Features: DVD, Commentary, Theatrical Version, Trailers, English, Subtitled
A young ballerina (Moira Shearer) is torn between the man she loves and the career that possesses her. Intricately weaving off-stage life with the thrill of performance, this spectacular Technicolor classic influenced generations of filmmakers, artists, and balletomanes. Click here for more Criterion favorites!
Editor's Note
This seminal dance film, created Powell and Pressburger, in which an impresario takes a ballerina under his wing, deftly combines interpretive dance with drama. This acclaimed adaption of a Hans Christian Anderson fairy tale results in a marked triumph of artistic collaboration and modernity. More than any other film, THE RED SHOES deals with the dangerous, magical process by which art is distilled from preparation and effort.
Plot Summary
Powell and Pressburger, who called their unique creative partnership The Archers, were no strangers to controversy. Each film they made together aimed it's barb at complacency and tackled a new creative challenge. They intended for this story, of a ballerina's life backstage, to turn into a manifesto for the claims of art over mundane life. Through a young dancer's eyes, unforgettably played by Moira Shearer, we meet a young composer, played by Marius Goring, and we enter a ballet company under the leading dancer and choreographer Robert Helpmann. At the center of the company is the malevolent charming impresario Boris Lermontov. Lermontov lives through his creations. People and relationships are ruthlessly subordinated to a drive that inevitably reminds us of the drive to make films. Under the authoritarian rule this charismatic ballet impresario, his proteges realize the full promise of their talents, but at a price: utter devotion to their art and complete loyalty to Lermontov himself. Under his guidance, the young ballerina is poised for superstardom, but earns Lermontov's scorn when she falls in love with the composer of "The Red Shoes," the ballet Lermontov is staging to showcase her talents.
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Features | A Powell and Pressburger filmography with film clips and stills | | English subtitles for the deaf and hearing impaired | | Rare publicity and production stills | | Original theatrical trailer | | The Red Shoes Sketches, an animated film of Hein Heckroth's painted storyboards, with a comparison to "The Red Shoes" ballet as an alternate angle | | New digital transfer, supervised by director of photography Jack Cardiff | | Audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie, stars Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and Martin Scorsese | | Jeremy Irons reads from Powell and Pressburger's novel adaptation and the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale |
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