|
The re-release of this classic UK piece of cinema is due to
the ongoing efforts of Martin Scorsese’s ‘The Film Foundation’
which takes memorable pieces of cinema and restores the colour, look
and feel of the film to its original quality as if you are transported
back to the film’s original release day. Based on Hans Christian Anderson’s fairy tale it tells the story of a young ballerina Victoria Page (Moira Shearer) who along with being enchanted by a pair of crimson slippers is torn between her love for two men; the composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring) and the director Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook). Along with the decision of who to love, Victoria must make the ultimate sacrifice for her performance. The film was written, produced and directed by the Archers, the celebrated partnership of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, who prior to this production had made ‘Black Narcissus’, ‘The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp’ and ‘A Matter of Life and Death’. This was intended to be a dream of Powell’s to create a perfect piece of art in celebration and collaboration of film and music together seamlessly to create one piece of sumptuous art. - set about two amazing ballet set pieces where knives turn into flowers and sets vanish before your eyes and the finale. The first time I saw a P&P film was at the Cambridge Film Festival in 2005, where I saw ‘Black Narcissus’ where I was more bowled over by the cinematography by Jack Cardiff (who repeats his sterling work here). On that occasion Cardiff had the infered location of mountain landscapes to use, but here it is second to the music and the theatrical elements embued through the story. You are always reminded that P&P started in silent films, and watching the film you can see that influence of telling a story by a look of an actor who is is not talking, says more than one shouting from the rooftops. ‘The Red Shoes’ remains an astonishing visual experience by some of the best exponents of film Britain has seen, whose influence remains prevalent as Scorsese shows because he making sure this film is still seen by a wider audience and newer, younger generations. Scorsese again works with Thelma Schoonmaker - his preferred editor and widow to Michael Powell. Powell &Pressburger are renowned worldwide but I sometimes think in this country they get short-changed as a lot of their films are not cheap entertainment for the masses (a la Hitchcock) but they are storytellers who worked with actors at the top of their game before they left for America, but I feel more and more people are getting on the P&P band wagon, and do not be surprised should one film of theirs be on the ‘Sight & Sound’ All-time Top 10 list in 2012. If you are interested in watching insightful, thought provoking, intellectual film language films then you would not do better than a P&P film - and The Red Shoes is an excellent introductory piece - where film, theatre, music and dance combine to create a unique artistic experience . ITV Global Entertainment classic film library comprises of more than 1,500 titles from the Rank, Rohauer, Romulus, Korda and ITC libraries, the multi-award winning collection features iconic stars including Richard Burton, Vivien Leigh, Sophia Loren and Laurence Olivier, directed by legends such as David Lean, Alfred Hitchcock and Powell and Pressburger. The Red Shoes Copyright: © 1948 Carlton Film Distributors The film new look received its world premiere at Cannes this year and will be released through itv DVD on 6 July 2009 in a Special Edition release.
|
