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The Red Shoes



The Red Shoes, the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema's quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the most glorious Technicolor feasts ever concocted for the screen. Moira Shearer is a rising star ballerina torn between an idealistic composer and a ruthless impresario intent on perfection. Featuring outstanding performances, blazingly beautiful cinematography by Jack Cardiff, Oscar-winning sets and music, and an unforgettable, hallucinatory central dance sequence, this beloved classic, dazzlingly restored, stands as an enthralling tribute to the life of the artist.

SPECIAL FEATURES

• In the 4K UHD edition: 4K digital transfer from the 2009 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack
• In the 4K UHD edition: One 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features
• In the Blu-ray and DVD editions: High-definition digital transfer from the 2009 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• Restoration demonstration featuring filmmaker Martin Scorsese
• Audio commentary from 1994 by film historian Ian Christie, featuring interviews with actors Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and Scorsese
• A Profile of "The Red Shoes," a 2000 documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with members of the production team
• Interview with director Michael Powell's widow, editor Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, from the 2009 Cannes Film Festival
• Audio recordings of actor Jeremy Irons reading excerpts from Powell and screenwriter Emeric Pressburger's novelization of The Red Shoes and the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale "The Red Shoes"
• Publicity stills and behind-the-scenes photos
• Gallery of memorabilia from Scorsese's collection
• The "Red Shoes" Sketches, a 1948 animated film of Hein Heckroth's painted storyboards, with the Red Shoes ballet as an alternate angle
• Trailer
• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing
• PLUS: An essay by critic David Ehrenstein and a description of the restoration by UCLA film archivist Robert Gitt

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I sat down last night to listen to the commentary (which I had never done before), and I found myself not paying much attention to the commentary because I was so enthralled by the visuals. It is a marvellous movie!

Gary over at DVD Beaver seems to prefer the R2 Carlton disc's image transfer, and I did notice lots of speckles. Does anybody else think it's worth picking up the R2 edition if I already have the Criterion? (I guess I'm so used to the perfection of Criterion's more recent releases that I'd forgotten about the speckles on some of their older discs.)


Also, does anybody know why Criterion included clips from some of the P&P movies under the filmography section but not others? Is it too much of a stretch to conclude that Criterion only included clips of movies they own the rights to? For instance, they included clips from 49th Parallel and A Canterbury Tale (both of which may get released to coincide with Powell's centenary in September), but no clips from Contraband (which was distributed here by Kino). Just curious....

(The short clip from the bizarre Boy Who Turned Yellow makes me want to see it -- perhaps as an extra to one of the upcoming Criterions.)

Is it too much of a stretch to conclude that Criterion only included clips of movies they own the rights to? For instance, they included clips from 49th Parallel and A Canterbury Tale (both of which may get released to coincide with Powell's centenary in September), but no clips from Contraband (which was distributed here by Kino). Just curious....

That's right. In general that is how it works.

Gary's comments are only meant as a guideline and reflect his opinion, not the absolute fact.
I can't remember where this was last discussed, but the consensus opinion is that the Carlton is not noticeably superior, if it is any better at all.
If you own the cc, then the Carlton is only worth picking up if found cheap.

(The short clip from the bizarre Boy Who Turned Yellow makes me want to see it -- perhaps as an extra to one of the upcoming Criterions.)

Having grown up on the delights of those children's film foundation monstrosities, I most certainly never want to see it, or its shaggy haired, polo-necked ilk ever again!

The grabs of the Carlton on DVD Beaver do look a bit sharper than the CC imo. But having said that I think that the difference isn't that big. I've never felt that I missed out on anything for not owning the Carlton.

Has the Carlton gone OOP btw? I was in London a couple of weeks ago and the Carlton was nowhere to be found in any shop.

Moira Shearer died last week. See http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/entertainment/4671424.stm

I was stunned to hear this news only just now. She was unforgetable in The Red Shoes.

It's really sad, and I had just watched "Tales Of Hoffman" the day before.

Check out the "Passages" thread for more news of the recently departed:
http://www.criterionforum.org/forum/vie ... 1&start=85

Gary has added captures from the new Warner France edition: CLICK HERE

Unlike their other P&P releases, the Warner France transfer looks AWFUL. Yech. I still have yet to acquire the Carlton edition and the Network edition of Narcissus. I adore these films, but double-dipping is a pain in the arse these days. Nevertheless, it will have to be done, but no doubt, as soon as I do, Criterion will announce new 2-discs or something. Damn my pessimism - again!

Here's one good thing that came out of watching the Golden Globes last night: Martin Scorsese, as he thanked the HFPA for his award, also thanked them for generously funding the Film Foundation's current restoration of The Red Shoes. I checked the Foundation's website, and indeed the HFPA gave them $300,000 in August 2006. What I wouldn't give to see a new print of this struck from the restored negative.

