The Red Shoes

Directors: Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger,
Writers: Hans Christian Andersen (fairy tale); Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger (original screenplay), Keith Winter (additional dialogue)
Cinematography: Jack Cardiff
Starring: Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Moira Shearer

One of my favourite film is ‘The red shoes’, and it is one of the best films about ballerina and ballet (Some might argue it's black swan, well that's another good film). The film follows a dancer, Victoria Page who was chosen to dance in the ballet ‘The red shoes’. A Hans Christian Andersen fairytale about a girl who could not stop dancing after she put on the red shoes offered by a demonic shoemaker and eventually dies from exhaustion. And so Vicky put on her red shoes and danced one of the greatest and most fascinating 17 minutes ballet sequence. 

Like all musicals, she falls in love with the composer, Julian Craster, and had to choose between her passion for dancing and her love for Julian because the impresario Boris Lermontov who strongly believes ‘A dancer who relies upon the doubtful comforts of human love will never be a great dancer’ objects to the two being together. Why? I’m not sure too. Could it be jealousy? Or that he wanted full control of his ballerina? 

How do you choose? After all, to Vicky, to dance is to live. But she chose to leave with Julian and they got married. Then some time later, while Julian was away, Boris offered her the opportunity to dance ‘The red shoes’ again and what happen next, I shouldn’t tell. 

I sort of foresee what will happen at the end but to see how it unfolded still came as a shock to me. The fluency of the movie and the tension were built up so well that it doesn’t matter when some questions about the movie came up. 

Moira Shearer was actually a ballerina (a real ballerina!) in her first screen role but she was a natural, probably better than some actresses who have acted for years. The beautiful red locks, white dress and red shoes are perfect combination for a doomed ballerina.

Lermontov: Why do you want to dance?
Vicky: Why do you want to live?
Lermontov: Well, I don't know exactly why, but... I must.
Vicky: That's my answer too.