Rating: 
Summary: The Life in Show Business
Review: The film lasts 133 minutes. More editing, trim it and the effects would be even better. But it was filmed 1/2 a century ago and the viewers then were so different. It's preposterous to apply the modern standards. Look at wholesome forest, not just the trees... I find this film engaging and telling. The theme and the fate of the heroine is so touching and the director showed us the life of these ballerinas and musicians from behind the stage, their their politics and their ups and downs etc. A tragic warning for those who contemplate a life of show business, especially those who feel obliged to have a family...
Rating:
Summary: GREAT DVD
Review: The reader below is quite correct; this is a superior DVD with commentary, among otherd, by Martin Scorcese who says he was much influenced by the film when begenning his career. Personally.although great to watch, I thought some of the special effects diluted the pure dance in the film.
Rating:
Summary: Beautiful piece of art and dance
Review: The Red Shoes from 1948 is a film about the making of a ballet "The Red Shoes" taken from a Hans Christian Andersen story. It's certainly a fantastic film with some excellent imagery and costume designs. The makeup and hair were also very beautiful. I would reccommend this film to anyone who enjoys dance, especially movies like "An American in Paris."
Definitely a must for any dancer!
Rating:
Summary: a ballet masterpiece
Review: THE RED SHOES is a classic of film-making. With a highly dramatic plot and an unforgettable score, it truly is a masterpiece. Into the famous Lermontov Company comes young Victoria Page (Moira Shearer). A ballerina eager to master her craft. Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook) is already aware of Vicky's talents, and soon Vicky is one of the principal artists in the company. However, Vicky finds herself attracted to the young composer Julian Craster (Marius Goring), whom Lermontov has patronised. Soon Vicky finds herself caught between two loves - the simple human passion that has caught up Julian and herself, and the jealous ballet master Lermontov. All of this comes to a head in the ballet "The Red Shoes". The story concerns a young girl who buys a pair of enchanted red shoes. The shoes cause her to dance and dance for eternity until she is driven to her death. In life, and in the ballet, Vicky dances to her ultimate destruction... With a beautiful ballet score by Brian Easdale, and stunning choreography by Sir Robert Helpmann, this is the "Holy Grail" of ballet films. With Leonide Massine, Robert Helpmann, Albert Basserman, Ludmilla Tcherina and Esmond Knight.
Rating:
Summary: A Cinematic Ballet Masterpiece
Review: The Red Shoes was inspired by the dark fairy tale of Hans Christian Anderson. Anderson's story involved a doomed heroine who puts on red shoes and dances against her will until she collapses and dies. This melodramatic tale is taken to 1940's London where Victoria Page (played by ballerina/actress Moira Sheer) meets with the perfectionist and successful impresario of a famous ballet company, Lentmontov. Victoria Page's rise to stardom is a must see for ballet fans. First in the corps de ballet (or chorus line) she meets with Lentmontov's approval and becomes an accomplished prima ballerina. The film is shot in various European locales- such as the Paris Opera in Paris where numerous ballets are performed, as well as the sunny coast of Monte Carlo. The rest of the film deals with Victoria's romance with the composer and orchestra conductor Julian. She is deeply in love with him, but torn between her desire for perfection in her own career (forced upon her by the demanding Lentmontov) and by her heart. Tragically, Victoria's fate is like the titular heroine in Anderson's fairy tale "The Red Shoes" and before our very eyes we are witness to her demise through dance. She literally dances to her death. Highlights in the film include the various scenes from ballets such as Giselle, Swan Lake and Coppelia, but this film is mot famous for the captivating original ballet "The Red Shoes". Amidst dizzying neon lights and foreboding landscapes, Victoria Page dances with the red shoes until she dies and a funeral procession breaks out. But this, in the context of the film, is merely a metaphor. The Red Shoes represent the ballet, and most directly, Victoria Page's situation. She loves the ballet but she does not want to give up her true love with Julian. According to Lentmontov, one cannot be distracted by love. All that matters is the ballet. Victoria's indecision ultimately costs her life. This film is well made, beautiful to look at and provides us with excellent melodrama. Moira Sheer has appeared in other Powell and Pressburger films such as their version of "Tales Of Hoffman" in early 1950's. Five stars and a must see for ballet fans or just cinema fans interested in classic masterpieces that are not as acknowledged.
