A twist on the Snow White fairy tale that is set in 1920s Seville and centered on a female bullfighter.
Like its iconic apple, there’s poison under Blancanieves’ skin, with happy endings replaced by a desperately sad conclusion of which the hardened Grimms would doubtlessly have approved.
A film to treasure.
No film this year will look as swooningly beautiful, its deep-focus monochrome vividly rendered by the cinematographer Kiko de la Rica, and not many will sound as good, either, thanks to a score by Alfonso de Vilallonga that switches from operatic lushness to fiery flamenco and back. Olé!
A wonderfully atmospheric, deeply romantic film. If you loved The Artist or gasp at the finest achievements of silent cinema, then you will adore this.
A delightful diversion.
Berger – who made the 1970s adult film satire Torremolinos 73 – uses the fairytale set-up as a freakish allegory for a period in Spanish history romanticised during the subsequent Franco era. As with other recent paeans to silent cinema, however, he’s also built into it a tribute to the magic of the movies, one that’s as swooning and delightful as The Artist, but not quite so tied to the conventions of the day.
Pablo Berger: 'A movie's like a paella, you put all of your obsessions in there'.
General release. Check local listings for show times.
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