Review #53: 'The Red Shoes' (1948)

Cited by many directors and critics as one of the greatest films ever made, The Red Shoes was recently remastered under the care of Martin Scorsese. Directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, whilst having made many truly brilliant films, are still not held in a high enough regard. Their films were always awash with Technicolor masterstrokes, and their is no finer example of it than in this film. I truly believe that this is the most beautiful film ever made, and that you could freeze frame any second and hold it up as a work of art.

Telling a story within a story, The Red Shoes focuses on two young, aspiring artists - one is Vicky Paige (Moira Shearer), a beautiful young ballet dancer who makes an impression on ruthless producer Boris Lermonotov (Anton Walbrook). When he asks her the ultimate question - why do you want to dance? - she instantly responds 'why do you want to live?'. The second is Julian Craster (Marius Goring), an ambitious and talented composer whose ability to create great scores gains him the honour of re-writing the score for a new production of Hans Christian Andersen fairytale The Red Shoes. Vicky is cast as the lead, playing a girl seduced by a pair of red shoes that will not stop dancing as much as she tries to stop. Vicky and Julian work closely together, and then inevitably fall in love, much to the jealousy and rage of Lermonotov.

What stuck in mind the most about the film was the fact that my eyes were never allowed to rest as the film progressed. Even during the solemn moments, I found my brain struggling to absorb all the visual magic on display. As the camera pans through a busy rehearsal session, the frame is full of moving characters, colourful costumes, highly detailed sets and complex mise-en-scene. Legendary cinematographer Jack Cardiff, who worked on The African Queen (1951), as well as Powell/Pressbuger masterpieces Black Narcissus (1947) and A Matter Of Life And Death (1946), deserves every award available for his work here. The centrepiece performance of The Red Shoes which lasts for around 15 minutes, is as imaginative and as breathtaking a set-piece as in any film I've ever seen. Cardiff was given an Honorary Oscar in 2001 for his contribution to cinema.

Not to say the rest of the film is lacking. Pressburger's original script includes some fantastic lines. The complexity of Lermonotov's jealousy and anger when Vicky leaves the stage to be with her love is summed up in a great scene - Lermonotov and Julian stand in Vicky's dressing room, as Vicky is torn between her love of dance and to her husband. Julian simply accuses 'you're jealous of her', to which Lermonotov replies 'yes, I am. But in a way you'll never understand.' It's brilliance lies in it's simplicity.

The Red Shoes' legacy is it's influences of many filmmakers and cinematographers, cementing it's place as one of the greatest films of all time, and the pinnacle of the body of work produced by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger. The film was practically remade recently with Black Swan (2010), which shared much of the films style and plot, but little of its intrigue and importance. Genuine cinematic magic.


Directed by: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Starring: Moira Shearer, Marius Goring, Anton Walbrook
Country: UK

Rating: *****

Tom Gillespie