Blancanieves (2013)

best movie i've ever seen.

Pretty good movie overall. First half was nothing special but it got better as it went along.

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

This is one of the best movies I’ve seen in a very long time. You have to go and see this on the big screen.

According to IMDb, this film was submitted for contention for the Best Foreign Language Oscar...an odd one since this is a silent film with intertitle cards. My assumption is that they tried making a movie like this because of the success the year before of "The Artist" (which too the Best Picture Oscar).The story is essentially "Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs" re- imagined. It begins in Spain in the early 20th century. Don Antonio is a famous matador but he's doing something very dangerous- -taking on seven bulls, one after the other. With the seventh, his attention wavers and he's badly mauled. This causes his wife to go into labor...and she dies in the process. The baby is raised by her grandmother and Don Antonio marries his nurse. However, when grandma dies, the child, Carmen, is sent to live with her father. But the new wife is evil and won't let anyone see Don Antonio and forbids the girl from going to that portion of the house. Instead, she lives in squalor and is a servant in her own home. Eventually, the step-mother tires of the girl and orders her evil chauffeur to kill her. Inexplicably, she survives the attempt but loses all her memory. She's rescued by some bullfighting dwarfs and is befriended by them. Eventually, she becomes a famous matador herself...and her step-mom returns to destroy her with a poisoned apple.The film is lovely to look at and interesting...but not a whole lot more than that. Interesting but not exactly a must-see because it is too close to the old story...too close except for the inexplicably strange downbeat ending that is.

first, for the atmosphere. then, for the performances. not the last, for the reinvent of a classic fairy tale in pure Spanish clothes. a seductive film about family, values, courage and survive. about love and friendship and legacy. great for the references to history and for the wise use of mute film tools. for the great cinematography. and, sure, for the chain of states, mix of Dickens and legendary "toreadores". a film real special. tender, bitter, nice, touching, unique. a challenge. a precious one.

This deserves no more than 5 minutes to understand what it's worth. What the film wants from you.Btw, this is no silent, neither sound, this is no film at all actually. Just a poor trailer-like film of a director who doesn't know that an actor may act and not just be a poor fashion model in a "beautiful" frame. Just see the three repeated (or more?) shots on the two women (mother and daughter in the arena) : poor playing, giggling. Now, the use of black and white ??? I let you guess the motivations of the director. And why no dialogs ??? Guess too... This guy is just reluctant to reality which is the blood of cinema. Yes, even a fairytale should be real, and dreams and nightmares are full of (The night of the hunter, for ex.) but there's too overblown intentions here to make any real things appear. Just plain propaganda of feelings. Just photographs following one another. If this director'd have been honest (or just a director), he'd renounce to movement too (in fact he did in the worst way possible) and would have just proposed a slide show.The story telling suffers the same hammering (the fall of the hat with a slow motion is so heavy that we can't afterward care for the twist of fate, the fact that it was not for his death but for hers... ) Anyway, actors having not been able to play this correctly, I decided enough was enough and quit my seat. (My God, has this guy seen more than 5 silent films in his life ??? Is Spain and its cinema in such a profund crisis ?)

If you are expecting something along the lines of the Disney version of Snow White you are definitely in the wrong place.Blancanieves is definitely a twist on a tale, and it isn't a happier twist but it is a pleasure to watch.This film is charming, enjoyable and quite a bit of fun at times. The score was impressive ranging from simple string instrumentals to more traditional Spanish music.While some of the effects were borderline ridiculous (the heads pasted onto the bodies of real bull fighters were so obvious I had to cringe), it had the right amount of cheese to really pull it off.The acting was superb all the way through and you knew exactly what was going on with each character at all times - a sure way to know that the cast were up to power.Highly recommended to any lovers of the Artist or any of the older silent movies.