Post by klep on Aug 22, 2016 6:47:03 GMT -6
MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 8/22: The Red Shoes
The Red Shoes is a synecdoche; an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale which contains within it the fairy tale itself. In the fairy tale (or at least, the film's version of the fairy tale - these things always have multiple versions), a young woman is given a pair of dancing shoes, but when the evening is over she cannot stop dancing, and indeed dances until she dies of exhaustion. In the film, a young woman Victoria Paige (the brilliant Moira Shearer) is given a role as the lead in a new ballet - The Red Shoes - by brilliant impresario Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). At first it's a delight - her dream come true and passions fulfilled. The ballet - seen in a breathtaking and surreal segment in the film - is a smash and she herself is radiant in it. But she soon learns the price as Boris cruelly works to keep her dancing for him and only dancing. In the end, his machinations and her internal conflicts drive her to suicide - the red shoes from her costume still on her feet.
It's a marvelous bit of writing from the Archers, for which Pressburger received an Oscar nomination (the film also won Best Score, and Set Direction, and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Film Editing). It takes a fairy tale with no real clear message, and turns it into a colorful and brilliant exploration of art. Vicky's passion is for ballet, but where Boris demands complete devotion to the art, Vicky soon finds another passion in her love for the composer. What does the artist owe to his or her art? If you aren't truly devoting your entire being to your art, is it the best it can be? Or is it possible for meaning elsewhere in your life to work with you in feeding your art and making it better that way? Vicky's inability to answer this question - to choose between or otherwise reconcile the options presented to her, is what drives her to despair.
Coming soon after the Archers' Best Cinematography-winning Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes is similarly stunning in its beauty. The color is the first thing people talk about - and rightly so. The brilliant Technicolor really pops (particularly on the Criterion restoration), and Moira Shearer's mane of bright red hair always focuses your attention on her. The centerpiece ballet sequence merges reality and fantasy, the ballet miking with the images Vicky is seeing in her head as she performs - notably including the shoemaker briefly appearing to be Boris and her lover Julian. Cinematographer Jack Cardiff aided things by changing camera speeds to enhance the leaps of the dancers, making them linger in the air. It's a surreal and intensely beautiful experience, the best that cinema can offer.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 8/29: Blow Out
Brian DePalma makes only his second appearance for Movie of the Week as we spend next week discussing Blow Out, starring John Travolta before he got old and weird and was just young and weird. Unfortunately I can't seem to find it on any streaming services.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 8/23: The Black Stallion
Carol Ballard's adaptation of the famed Walter Farley novel about a boy stranded on an island with a horse starts off next week's podcast pairing with the new Pete's Dragon. We'll have a thread to talk about it on Wednesday. The Black Stallion is available for rent on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.
The Red Shoes is a synecdoche; an adaptation of the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale which contains within it the fairy tale itself. In the fairy tale (or at least, the film's version of the fairy tale - these things always have multiple versions), a young woman is given a pair of dancing shoes, but when the evening is over she cannot stop dancing, and indeed dances until she dies of exhaustion. In the film, a young woman Victoria Paige (the brilliant Moira Shearer) is given a role as the lead in a new ballet - The Red Shoes - by brilliant impresario Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). At first it's a delight - her dream come true and passions fulfilled. The ballet - seen in a breathtaking and surreal segment in the film - is a smash and she herself is radiant in it. But she soon learns the price as Boris cruelly works to keep her dancing for him and only dancing. In the end, his machinations and her internal conflicts drive her to suicide - the red shoes from her costume still on her feet.
It's a marvelous bit of writing from the Archers, for which Pressburger received an Oscar nomination (the film also won Best Score, and Set Direction, and was nominated for Best Picture and Best Film Editing). It takes a fairy tale with no real clear message, and turns it into a colorful and brilliant exploration of art. Vicky's passion is for ballet, but where Boris demands complete devotion to the art, Vicky soon finds another passion in her love for the composer. What does the artist owe to his or her art? If you aren't truly devoting your entire being to your art, is it the best it can be? Or is it possible for meaning elsewhere in your life to work with you in feeding your art and making it better that way? Vicky's inability to answer this question - to choose between or otherwise reconcile the options presented to her, is what drives her to despair.
Coming soon after the Archers' Best Cinematography-winning Black Narcissus, The Red Shoes is similarly stunning in its beauty. The color is the first thing people talk about - and rightly so. The brilliant Technicolor really pops (particularly on the Criterion restoration), and Moira Shearer's mane of bright red hair always focuses your attention on her. The centerpiece ballet sequence merges reality and fantasy, the ballet miking with the images Vicky is seeing in her head as she performs - notably including the shoemaker briefly appearing to be Boris and her lover Julian. Cinematographer Jack Cardiff aided things by changing camera speeds to enhance the leaps of the dancers, making them linger in the air. It's a surreal and intensely beautiful experience, the best that cinema can offer.
OUR NEXT MOVIE OF THE WEEK for 8/29: Blow Out
Brian DePalma makes only his second appearance for Movie of the Week as we spend next week discussing Blow Out, starring John Travolta before he got old and weird and was just young and weird. Unfortunately I can't seem to find it on any streaming services.
NEXT PICTURE SHOW PODCAST for 8/23: The Black Stallion
Carol Ballard's adaptation of the famed Walter Farley novel about a boy stranded on an island with a horse starts off next week's podcast pairing with the new Pete's Dragon. We'll have a thread to talk about it on Wednesday. The Black Stallion is available for rent on Amazon Instant Video, though it is not free for Prime members.