Matt wrote:Here's one good thing that came out of watching the Golden Globes last night: Martin Scorsese, as he thanked the HFPA for his award, also thanked them for generously funding the Film Foundation's current restoration of The Red Shoes... What I wouldn't give to see a new print of this struck from the restored negative.

I was also thrilled to hear this news from Scorsese. I'm eager to see the results. Plus, there's also the anticipation of being able to roll my eyes at the people who inevitably complain that the color wasn't restored correctly.

Actually, this is old news. Still great to hear Scorsese comment on it. I wonder how long it will take to restore it properly.

wouldnt it be cool if criterion launched an HD line with the new Red Shoes print?

jon wrote:wouldnt it be cool if criterion launched an HD line with the new Red Shoes print?

Not if I had to buy a new DVD player...

Tribe

Tribe wrote:

jon wrote:wouldnt it be cool if criterion launched an HD line with the new Red Shoes print?

Not if I had to buy a new DVD player...

That might actually be one of the few titles that would make me buy a new player.

Anticipation of eye-rolling... rising.

How many prefer the Criterion to Carlton, or vice versa? Just saw this and was looking at picking it up - would be nice to get a Criterion re-issue from that recent restoration Scorsese was a part of, but not sure how sure that is, or how far off. Might pick up the Institut Lumiere boxset, so maybe I could settle for that just to have the film until a new Criterion, but the Lumiere transfer seems subpar in comparison, as people have stated.

I've seen both many times, and though the Carlton might look more natural with respect to skin tones, the CC's more vibrant colours are stunning and I clearly prefer it especially in the ballet scene (and with Shearer's hair in general), it's just eye-popping. Also, the CC has far more and very interesting extras. Nevertheless, I'd be happy if CC re-released the whole thing and did some of their usual debris cleaning-up routines. According to what I heard, the French disc also has a lot of speckles etc., so in that respect not a real alternative.

I have the CC (DVD and laserdisc) and the Carlton, and always watch the Carlton. The CC is just for extras, as it has more damage and less definition than the Carlton.

The New York Times has a nice appreciation of the film on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of its UK opening, which also seems like the perfect time to announce that the restoration announced almost two years ago is complete and that a Blu-ray release is on the way. Yeah, I won't get my hopes up.

Does this mean Criterion will be re-releasing this soon? I want to own it and am so close to just buying the current edition. Should I?

Bloody Benten wrote:Does this mean Criterion will be re-releasing this soon? I want to own it and am so close to just buying the current edition. Should I?

Just buy it already. Life is too short to continue living without this movie on your shelf.

I've always pictured this as their first P&P Blu-Ray, along with a re-release of the SD.

But yes, go ahead and buy it now. Who knows how long it'll take them to get to it.

Matt wrote:Just buy it already. Life is too short to continue living without this movie on your shelf.

Absolutely. But if there's one film I would ever even consider buying a Blu Ray player for, it must be this one. But until then, buy the SD. You will forget about its imperfections very, very quickly once you immerse yourself in this mesmerizing experience.

It's been a while since I saw this film, but I definitely did not like it. However, since then I have fallen in love with IKWIG and A Canterbury Tale, both of which rank among my favorite films of any period. Is it time to give The Red Shoes another try?

denti alligator wrote: Is it time to give The Red Shoes another try?

It depends. What is it about The Red Shoes that you didn't like?

Truly sorry and somewhat astonished you didn't get into "Red Shoes" yet, denti. I had the same problem with IKWIG at first, and now I too love it, so you should definitely try again. Well, you could argue that "A Canterbury Tale" is the better film because of its pitch-perfect script and its surprising complexity that is easily overlooked if one just considers it as a celebration of the English landscape or - heavens forbid - only as a propaganda piece. "The Red Shoes" might be slightly less complex, even though it also has the typical theme of an ambivalent manipulator figure and the questions about how far 'art' can or should go and how it interrelates with life. Also, "The Red Shoes" tends to be perhaps a bit too long especially in its first half - and I've also come to rate "Canterbury" higher as a whole -, but once you see that BALLET SEQUENCE and then the ending of the film there's no doubt that "Red Shoes" contains what might be P&P's finest moments ever. Not to speak about Moira Shearer, of course.

BTW: it might have been mentioned elsewhere, but powell-pressburger.org have a one-liner without any further info that the restored version of "Red Shoes" will be shown in Cannes. So the resto is ready, and CC better hurry to put it on disc. Though without Cardiff at hand anymore (and what a loss that is, even though he was an old man of course) one might fear that the colour scheme might be different, more 'natural' and less 'psychedelic' than the current CC disc.