Forget “Mirror, Mirror” and “Snow White and the Huntsman” — this year’s most daringly original adaptation of the Brothers Grimm fairy tale is “Blancanieves,” from Spanish director Pablo Berger (the porn comedy “Torremolinos 73”). Shot as a silent film (Weinstein brothers, take note) and set in the 1910s and 1920s in Andalusia, this movie casts the evil stepmother (Maribel Verdu, the hot mamacita from “Y tu mama tambien”) as a plotting nurse who marries the paraplegic father of Snow White (Daniel Gimenez Cachio), a former toreador who was gored in the arena, and throws in seven bull-fighting little people and a serious dose of flamenco-inspired music for good measure. Newcomer Macarena Garcia, with a short black ’do, impresses in the title role. Though perhaps a tad long, this gorgeously shot black-and-white extravaganza has the cojones to think outside the box and comes out on top. Criticwire grade: B+ [Boyd van Hoeij]
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