Rating:
Summary: Shearer shines and dances with the red shoes
Review: The Red Shoes was one of the best ventures by The Archers, the joint production company by Briton Michael Powell and Hungarian emigre to Britain Emeric Pressburger, considered to be the definitive film marrying ballet and cinema. The story of the Red Shoes by Hans Christian Andersen forms the basis for the story of aspiring dancer Victoria Page, aspiring composer Julian Crasster, and ballet company impresario Boris Lermontov, who takes on the latter two under his wing. Crasster's involvement begins when portions of his work Hearts Of Fire is appropriated in a ballet, and he's given the job of orchestra coach, when he confronts Lermontov. Page comes to the attention of the maestro when the latter snubs an offer by the girl's aristocratic aunt to see her dance. To the Russian, ballet is more than poetry and motion, but his religion, and hence, not an audition. He tries her out at a separate audition, where she makes the final cut. Lermonotov decides to stage his next ballet based on Andersen's tale, with Victoria as the principle (Victoria Principle? just kidding) and Crassner as the composer. The ballet is a hit, for Lermontov and the whole film, as it's the highlight of the entire movie, with Victoria's flaming red hair a marked contrast to her pale skin and outfit, the ruby red shoes forming a near-symmetry, as they are on her toes. The choreography as well as the music is masterful. Despite Lermonotov and Crassner's insistence that "the music is all that matters," for us the film viewer, it's also the colours and dancing that do as well. Indeed, though the cinematography missed an Oscar, the score and art-direction/set decoration did not. However, as demonstrated by the departure of his previous star, Irina Boronskaya due to marriage, the authoritarian Lermontov takes this personally, almost a heresy to his religion of ballet. To him, a dancer relies on the doubtful comfort of human love. Once that doubt is removed, goodbye dancing shoes, tights, exercise bar, hello high heels, stockings, and kitchen. He is determined to make Page a master dancer, and anything that comes in the way, he sees as a detriment to himself. As for the original story, it's of a girl who puts on a pair of enchanted red shoes that keep on dancing even when the girl doesn't want to. This movie is a reinterpretation of it, where the ballet soon turns to real life. This was Moira Shearer's debut film, and first of only six movies, and the young Scot creates a vivid but fragile and fairylike Victoria, aspiring dancer, the subject of her Svengali-like mentor, and emotionally tortured between being a dancer and a housewife. As she did ballet from age six, an ideal choice. And Ludmilla Tcherina, who plays Irina and who just recently died, was a former prima ballerina of the Monte Carlo ballet, so another great choice. And admire or hate his petty authoritarian personality, Anton Walbrook's powerful personality drives the movie. But Leonide Massine as the flamboyant, camp dancing coach Grigori Lyubov steals the show. Shearer, Massine, and the two directors would be reunited in The Tales Of Hoffman. A visual triumph in the dancing scenes, as is the foreign location footage. Oh, and the Archers team wasn't the only one inspired by Andersen's tale, as Kate Bush created a reinterpretation of it in her The Line, Curve, and Cross short film.
Rating: 
Summary: A curate's egg (great in parts)
Review: There are lots of great things about this movie: the passion of all the characters (though there's not much real sexual passion), the colour (although the DVD has some strange variations in the colour), the music and, of course, the dancing. The script could have been tighter -- couldn't there have been some other way of getting Anton to work for Lermontov without all that exposition?; Vicky's transformation from chirpy English rose to suicidal maniac doesn't ring true; and are we to bel;ieve that Lermontov is in love with Vicky or just obsessed with her as a dnacer (he comes across as too camp to create any sexual tension between the characters). Also when Anton Walbrook announces that "the performance will not go on (because Vicky's carked it) he looks and sounds exactly like Hitler: the hair, the moustache, the shreiking voice -- was that intentional?
