Blancanieves

We all know Walt's original version of Snow White, I know I watched the movie and read the book over and over as a child. Yesterday, I went to watch a Spanish interpretation of Snow White and yes it was called Blancanieves. When I was told that we were going to watch the film, I imagined a story line similar to that of Snow White and The Huntsman, with of course a very handsome Spaniard as the huntsman. So was there a huntsman? Unfortunately no. However, this film was a very unique take on this childhood story. It was a silent, black and white film in which the director Pablo Berger included many aspects of the Spanish culture.

The story line began with Blancanieves' parents. Her father was a famous bullfighter and her mother a flamenco dancer and singer. So you can already see the reflection of Spanish culture. Her father has a very tragic bullfighting accident and her mother dies giving birth to her. This then gives the father resentment towards his daughter and doesn't want to see her. She is then taken away and lives with her grandmother. Later due to unfortunate events, Blancanieves has to go live with her father who married a nurse that was only interested in his money. I forgot to mention he stayed paralyzed from the neck down after the accident. So this lady basically called the shots. When Blancanieves arrived, she was treated as a servant.

As the story goes and she grows up, her father is murdered and then an attempt to kill her is made. She runs away and is found by the dwarfs. These are bullfighting dwarfs and I loved that they weren't exactly like the dwarfs in the original story. They were so cute and brought comedic relief to the tragic story. They helped Blancanieves by allowing her to join their show. She ends up having talent and getting offered to bullfight at the Colosseum in Seville. This is a very emotional point in the story because she begins to remember her father and everything she went through. In this climatic moment, she almost leaves the arena and quits but of course she goes on. She won the bullfight and everyone lives happily ever after right?

Nope. She just had to eat the apple. Which leads to the ending.

Now the ending....hmmm, how to explain. It's that ending you love and hate. You love it because the film overall was so great but you almost hoped for more. So she is basically showcased once she was "asleep" and the audience paid to see her and for an attempt to kiss her to see if she would wake up. The one dwarf that fell in love with her actually never left her side. At the very end, he kisses her and all you see is a tear drop from one of her eyes. THE END.

I loved this film. It had a different vision and was well made for the characteristics it had. At least for me, if the film is going to be silent and in black and white, it must keep my attention 100% of the time. Blancanieves definitely did that for me. The interpretation and inclusion of the Spanish culture really gave a lot more to this remake of the fairy tale. It is nominated for the Goya Awards which is like the Oscar's here. I probably won't have a chance to see the other films before the awards show but Concha (my host mom) seems to believe it will definitely win. If you somehow come across the opportunity to see this film I highly suggest you do.

Fin.