The Red Shoes (1948)

 

Genre: Romance/ Musical 

Time: 2h 13mins

Directors: Emeric Pressburger, Michael Powell

Quick Summary: A young ballerina is torn between her art and her romance with a young composer.

I adored every single second of this and honestly, I never wanted this to end.

This film is a visual masterpiece, wonderfully drenched in fully saturated vibrant colours. Imagine a fairy tale coming to life, a timeless classic that I'm sure people will love for many many years still. Absolutely visually stunning, every single frame is full of details to look at and it is so mesmerising to watch. I was glued to this the entire time. There is a 17-minute ballet performance around halfway through and honestly, I could have watched that forever. Any of the ballet scenes I was in love as they were all so breathtaking. 

This is honestly so captivating. It seamlessly blends the world of ballet and romance, with an almost fairy tale-like essence that takes the viewers on a journey of magic and passion. It completely sucks you in. I think most of it comes down to the choreography being so intricate and flawless, as well as the cinematography bringing it up to a new level. This is absolutely phenomenal to watch.

The characters are skillfully developed, and the film delves into the intricate interplay between artistic achievement and romance, which adds depth and complexity to the narrative. A lot of the ballet scenes are used not only to showcase a visual masterpiece but also to further the story in such a beautiful way, exploring emotional turmoil and desires all whilst not being overwhelming.

This mainly revolves around the sacrifices and tough choices that people, especially artists have to make in order to achieve what they want. It centres around a talented young dancer who finds herself torn between her love for a composer and her loyalty to the demanding and uncompromising boss of the ballet company. This means she is constantly fighting between her two loves and struggles to choose, leading her to feel constantly discontented and it consumes her. 

The performances in this film are truly exceptional. Moira Shearer's portrayal of the dancer is remarkable especially, as she brings depth, grace, and vulnerability to her character. She was absolutely brilliant, and I loved every moment she appeared on the screen. Being the heart of the whole film she stole all the scenes unapologetically. You feel her emotions with her throughout, down to the very last moment. Be this through her dancing, dramatic close-ups, or simply how she is using her body language.

My only real complaint about this is the ending, I won't spoil it, although I wish they did something slightly different. It all just feels a bit anticlimactic for how tense and expressive this film was. Almost like it sadly fizzled out. They did tease one idea of them doing the performance without the dancer which to me was an amazing idea and would have loved to see it, though in the end they only captured a moment of it. 

This goes beyond simple entertainment. This is an artistic film and I simply adore this. Beautifully shot in technicolour it bursts out with life with every second. I fully believe this will be forever timeless and will hold an incredible legacy and really needs to be spoken about more. Rich in inspiration and creativity, this deserves 100 percent of your attention. 

9/10

"Boris Lermontov: Why do you want to dance?

Victoria Page: Why do you want to live?

Boris Lermontov: Well I don't know exactly why, er, but I must.

Victoria Page: That's my answer too."

"Grischa Ljubov: You can't alter human nature.

Boris Lermontov: No? I think you can do even better than that. You can ignore it!"

"The music is all that matters. Nothing but the music."