The Red ShoesThe need to express ourselves is what makes us human. It is an intrinsic part of our identity--it can at times possess us and drive us with obsessive compulsion. The Red Shoes is a story of three people, and their drawing together in ballet, their passions for their art, and their inherent humanity--good and bad. Victoria "Vicky" Page (Moira Shearer) is a young and startlingly talented ballerina, Julian Craster (Marius Goring) is a young composer looking to make a name for himself, and Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook) is the benefactor and employer of both of them...and also the jealous force which seeks to drive them apart.
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The Red Shoes dances between moments of almost documentary-like realism, with scenes of backstage fervor and preparation for the performances of the ballet company headed by Lermontov, as well as the vivid stage presentation--which explodes with spectacle--of the ballet written by Julian, starring Vicky: "The Red Shoes". Vicky intrigues Lermontov in a way that Elizabeth Bennet intrigues Mr. Darcy of Pride and Prejudice; her rebuttal at his snobbery when he discovers that he refused to witness her dance at a party engages the aloof impresario. Similarly, he reacts with an almost identical response to Julian, when he discovers that it was the young composer's hand which penned the score for the opera he had only recently produced--not his plagiarizing instructor. And while we suspect that Lermontov intends to keep an eye on these to ingenues, he does not permit any hint of favoritism--he allows them to become beloved to the company by virtue of the talents he already recognizes...or grows to acknowledge, which causes the fellows in the company to change their tune about the new blood. The moments in The Red Shoes which appear almost staged--with clearly artificial backgrounds and sets--correlate with the moments when Vicky and Julian are together, their own work relationship born of their mutual passion for the stage blossoming into something more. During a birthday party while on tour, Vicky and Julian are absent, to which one character reveals their affair, calling them "Romeo" Craster and "Juliet" Page, another reference to the theater. An earlier scene involving a former star of the ballet--who announces during a dress rehearsal that she is to be wed--prompts Lermontov to walk out, cold to her romance. He exclaims to an associate that a woman in love cannot truly dance; he later adds to this that it is as if they are dreaming, "a luxury he does not permit". In a cast with characters whose motivations are mostly transparent, Lermontov's reasons for his jealousy are never fully made clear. At face value, he is obsessed with the ballet and the art of crafting a perfect woman to be his centerpiece. But he has made efforts to not only entreat and show great kindness to Vicky in the past--asking of her, attending her performances prior to his advancement of her in his company in secret--that we would be equally right in suspecting that he has designs on her which are not entirely professional. It might even be as simple as that he resents the happiness which Vicky and Julian find with one another--or any woman--and his impulse is to undo that happiness when he feels that the people he has nurtured (read: moved like pieces on a chessboard into the limelight) appear ungrateful for his "benevolence". Frankly, there may be more at work behind the inscrutable producer, and the ambiguity of Lermontov makes him an intriguing figure--both mentor and antagonist.
Even before the plot of The Red Shoes swings into action, we already understand the motivations and needs of our three characters. For Lermontov, the ballet is a religion, for Julian, the music is all that matters, and for Vicky, to dance is to live--a trifecta of obsession, which burns hottest when the flames are stoked. For instance, when Julian is invited to rewrite parts of the score to "The Red Shoes", he seems to trail off from Lermontov, and is pulled into some other place, as though an underlying magic spell was just invoked. And during the first performance, the ballet transforms--without any introduction--from mere stage to another world. Up until this point, the most extensive use of Technicolor was the magical, fiery red of Moira Shearer's hair--which marks her onscreen, even in the background, and also tags her as a part of the company, before attaining her superstar status. As "The Red Shoes" is performed, we are taken with the story into the fantasy world created--as if a display about how a good story can pull you right out of your reality and into another. And while we might assume that this realm is a manifestation of the audience's imagination, once Vicky looks upon the shadow of the devilish shoemaker--only to see the reflections of Lermontov and Julian within him--do we realize that this is Vicky's fantasia which we have been drawn into. The extensive scene showcasing the ballet might appear as an indulgent display, but it really represents the inner workings of Vicky, her deep thoughts, her absolute submergence into the material. She loves her art, and for a moment, she becomes it. But there exists other psychological issues which are conjured up in her dreamscape, which is how we really get to know her, since she is not always honest about her own needs. After the inevitable confrontation with Lermontov--who fires Julian, but tries to lure Vicky to stay--she abandons the company out of love and duty...but the passion remains; it cannot be driven out or buried, and we know this because we have seen it. Julian is the only one who is completely forthright about what he feels--for better or worse--but his inability to really understand his wife like he should makes the confrontation in this obsessive triangle only more complicated. Julian is not mean or cruel--he is actually a good man--but misreads Vicky and distrusts her when she needs him the most. On the other hand, Lermontov is mean and cruel, and uses Vicky and Julian to try to get his way, to pull Vicky into his own underworld, a possessive Hades to her Persephone. The ending of The Red Shoes is great because it is open to a good amount of interpretation; one thought is that the story of these three is a reenactment of the Hans Christian Andersen story from which it is based, and they are merely playing their accursed parts, and that the red shoes are cursed. Another interpretation may be that these two men are using Vicky to satisfy their own needs; as Vicky's needs must be sacrificed on the altar of their satisfaction, she rebels in the most permanent way. These--and other--interpretations are all valid, as the story could mean different things to different people, like art should; and what is ballet but the "poetry of the body", an interpretive dance?
