Blancanieves [2012]
Directed by: Pablo Berger
Written by: Pablo Berger
Starring: Maribel Verdú, Daniel Giménez Cacho, Macarena García, Ángela Molina, Emilio Gavira, Sergio Dorado, Josep Maria Pou, Sofía Oria, Inma Cuesta
You can forget about Charlize Theron chewing the scenery and Julia Roberts trying not to get killed by Lily Collins’ eyebrows (that’s what Mirror Mirror was about, yeah?). This is the definitive live-action adaptation of Snow White by the brothers Grimm.
Blancanieves, like The Artist, is a film that dares to be silent and monochrome in an age of CGI and explosions. Unlike that one, though, this is more than a lightweight crowdpleaser and offers real pathos to go along with the enchanting style.
Pablo Berger takes the world’s best known fairytale and transfers it to Spain in the early 20th century, where our Snow White, Carmen, grows amongst flamenco dancers and bullfighters. Macarena García and Daniel Giménez Cacho are fantastic as Carmen and her father, renowned matador Antonio Villalta, respectively, but Maribel Verdú (El Laberinto del Fauno, Y Tu Mamá También) steals the show as the evil stepmother.
Blancanieves was Spain’s official submission for the Best Foreign Language Film Oscar at the last ceremony and, for the life of me, I can’t comprehend why it wasn’t even nominated. Maybe I’ll send the Academy voters a basket of apples to change their mind. What do you think?
Ooh, high praise, great review! I may have to check this one out now, never even heard of it :).
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Thanks, Joseph. Hope you see it soon. It’s something special.
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This sounds interesting Fernando! I haven’t seen many silent films but I did love The Artist. Glad to hear this one has substance to go w/ its style 😀
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Thanks. Haven’t seen many silent films either but I quite loved this one.
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Nice review. This hasn’t been released here yet, but I’ve been looking forward to it since I first heard about it.
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Thanks! Hope you see it soon! 🙂
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Nice review as always man. Have heard a lot about this so am keen to check it out. I think I may have been the only person in the world that liked Mirror Mirror.
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Thank you! 🙂 And I actually haven’t seen Mirror Mirror but I can’t imagine it being better than this one.
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I guess with the success of The Artist, we should expect lots of B&W pictures: Much Ado About Nothing, Frankenweenie, Frances Ha, Nebraska. This one is silent too. Sounds interesting. Even if it is half as tender as The Artist, I will love it.
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I think you will, then. It’s amazing. Hope you see it soon. Would love to hear your thoughts.
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This got the tiniest release over here and nowhere near me but I really wanted to see it. Will definitely be checking it out on Blu when it’s released. Good work mate.
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Hope you see it soon. It’s a superb one, really. Thanks!
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