Lorna Irvine reviews a 'unique, stylishly original and utterly bonkers' film from Spain.
Pablo Berger’s stunning black and white silent film comes on like Almodovar doing Angela Carter’s adult fairytales with a smattering of Fellini, but, even then, that comes nowhere near to describing the sheer brilliance of this Spanish take on the classic Snow White tale. It is unique, stylishly original and utterly bonkers.
It is the 1920s, and life is not easy for young Carmen in rural Spain. When the little girl’s mother dies in childbirth and her father, celebrated matador Antonio Villalto (Daniel Gimenez Cacho), is gored by a bull and left paralysed, her grandmother has to raise her. But yet again, disaster strikes when her father remarries and the girl is forced to move to a big house presided over by the evil governess.
Melodrama, parable and fairytale blur in a beautifully shot film loaded with Catholic symbolism and a foreshadowing of General Franco’s rise: there is gore and meat around every corner. Flamenco dancing is the only freedom for the child, until she grows up and puts her own matador training to the test in the ultimate bullfight.
Hugely surprising moments keep the audience on their toes, and Maribel Verdu has a ball as Encarna, the kinky governess with a scarlet mouth, forever twisting in sneers and self-satisfied smirks. But it’s little Sofia Oria as the young, corrupted “Carmencita” with her pet cockerel Pepe who truly melts hearts—her scope and emotional maturity is astonishing.
The film has already taken ten Goya awards in Spain, including best screenplay and best actress for Macarena Garcia as the adult Carmen - expect it to become a favourite all over the world now. Believe the hype, it is absolutely ravishing. Ole!
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