Blancanieves

It’s shot in black and white, has title cards instead of audio dialogue and is a tragic story, but Writer/Director Pablo Berger’s Blancanieves (Snow White) is absolutely wonderful.

It’s 1910.  Spain’s top matador (Daniel Giménez Cacho) becomes paralyzed from the neck down after a bull gores him and his wife dies in childbirth on the same day. 

A crafty nurse weds the crippled matador and immediately takes over his estate, leaving the maternal grandmother to raise his baby daughter, who the fallen idol is too broken-hearted to even see.  

Seven years later, when grandma has a heart attack and dies on the girl’s communion day, Carmencita (Sophia Oria) is sent to live with her wicked stepmother Encarna (Maribel Verdú), who treats her like a slave.

Sound like fun?  Well, it really is. 

Cinematographer Kiko de la Rica’s black and white images are fabulous, Alfonso de Vilallonga's music makes dialogue unnecessary, Maribel Verdú is the most evil stepmother ever and both Sophia Oria and Macarena Garcia as the child Carmencita and the teenage Carmen, respectively, are perfectly splendid.

Unfortunately, Blancanieves may not get much distribution outside of a few major cities, but, if you can’t catch it in theaters, I urge you to find it on Netflix.

Blancanieves gets a 4+ out of 5.