Recommended for: Fans of a gorgeous film about the wonders of stagecraft and the drama of the theater, with rich and vibrant dance numbers more vivid than any traditional theater could offer. It is also a tale of driven characters and the conflict which arises when those desires clash.
Even before the plot of The Red Shoes swings into action, we already understand the motivations and needs of our three characters. For Lermontov, the ballet is a religion, for Julian, the music is all that matters, and for Vicky, to dance is to live--a trifecta of obsession, which burns hottest when the flames are stoked. For instance, when Julian is invited to rewrite parts of the score to "The Red Shoes", he seems to trail off from Lermontov, and is pulled into some other place, as though an underlying magic spell was just invoked. And during the first performance, the ballet transforms--without any introduction--from mere stage to another world. Up until this point, the most extensive use of Technicolor was the magical, fiery red of Moira Shearer's hair--which marks her onscreen, even in the background, and also tags her as a part of the company, before attaining her superstar status. As "The Red Shoes" is performed, we are taken with the story into the fantasy world created--as if a display about how a good story can pull you right out of your reality and into another. And while we might assume that this realm is a manifestation of the audience's imagination, once Vicky looks upon the shadow of the devilish shoemaker--only to see the reflections of Lermontov and Julian within him--do we realize that this is Vicky's fantasia which we have been drawn into. The extensive scene showcasing the ballet might appear as an indulgent display, but it really represents the inner workings of Vicky, her deep thoughts, her absolute submergence into the material. She loves her art, and for a moment, she becomes it. But there exists other psychological issues which are conjured up in her dreamscape, which is how we really get to know her, since she is not always honest about her own needs. After the inevitable confrontation with Lermontov--who fires Julian, but tries to lure Vicky to stay--she abandons the company out of love and duty...but the passion remains; it cannot be driven out or buried, and we know this because we have seen it. Julian is the only one who is completely forthright about what he feels--for better or worse--but his inability to really understand his wife like he should makes the confrontation in this obsessive triangle only more complicated. Julian is not mean or cruel--he is actually a good man--but misreads Vicky and distrusts her when she needs him the most. On the other hand, Lermontov is mean and cruel, and uses Vicky and Julian to try to get his way, to pull Vicky into his own underworld, a possessive Hades to her Persephone. The ending of The Red Shoes is great because it is open to a good amount of interpretation; one thought is that the story of these three is a reenactment of the Hans Christian Andersen story from which it is based, and they are merely playing their accursed parts, and that the red shoes are cursed. Another interpretation may be that these two men are using Vicky to satisfy their own needs; as Vicky's needs must be sacrificed on the altar of their satisfaction, she rebels in the most permanent way. These--and other--interpretations are all valid, as the story could mean different things to different people, like art should; and what is ballet but the "poetry of the body", an interpretive dance?
Recommended for: Fans of a gorgeous film about the wonders of stagecraft and the drama of the theater, with rich and vibrant dance numbers more vivid than any traditional theater could offer. It is also a tale of driven characters and the conflict which arises when those desires clash.