Snow White
4.9
Monteiro moved far away from the visual opulence defined by his earlier films with his inspired adaptation of radical Swiss writer Robert Walser’s anti-fairy tale. Carefully restricting the image track, Monteiro maintains an almost totally black screen in order to focus instead on the voices of Snow White, the Prince, the Queen and the Hunter, engaged in an extended debate about love, free will and the events leading up to the fateful attempt on the maiden’s life. Despite its visual austerity, Snow White is haunted by the arresting images with which it begins – infamous black-and-white photographs of Walser lying dead in the snow after his heart attack outside a Swiss asylum at the age of seventy-eight, a strange realization of the “death of the author” so central to postmodern literary criticism.
Where to watch
Not streaming anywhere
Not on any streaming service in United States, and not available to rent.
Your rating
Your review
Cast
9 people
Maria do Carmo Rôlo
Branca de Neve
Also in
Come and Go
Ana Brandão
A Rainha
Known for
Frankie
Reginaldo da Cruz
O Príncipe Estrangeiro
No other roles listed
Luís Miguel Cintra
O Caçador
Known for
The Strange Case of Angelica
The Dancer Upstairs
Diogo Dória
O Rei
Known for
Arabian Nights: Volume 1, The Restless One
José Airosa
Also in
Mysteries of Lisbon
The Face You Deserve
Miguel Borges
Also in
Odisseia
Natural Law
Rita Durão
Known for
April Captains
João César Monteiro
(uncredited)
Also in
Recollections of the Yellow House
Come and Go
João César Monteiro Director · Robert Walser Author Mário Barroso Cinematographer
First release September 4, 2000 · Produced in Portugal · Production RTP, Instituto do Cinema, Audiovisual e Multimédia
Production
Madragoa Filmes
Production
RTP
Production
Instituto do Cinema, Audiovisual e Multimédia
Production
Portugal
Produced in
Languages
Original title
Branca de Neve
Original language
Portuguese
Spoken on screen
Portuguese
Release dates
Italy · September 4, 2000
Premiere · Venice Film Festival
Portugal · October 11, 2000
Theatrical
No release date listed for United States.
Brazil
October 17, 2026 · Premiere · São Paulo International Film Festival (Paulo Branco Retrospective)
Italy
July 15, 2006 · TV
More from João César Monteiro
Other films they directed, best known first.
If you liked Snow White
Picks that share its genres, themes, cast and crew.
