The Red Shoes
Review: The Red Shoes
“Alright, let [the students] in,” A theater manager said at the beginning of Michael Powell's 1948 dance film. Within a film soaked with strong metaphor and foreshadowing, The outwardly harmless statement is not very much an introduction to what comes to be one of the films most important people, Julian Craster, but rather is an invite for the audience to enter a doorway through not many have ever gone through, even main character Craster himself. Th door, then beaten down a short time after the theater manager's call, was an opening to the character, Boris Lermontov, an area entirely separated from the outside world and focused on a singular goal or mindset, the frantic aspiration to seek out and create the world's greatest ballet dancing, and, from the outset, is obvious that the quest will not be without its victims or individual problems.
The Red Shoe's story line develops very deliberately. It pursues two aspiring people, Craster and Victoria Page, whom are established into Lermontov's prominent ballet company. They don't start off as celebrities though as one is an orchestra trainer and the other a backup dancer, but whose talents, displayed in the production of the ballet “The Red Shoes,” ultimately make them the two shining stars of the ballet industry. In affect they fall in love behind Lermontov's back, which he portrays as a betrayal and let down of his trust as well as a betrayal of the company. As a result, they are let go from the company, and Paige's choice between the ballet and Craster's undeniable love becomes the climax of the story.
One thing about this film is that when this plot is unfolded, the story is almost over. But The Red Shoes in my belief is not really a love story at all. Craster and Paige have this relationship which seems to be present only to create some of the larger themes that are all concluded and resolved in the end of the story.
The actual ambition of Powell's film is to observe the pressures and expenses of a persons “drive” to do something great whether it deals with love or a certain passion such as ballet. This topic is directed on Vicki Paige; after all she is the character most influenced by Lermontov and seems she would sacrifice anything for her ballet. Vicki has the potential to be the best, and Lermontov recognizes that she can be if she is willing to do what it takes. Crasters love becomes a major obstacle to her desires and goals. A quote from the film, “Dance she did, and dance she must - between her two loves,” proves the tension created between Ballet and Love.
The divergence is constituted with the support of Boris Lermontov. The character Anton Walbrook's is the driving force behind the movie's themes and ideas. He can be commanding at times and easy-going during other times. During one emotional scene Lermontov sits in his dark office cloaked in crimson, looking like the perfect vision of spiteful revenge. Not saying a word, Walbrook puts across to the audience that the entire nature of the film has begun to change and that this apparent love story will very likely come to an unfortunate ending. Powell's used abstract lighting and foreshadowing to bring upon the situation and un tap what the characters real motives were.
Lermontov seems and tries to fool everyone by acting as if he wants what is best for his company and dancers, but in reality, he is a dishonest man unable to personal needs aside. His only goal is to make Paige the greatest dancer in the world. Paige is his establishment and can only belong to him. He views Craster's love as a distraction pushing her farther from his selfish desire. With the use of his grip and impact on Paige, he gets her to make a sacrifice she probably wouldn't make herself. “Dreaming,” he says, “is a luxury I've never permitted in my company.”
The Red Shoes in actuality does not involve the difficulties between two men for the heart of one girl, instead it involves the difficulties for human desire, for example, Paige's love for ballet, and human nature. The metaphor throughout the film is the red shoes that Paige wore. They serve as this universal reminder of where she came from and how she got to where she is.
Imagery is a very important aspect within The Red Shoes. It serves as a basis for many themes and scenes throughout the film. They seem to use colors to enhance the mood and change the way you might think about the particular moment. Two colors that seem to play an important role in the film are blue and red. They are symbols of purity and delight. It would be odd to envision the idea that a color could be a character in a film but this was Powell's and Cardiff's plan; the use of color to dictate the audiences thoughts and what they should anticipate from the characters and their actions during the film.
The Scenery in the film is used just as much as the color but in a very different sense. Powell uses representation within the landscape to correspond to the plot rather than what the characters give him. For example, in a scene, Vicki travels up a bending mountain road along huge cliffs hanging over the ocean to meet up with Lermontov for the first time at the Monte Carlo. Although it is a very obvious visually inclined metaphor, this use of ordinary scenery portrays the exactness Powell used to form his mental image.
What makes this movie different from a traditional dance movie was Powells attention to small details. Dance, simply by the nature of the art, has a love-hate relationship with the silver screen. When the numbers seem too spontaneous, the affect can be unintentionally comedic. When the numbers seem too contrived, the affect disturbs the suspension of disbelief that must come naturally from a dance-film audience. After all, even the most natural sequences are entirely inherently ridiculous if the viewers are not willing to believe that gang members, psych-ward patients, or any other marginalized group are naturally inclined to express themselves through song and dance.
The Red Shoes does not suffer from those problems. Yes, the film is about a dance company, so the sequences fit well within the plot line without having to press it. Powell, however, does not force ballet onto the screen; doing so would seriously threaten the film's appeal to those less patient with the art form. He includes only one extended sequence, the performance of the film's title ballet, and this small dose is satisfactory. Any more of the now antiquated style might have been a turn-off, but the sampling is impressive enough (a tip-of-the-hat here to Shearer and Léonide Massine, both pro-fessional dancers) that it does not drag for a moment. Credit Powell and choreo-grapher Robert Helpmann with molding a scene that displays the physical difficulty as well as the timing and pressure that comes with the performance of a ballet. The message is apparent: ballet, consistent with Lermontov's assessment of the art, is not for those who have their mind anywhere but on the stage.
If the film has a weakness, it lies in the performances of a number of the film's actors and actresses, such as Shearer and Massine, who were taken directly from the ballet stage and thrust in front of a camera. While in no way detrimental to the film, it is clear that they were accustomed to the exaggerated motion of the stage rather than the more reserved style more suited to the camera. It is also probable that Powell pushed them to embellish certain characteristics (Massine, in particular, is especially flamboyant) in order to simplify certain conceptions about ballet. These simpli-fications are troublesome and make some of the film's interactions too melodramatic, but it's important to remember that the setting is not the gritty alleys of West Side Story. This is ballet, an art based on visual representation, and so the excited physical expression of actor's such as Massine is less awkward than expected.
Overall, the film's appeal should be attributed to the good taste of Powell and the multitude of prestigious aids he employed such as Cardiff, Helpmann, composer Brian Easdale, and art director Arthur Lawson. Their contributions to the film are invaluable, making The Red Shoes a special film that offers overwhelming visual and aural sensations. Combined with the complicated philosophical and emotional issues, Powell and company produced a movie that should stand among the greatest in its genre.
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