44 The Red Shoes

[MichaelB]

This week's Guardian podcast includes an interview with yours truly about The Red Shoes.

I was actually there to help plug the BFI Southbank exhibition of Red Shoes memorabilia, which I see they cut out of the final podcast version in its entirety (along with virtually everything I said about the restoration and the Blu-ray) - leaving a load of fairly basic info about the film that I'm sure most of you know already.

But if you're interested the Red Shoes section starts at 19:16, with the salient bit at 21:33.

[broadwayrock]

Film Forum has a Q & A with Thelma Schoonmaker (mp3 link down the page) where she talks about the restoration of Red Shoes.

She also mentioned that Criterion will be releasing the new dvd of Red Shoes in June.

[Matt]

New DVD and Blu-ray editions announced.

[Tommaso]

Weeellll.... no new extras, if you exclude the "Profile" documentary which is also on the old Carlton disc?! I thought they'd flood us with them for a re-release of what might arguably be the greatest film in the whole collection. Not that I expected a double-feature a la the "Thief of Baghdad"-release with, for instance, "Honeymoon" on the second disc, but it looks like there's absolutely nothing that wasn't available before. Admittedly, the Christie commentary is very great indeed, but unless they managed to improve the image even more, the currently dead cheap UK release of the new resto is a very strong alternative if you have the old CC anyway.

[Peacock]

Let's wait and see the dvdbeaver review first and see how Criterion have done the transfer..

[Jeff]

The new restoration itself is the greatest supplement they could give.

[ShellOilJunior]

I saw the restored print this past weekend........

It's beyond praise. WOW!


This might be blu-ray of year.

[knives]

I just saw this for the first time at the theater earlier and I am very shocked. The way everyone talks about this movie I thought it was going to be all style no substance. A goofy melodrama that simply was made by a master of visuals. Most descriptions just made it sound broad. Not the case for me. Everything was subdued, or at least as subdued as this story could be. Everything managed to be complex with the small fantasy elements eeking in the perfect way to make the coincidences and other dramatic absurdities feel like home. I'm gettin toward what everyone says though, so I'll take a step back to the part I appreciated the most.
Lermontov could have easily been a villain and beast, perfect for the plot, but instead he comes off as genuine and kind in his own way. When at the birthday party he calls the company his family I got the feeling he really felt that way and wasn't saying that to be ironic or some other such nonsense. His reasoning for firing seems to be melded just as much in a sense of being a father to these women as it is his sense of perfection. He manages to be the character that brings out the most empathy, Page being the one that gets sympathy. I disagreed with most of his actions, but they were understandable and complex.
To harken back to the recent talks in the Small Back Room thread, I don't feel this is the least bit show-offy and instead brings the subtle side of theatrics forward for something of an ensemble character study. Guess this means I now love two from the archers.

[jbeall]

Knives, after the discussion in the Small Back Room thread, I also just watched Red Shoes for the first time. While certain characters are show-offy (one--Grisha, was it?--reminded me of the more flamboyant judge on Dancing w/the Stars), I wouldn't call the film show-offy.

Anyway, others have waxed far more poetically than I can, but this is instantly up among my favorite P&P films (alongside Black Narcissus and Peeping Tom), and indeed, one of the very best films in the CC. So many magical moments, esp. the carriage-ride "somewhere on the Mediterranean", the central ballet sequence, and the scene of Julian and Victoria's unfulfilling marriage when he sneaks out to compose. And finally, of course, Lermontov's struggle to get the words out as he announces Victoria's death, a moment in which my heart totally went out to the man. I can't believe I waited so long to watch this, but on the other hand, I'm really glad b/c the re-issue is coming next month (and during the B&N sale, no less!) so I can pick up a copy.

[Matango]

The term 'show-offy' was just used by one person on The Small Back Room thread who hadn't even seen any P&P films other than The Small Back Room. It's hardly worth debating what was basically just an ill-informed, off-the-cuff remark.

[knives]

So many magical moments, esp. the carriage-ride "somewhere on the Mediterranean", the central ballet sequence, and the scene of Julian and Victoria's unfulfilling marriage when he sneaks out to compose. And finally, of course, Lermontov's struggle to get the words out as he announces Victoria's death, a moment in which my heart totally went out to the man. I can't believe I waited so long to watch this, but on the other hand, I'm really glad b/c the re-issue is coming next month (and during the B&N sale, no less!) so I can pick up a copy.

