Red Shoes, The (1948)
Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Honors:
Academy Award for Best Score (Drama/Comedy)
A feature film that revolutionized both the use of dance with
feature films and the use of Technicolor, The
Red Shoes would become known as one the greatest films of British cinema.
It’s tale of love, dedication, and betrayal would win the praise of many film
critics of its time and beyond, despite being considered by a select few as
being a bit far overly dramatic and predicable by those familiar with common
movie plots. Overall the picture is a work of divine beauty for the year 1948,
helping the expand the artistic use of mainstream motion pictures by taking the
bright colors of the Technicolor process and giving it a dark edge in a
dramatic feature about the struggle of one’s dedication.
The Red Shoes is a
drama about a young ballerina who becomes torn between the man that makes her a
star and the man she loves. From humble beginning the young dancer Vicky Paige
(Moira Shearer) and fresh faced composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring) gain respective
opportunities from famed, autocratic ballet impresario, Boris Lermontov (Anton
Walbrook), in his new production, The Red Shoes, based on the Has Christian
Anderson fairytale. The ballet’s story is about a pair of red dancing shoes
that appears to cast a spell on a young, beautiful lady found of dancing, making
her dance ceaselessly until it claims her life, a tale that would eerily
mirrors the movie’s plot. While Vicky is trained to be the next great ballerina
and Julian the new composer for the renounced producer, they begin to share a
romance they attempt to keep from Lermontov, who frowns upon the distraction of
love among his talent. However, Lermontov too finds himself falling in love
with his prized ballerina as The Red Shoes becomes a massive hit, but when he discovers
of their relationship he shuns both of the lovers who depart their the production
to marry. Nevertheless, Vicky allows herself to be enticed by Lermontov to
return, a defiant gesture in the face of Julian as she struggles with art over
love. Before taking the stage Vicky realizes her misjudgment fleeing the ballet
before curtain goes up in a gesture that claims her life.
For a Technicolor picture of this period, The Red Shoes is a powerful masterpiece
of visuals. Powell and Pressburger, better known as “The Archers,” utilize the color
process in a way that has so rarely been seen in motion pictures. The artistry
they evoke in their imagery have not been seen in my eyes since Walt Disney’s
highly experimental feature Fantasia,
utilizing special effects, surreal imagery and using the Technicolor camera to
not only showcase bright colors, but dramatic shadows and mood. The ballet
sequence captures a surrealistic feeling that is highly inventive, mirroring
and foreshadowing the eventual tragedy of the primary plot in a fanciful, yet
dark way. On top of all this is the exquisite dancing performances of Moira
Shearer and the supporting cast of dancers that deliver top rate execution
accentuated by very fine acting. For a film about ballet, any viewer can enjoy
the artistry and plot without worry of having any foreknowledge or taste for
the dancing art.
For writers/producers/directors Powell and Pressburger, The Red Shoes was a project they had
been envisioning for a number of years when they worked under producer
Alexander Korda, and after many delays would set out to produce on their own.
Putting emphasis of the dancing within the picture, The Archers decided on
casting dancers that could act rather than actors that could somewhat dance.
From this decision we get the casting of Moira Shearer, a classically trained ballerina
making her film acting debut, in a leading role no less. Her mastery of the
ballet is on full display as she goes from acting to dancing with no need for
cutting. It was this realism that The Archers were looking for in making this
picture to fully showcase the talent of its dancers, including its talented lead.
Shearer delivers a naïveté in this role that is near perfect when contrasting
with her very precise
Anton Walbrook portrays a perfectly menacing antagonist in
the picture. His dry, intimidating demeanor evokes that his art is above all
else to him, capturing a tone that is fearsome for anyone who has felt the need
to impress a superior. Furthermore his menace is accentuated with the moment of
slight romantic vulnerability as he falls in love with his ballerina only to be
broken by the truth that she loves another, shattering the possibility build of
sharing softer side, becoming even more stern and heartless in his role. 
Marius Goring’s character of Julian feels as if it was pared
back a bit from its original idea. Goring is believable as a young musical
scholar out to prove his worth beyond an overly critical producer, even though
doing so proves to only hold him back more by a man who can destroy his career
with a swift stroke of his hand. However, the role of Julian who actually opens
the picture as the focus appears to fall off as the plot unfolds. For most the
second and third acts one might forget his importance as the plot revolves
around Vicky and Lermontov until the very end. This sadly leaves Goring’s
impact on the picture to feel limited.
As mentioned before, the ballet sequence showcasing the
titular production of “The Red Shoes” is where the picture really allows itself
to go in an imaginative ride creatively and technologically. The surrounding of
the dancers appears to change and dissolve with the use of seamless special
effects that are far better than the casual, yet still limited blue screens of
the day. Performers morph before your eyes in convincing fashion that could
rival the effects makers of several decades later. Shadows and darkness
emphasize the drama and artistry of the ballet as it dissolves into a fanciful
and imaginative telling of the tale, instead of simply filming a common stage
production, enhancing the storytelling in this performance sequence. This
allows the viewer to forget that are watching a movie about a ballet, or even that
they are watching a fanciful ballet sequence, but rather allowing the sequence
to embraced the audience into the scene for greatest effect.
The resulting picture would be one the finest British motion
pictures of its day and in history. Winning Academy Awards for Best Score and
Best Art Direction, while also being nominated for Best Picture, Screenplay,
and Editing, The Red Shoes was a generously
well respected film in the motion picture community immediately while the
ballet community shared mixed reactions. The story would eventually be
considered a bit cliché, but the originality of the filmmaking would be
heralded for years to come. For a generation of filmmakers coming up through
the film schools in the 1950s-70s The Red
Shoes was a great inspiration, being named among most creatively influential
movies in the minds of those that shaped the future of cinema.
Great care has been taken to preserving The Red Shoes, most notably by the UCLA Film and Television Archive
and the home distribution company The Criterion Collection. Restoration of this
motion picture manifests how highly regarded the picture is in both the English
and American cinematic communities hoping to continue on its legacy in the
history of cinema for future generations to enjoy.
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