The Red Shoes

The Red Shoes - 1948, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

One of those films that you only ever hear of when it appears on ‘Best Films Ever Made’ lists, easily the best film about ballet ever made, probably the best film made in 1948.

The Red Shoes takes the fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson and cleverly interprets it in two completely different ways. The film tells the story of a ballet company that puts on a production of a ballet of The Red Shoes starring an aspiring young dancer called Vicky. In the ballet, Vicky plays the part of a girl who dons a pair of red shoes and starts to dance, and she can’t stop dancing. The enchanted red shoes cause her to dance herself to death. The plot of the film revolves around the ballet/fairytale and mirrors the story.

The film could be considered to be two films in one due to an inspired fantasy sequence that takes place in the middle of the film. The film is based in reality, but when the ballet of The Red Shoes starts, we are taken away from the stage in the theatre where the ballet is premiering and shown a belletic creation of Powell and Pressburger’s vision. The sequence uses special effects and large sets and background mattes that are impossible in a conventional ballet. The film goes from reality to fantasy to reality again, and it works brilliantly.

The non fantasy elements are almost too good to be true. Every shot and every scene is flawlessly composed and directed. The disappointing ending is the only thing that stops The Red Shoes being perfect.

So that’s where they got the idea for ‘Thriller’.
http://www.theauteurs.com/films/233/