All of those moments are absolutely perfect, this is Pressburger's best writing job I've seen, but especially that last one. You can really see how much he truly cared for her and just wanted her to succeed at her goals. A true tragedy of a performance. It's, for me, especially sad when looking back at the scene were he describes the story of the red shoes. The way he says with almost gallows humour, "She dies," when compared to the later scene makes it all the harder. His whole character stole the show for me.
Page too is almost a perfect character. Reminds me a grand deal of the girl in Les Dames du Bois. That scene you mention is just a killer. It spells out after wrong and right about their relationship, presenting months in a few wordless movements. They really managed to understand and integrate dance beyond the ballet.

[Matango]

"When at the birthday party he calls the company his family I got the feeling he really felt that way and wasn't saying that to be ironic or some other such nonsense."

I don't think Boris Lermontov meant it at all. He was only at that party because he was looking for Vicky, and hadn't even realised it was the birthday of Ljubov - a principal member of the company and its choreographer. Furthermore, he had not even been invited to that party. And look at the way he treated Boronskaja when she anounced her engagement. It may have been a family, but Lermontov was not part of it, nor did he wish to be. He was more of a cult leader than a patriarch, and his angst-ridden closing speech at the end of the film reflected his own spoiled evening and reputation rather than any sadness for the death of Vicky as a person, I think. Such was his fanatacism.

[matrixschmatrix]

"When at the birthday party he calls the company his family I got the feeling he really felt that way and wasn't saying that to be ironic or some other such nonsense."

I don't think Boris Lermontov meant it at all. He was only at that party because he was looking for Vicky, and hadn't even realised it was the birthday of Ljubov - a principal member of the company and its choreographer. Furthermore, he had not even been invited to that party. And look at the way he treated Boronskaja when she anounced her engagement. It may have been a family, but Lermontov was not part of it, nor did he wish to be. He was more of a cult leader than a patriarch, and his angst-ridden closing speech at the end of the film reflected his own spoiled evening and reputation rather than any sadness for the death of Vicky as a person, I think. Such was his fanatacism.

I disagree- I think he did see himself as the patriarch of the ballet family, and as in City Girl or any number of other movies, the patriarch is astonishingly cruel and demanding the people he controls- until something happens that reveals his cruelty to him. I think the passion at the end of the movie is genuine, and one of the only moments of unguarded humanity you see from the man.

I think P&P have a lot of sympathy for his quest, and having the end of the movie reveal him utterly to be a monster would diminish his character. Instead, he's a complex figure, and I think in seducing Vicky back to the ballet his actions were largely defensible, from his viewpoint; the disastrous fallout of it made him feel real loss, though perhaps more of Vicky the dancer than of Vicky the person. It's still loss, and not necessarily the petulant anger of a child who hasn't got his way.

[Minkin]

Beaver on the Bluray

[Person]

The Criterion appears to be ever-so-slightly more detailed with ever-so-slightly stronger colours. Gorgeous transfer!

[DanV]

Basically, it's the same transfer, as for Black Narcissus; by the way ITV>Criterion. The skin tones are awfully yellowish in the latest Criterion BDs. The same thing is true for The Leopard (quite evident in the last two caps of Cardinale and Lancaster), for instance.

[Finch]

I'm glad I held out for the Criterion as I prefer the colours on their release compared to the ITV disc. The ITV Blu looks too saturated to my eyes while the CC seems more natural (especially in the capture of the shoes). Given how stacked it is with extras, the CC appears to be the definitive edition in any case.

[TMDaines]

Basically, it's the same transfer, as for Black Narcissus; by the way ITV>Criterion. The skin tones are awfully yellowish in the latest Criterion BDs. The same thing is true for The Leopard (quite evident in the last two caps of Cardinale and Lancaster), for instance.

Yeah, Burt Lancaster has developed jaundice looking at those caps.

[HarryLong]

I think the passion at the end of the movie is genuine, and one of the only moments of unguarded humanity you see from the man.

