Before he made the Oscar-nominated Robot Dreams<\/em>, Spanish director Pablo Berger offered his own interpretation of the Snow White story with 2012\u2019s Blancanieves<\/em>. Like Robot Dreams<\/em>, Blancanieves<\/em> is a dialogue-free movie that relies on the expressiveness of its characters to convey emotion, albeit drawn from an entirely separate cinematic tradition. It\u2019s a black and white silent movie modeled after the films of its 1920s setting, although Berger doesn\u2019t limit himself solely to retro filmmaking techniques.<\/p>\n\n\n\n At the time, Blancanieves<\/em> was overshadowed by another silent-film pastiche, Michel Hazanavicius\u2019 The Artist<\/em>, but unlike that Best Picture winner, it\u2019s not just a hermetically sealed tribute to the era it\u2019s emulating. Instead, Berger uses the language of silent film to tap into the tragedy and longing of the Grimm story, while transposing it to a new time and place. It\u2019s easy to recognize the iconic elements of the story, including the evil stepmother, the poisoned apple, and the seven dwarves, but Berger\u2019s whimsical approach makes them feel fresh while retaining their timeless quality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Blancanieves<\/em> begins in the bullfighting arena of Seville, rather than a castle surrounded by woodland, and the king is now a champion bullfighter, Antonio Villalta (Daniel Gim\u00e9nez Cacho). His world is shattered in a single day, when he\u2019s paralyzed from the neck down after being gored by a bull, and his wife Carmen de Triana (Inma Cuesta) dies while giving birth to their daughter. The traumatized Antonio shuns his daughter, and gold-digging nurse Encarna (Maribel Verd\u00fa) swoops in to marry Antonio and keep him locked away in a sprawling estate.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Verd\u00fa\u2019s performance as the gloriously devious Encarna fits perfectly into the tradition of mesmerizing silent-movie villainy, and she\u2019s more entertaining to watch than the humble and sweet Carmen (played as a child by Sofia Oria and as an adult by Macarena Garcia). With her glimmering eyes, fabulous outfits, and kinky sex games with her chauffeur, Encarna is a full-on demented diva, and Berger and Verd\u00fa make her enjoyably reprehensible.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Carmen may be less flamboyant, but Oria and Garcia give her a kind, sympathetic nature, and she finds her own fierceness when she eventually follows in the footsteps of her bullfighter father. After Encarna attempts to have Carmen killed, she\u2019s rescued by a circus troupe of bullfighting dwarves, who embrace her as part of their act. Suffering from amnesia, she is rechristened Blancanieves and rises to stardom, setting up a final showdown with the jealous Encarna.<\/p>\n\n\n\n All of this is largely predictable to anyone familiar with any previous incarnation of the oft-told story, but there\u2019s still an element of surprise and delight to seeing how Berger approaches each aspect. While Disney has been mired in controversy over its depiction of the dwarves, Berger casts little-people actors in a context that makes sense for the time period, and he treats the characters with respect and care. There\u2019s no Prince Charming in this version \u2014 Carmen\u2019s true love is instead the handsome dwarf Rafita (Sergio Dorado), who\u2019s never anything less than a viable suitor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The silent-film style allows Berger to tell the primal story in a relatively broad manner, without taking away from its subtler shades. Berger deftly employs classic cinematic techniques like dissolves and close-ups to impart valuable information without dialogue, along with strategically deployed title cards. He doesn\u2019t hold back from camera moves that would have been difficult or even impossible during the silent era, and Blancanieves<\/em> never feels like a phony recreation or a clumsy spoof. The Academy ratio frame is frayed at the edges, and there are a handful of shots with what looks like a hair caught in the film gate, but overall Berger eschews the kind of distracting fakery that mars so many modern efforts at evoking the feel of vintage film.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Berger\u2019s comparative restraint may be one reason why Blancanieves<\/em> never got the same attention as The Artist<\/em> in the U.S. (although it was highly awarded in its native country) and why it\u2019s rarely included among the most notable Snow White<\/em> adaptations. Far more people will see Disney\u2019s film this week, but after witnessing that garish spectacle, they would do well to follow up with a take on the story that\u2019s elegant, affecting, and made with genuine human artistry.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cBlancanieves\u201d is streaming for free on<\/em> Tubi<\/em><\/a> and<\/em> Kanopy<\/em><\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/crookedmarquee.com\/stage8\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Blancanieves2-1024x682.jpg\")
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