“Blancanieves,” July 27, 2021 (2012), DVD. Watched down on Fire Island. This Spanish black-and-white silent film homage to the ‘golden age’ of silent in the 1920s from Pablo Berger reconfigures the Grimm story of Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, Bullfighter Antonio Villalta (Daniel Gimanez Cacho) is the tragic wounded king whose wife dies in childbirth as he’s injured in the ring.. He weds his nurse, Encarna (Maribel Verdu’), who becomes the evil stepmother for Carmencita, (Sofia Oria—younger and Macarena Garcia—older) playing to the press – the magic mirror of the age – and keeping Carmen/Blancanieves a scullery maid. Blanca escapes one plot to kill her, even as she loses her memory and falls in with dwarf bullfighters. From there she finds her true calling in the ring. This is not, to say the least, Disney and is much darker for all. Verdu’ steals the show with her ravishing and over-the-top interpretation of the evil stepmother. A smart adaptation with brilliant music and a beautiful piece of film. Released the same year as “The Artist,” this is a more modern homage with more modern filmwork even as it obeys silent film conventions.