It may not be passionately stated but there is a line he has in his first scene that sums up both his sophistication, his complexity and his very humane nature very neatly when he tells the young composer (I'm paraphrasing, I'm sure) that it is "more painful to have to steal than to be stolen from." Lermontov may be (in fact is) demanding in his determination toward the excellence of his company, but he also has a deep compassion in him.

[jsteffe]

Basically, it's the same transfer, as for Black Narcissus; by the way ITV>Criterion. The skin tones are awfully yellowish in the latest Criterion BDs. The same thing is true for The Leopard (quite evident in the last two caps of Cardinale and Lancaster), for instance.

I think you're right that Criterion appears to favor a warmer color temperature in their transfers, but I don't find it overly pronounced. I also suspect it's more evident in direct comparisons than it is in playback, and that one's eyes adjust to the difference to a certain extent. For instance, while watching the Criterion Blu-ray of Red Desert it didn't look especially reddish to me. Anyway, very slight differences in the calibration of people's monitors may may ultimately negate such differences, practically speaking. Even in 35mm projection you can have fairly wide variations in the brightness of the lamp and screen.

Not that we shouldn't strive for the "perfect image."

[movielocke]

Beaver on the Bluray

with the black narcissus and red shoes comparisons I've decided I wish we had vector scope readouts as a mouseover option for each still, then we could really tell what the differences were objectively, rather than people freaking out because their monitors make one transfer or another look more pink, puce, whatever.

Eyes are totally subjective, I want to see where they read on a scope.

From my calibrated monitor's perspective, the differences are neglible, but I'd give a hair edge to the criterion probably because of selection bias.

[mfunk9786]

Have we really reached a point where we need vector scope readouts on DVDBeaver? At this point, wouldn't the logical route be to just pick the edition you prefer the special features on and buy that, since, unless you have a hundred inch television that you're sitting five feet away from, you won't be able to tell the slightest difference between those two releases' picture quality?

[jsteffe]

It may not be passionately stated but there is a line he has in his first scene that sums up both his sophistication, his complexity and his very humane nature very neatly when he tells the young composer (I'm paraphrasing, I'm sure) that it is "more painful to have to steal than to be stolen from." Lermontov may be (in fact is) demanding in his determination toward the excellence of his company, but he also has a deep compassion in him.

Absolutely--the film wouldn't be as emotionally complex and affecting if Lermontov weren't ultimately sympathetic as well. We come to understand and even appreciate what drives him. For me, one of the great things about seeing that 35mm print is that it really pulled me into the acting and script in a way that didn't happen before in my first DVD viewing. The fire in Moira Shearer's eyes as she dances is unforgettable, and it just doesn't come across in quite the same way on a smaller TV. Anton Walbrook is, well, Anton Walbrook. And of course the production design and color photography were even more impressive in this restoration. What a masterpiece.

What I wouldn't give to see an original IB Technicolor print of this baby!

[Norbie]

The Criterion appears to be ever-so-slightly more detailed with ever-so-slightly stronger colours. Gorgeous transfer!

On the itv vs CC captures the itv reds (for example) see a bit more redder. Wouldn't th atmake the itv version with the stonger colours?

James, the last time I saw an IB was a beautiful reissue print (presumably from London Technicolor at Heathrow) in 1975. The local distribs here (British Lion/GU) always kept bringing it back over the decades.

But by then, the damage to the elements was beginning to show. I frankly think the current blus are superior to any screening I ever saw of it, including the first time at age 13 in 1962. I cannot be relied upon for intensive comments about the quality of the 62 or the 75 prints, but I can reliably say the 75 had a much lighter tonality. it required carbon arc amps for projection. (They played it at the old, about to vanish Roseville cinema. If it aint already.)
r.

How the hell do you people remember all that!!! I can't remember what MOVIES i saw 10+ years ago. #-o

[jsteffe]

How the hell do you people remember all that!!! I can't remember what MOVIES i saw 10+ years ago. #-o

Memory can be fallible of course, but I remember seeing an old IB 35mm print of THE WILD BUNCH over a decade ago and was struck by a particular shade of blue in the sky. Right away I noticed that even though the print was fairly worn, the color looked better than the recent restoration which toured theatrically around that time. I also think that IB print still has better color than the new DVD and Blu-ray of that film. This is not to knock the restoration work, however. They may have been working from severely compromised elements. Their long-term stability is one of the reasons why IB Technicolor prints are valuable as a reference.