

Summary: A retelling of the fairy tale Snow White and the Seven Dwarves set in the late 1920’s in Spain, with Snow White being the daughter of a bullfighter.  After an attempted murder by her wicked step mother, she finds herself traveling with seven bullfighting dwarves. 

Thoughts: Like The Artist, this is a modern-day black and white silent film.  It is too bad The Artist overshadows this film for the novelty of being a modern-day black and white silent film, because where The Artist is gimmicky, cheesy, dull, and uninspired, Blancanieves is fantastic.

While the tale of Snow White is familiar enough that you will always know where the story is headed, the film does provide interesting twists that allow for a fresh perspective on the classic tale.  The photography is brilliant, managing to turn an otherwise normal black and white world into something that seems on the edge of fantasy.  The story and the pacing are tight; never is there a dull or pointless moment, yet never does it feel rushed.  Being a silent film, it is very refreshing to see the much more imaginative and economical ways in which filmmakers can tell a story without needing to resort to dialog.  Finally, the musical score Alfonso de Vilallonga is the icing on the cake; it is beautiful.  Overall, the film creates a wonderfully mesmerizing storybook feeling that I found to be very enchanting.  I’ve lately seen a number of films based on re-imagining classic fairy tales, but this is the best I’ve seen so far.  Great film.