Blancanieves

It is extremely pleasurable to watch, and shows every sign of having been extremely pleasurable to make.

The silents, as this film suggests, achieved aesthetic marvels before sound came along to set things back for a while.

Berger also shows a dark wit and a faith in old-fashioned melodrama that puts Blancanieves more in the camp of Pedro Almodóvar than Guy Maddin’s golden-age pastiches. (And aside from being silent and a period piece, the movie has almost nothing in common with "The Artist.")

Berger's film is still far more magical than it is macabre. And so although a black-and-white, foreign-film adaptation of a very familiar tale might, indeed, be a hard sell, audiences who buy into it are in for an undeniably rewarding movie-going experience. In a word: ¡Ole!

Expressively (Berger knows his grammar), a white communion dress is dipped in black dye as her custodial grandmother passes away and an evil castle beckons.

Brimming over with sadism and the occasional touch of kink, Blancanieves piles on the pathology that's the birthright of any fairy tale worth its salt. Yet it's still a tale of lost innocence, and Berger keeps faith with a prototype revered by the Disneys and the Grimms alike: the resilient, enterprising girl who overcomes wave after wave of adversity.

Pablo Berger digs for emotional intensity in his gothic retelling of Snow White and only uncovers layers of gloss.

The fact that a B&W and silent film is released the year after another one like that wins the Best Picture Oscar, I think did hurt a little Blancanieves. Even though, apparently, the project started before The Artist was made, so there was no copying from each other whatsoever. Having said that, it is amazing how B&W, silent films can produce strong emotions, at least as powerful as "traditional (today) films can be. Beautiful photography, and wonderful sets alone would make this film worth seeing. Add to that a good story, great direction, and an extraordinary music score, and this film is a winner.

Esta podría ser la mejor película acerca de la historia de blanca nieves. Tiene momentos conmovedores los cuales de verdad se sienten en el corazón, algo que la versión de disney no logró hacer. Tiene también muchos momentos góticos y extraños pero algunos son divertidos y otros son motivo de no respirar. El problema con esta película es que, en un momento a la protagonista se le pone el nombre de blanca nieves cosa que no pasa desde el principio, esto no debió ser ya que todos conocemos la historia de blanca nieves y no necesitamos que a la protagonista se le llame así ya que este no es un cuento fiel a la versión que todos conocemos. Pero al fin y al cabo, esta película es muy entretenida a pesar de ser en blanco y negro y de ser muda. Vale la pena verla, eso si, no sería mala idea que solo la vieran adultos.

Que buena es esta película, chula de ver, pese a ser muda, muy buena narración, e interpretaciones.

Blancanieves is a charming little Spanish film with great cinematography, but never seems to really fit into the genre. Its details are fitting, but the overall picture is only average.

The title means Snow White in Spanish, so there's the plot. It's set in the early 20th century world of bull fighting, but the big twist: it's in black and white and silent (except for the musical soundtrack and some intertitles). The cinematography is rich and there are period cinematic elements (overlapping images, gimmicky transitions). In an effort to create this stylized approach, the performances come off as stilted. The inevitable comparisons to "The Artist" leave this film lacking in originality or ingenuity.