Rating:
Summary: Moira Shearer exquisite in debut (VHS Edition)
Review: This film directed by Emeric Pressburger and Michael Powell, and released as one their Archers productions in 1948, is one of the films which I truly cherish. It tells the tragic story of the very talented young ballerina Victoria Page who has to make an agonizing choice between her love for composer Julian Craster and her dedication to art, which is personified by impresario Boris Lermontow. A film about the ballet world, art and love. It features several real dancers such as Moira Shearer, Leonide Massine, Robert Helpmann and Ludmilla Tcherina. This contributes to the feel of authenticity. Volatile/prima donna tempers flare. We certainly get an intimate look into a fascinating world. As with many other Powell and Pressburger films, there's an underlying myth, in this case Hans Christian Andersen's tale of the red shoes [Andersen's downbeat tale deals with a girl who desires a lovely pair of red shoes so much but once she has them in her possession, she can't stop dancing, and only death will liberate her from what has now become a torture]. In this production of 'The Red Shoes' life will irrevocably imitate art. Filmed in lavish technicolour it captures all of the magic of ballet perfectly. It is accompanied by an interesting and haunting music score by Brian Easdale. The beautiful and luminous center of this film however is Moira Shearer's exquisite performance as the tragic Vicky. She brings Vicky's devotion to ballet and vunerability poignantly to life. 'The Red Shoes' would be Moira Shearer's debut, who was at the time a rising star with 'The Sadler's Wells Ballet' and it definitely earned her a place in cinematic history. Not in the least because of the stunning fifteen minute dance sequence which Lermontow's company performs: 'The Ballet of the Red Shoes'. Herein Moira Shearer's and Leonide Massine's performances as the girl and the shoemaker stand out. A spectacular and surrealistic ballet on its own, this was choreographed by Robert Helpmann and designed by painter Heinz Heckroth. Also shown are interesting and very well executed fragments from such classic ballets as 'Giselle' or 'Le Boutique Fantastique'. Further stood out for me Anton Walbrook's performance as the fanatical and tyrannical impresario Lermontow, who demands total commitment of his employees to their art. Together with Moira Shearer's Vicky his intelligent, intense and ultimate poignant interpretation carries this picture. In Lermontow we meet a man who has the vision, knowledge, connections and creative instinct to bring a dancer such as Vicky to greatness. Marius Goering is adequate as Vicky's love but Leonide Massine as Grischa/the shoemaker was very eloquent and poignant. An intense, passionate and unforgettable film which occupies a special place of honour in my film collection.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating View of Ballet/Classical Orchestra
Review: This is a bitter sweet love story of an aspiring ballerina and an up-and-coming composer. The young composer forces his prima ballerina fiancee to choose between him and her career. Her decision is heartbreaking! -- Breathtaking vintage Technicolor, great cinematography, editing and directing make this film a joy to watch. I have never been a particular fan of the Ballet or Classical Orchestra, yet I truly enjoyed watching this movie several times already! This is a must see for any Ballet enthusiast or fan of classical music.
Rating:
Summary: May or may not be what your looking for
Review: This is a DVD release of a movie that was originally filmed in 1948. "The Red Shoes" is about a ballet company owned by Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook) He discovers a unknown composer, Julian Craster (Marius Goring), and a new leading ballerina, Victoria Page (Moira Shearer), to play the lead in a new ballet called "The Red Shoes". This is basically the oft repeated story of joyous success and love followed by separation and tragedy. Whether you like this movie or not will depend on what you are looking for. If you wanted a show of some historical significance that was considered a ground-breaking achievement at its time, then this may be a show that you will really enjoy. To a movie-buff/collector this would probably be looked upon as an archival gem. If, like myself, you are looking for great acting and above average dancing then I'd advise you to spend your money elsewhere. The plot is not bad, but, really, the acting by today's standards is mediocre at best and although there is some good dancing in this show by Ms. Shearer, it would pale by comparison against any of the lithe waifs of today's Kirov Ballet. All in all, an expensive DVD. Not what I was looking for. I hope these comments will be useful to you if you are considering purchasing this disc.
| 
