While attending the ballet which was composed by his professor, a young composer notices his own work being used and writes an angry letter to the company's impresario. Trying to retrieve the letter the next morning, the impressed impresario offers him a job while at the same time extending an opportunity to an ambitious young dancer. As the troupe travels from London first to Paris and then to Monte Carlo, the lead dancer becomes engaged, and the furious impresario names the plucky new dancer as the lead in his adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen's
The Red Shoes, which the young composer will write the score to. Soon, these three intense personalities become interlocked, and the young dancer must chose between her love of the composer and her passion for dance. Like most of the work, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's "The Red Shoes" is an almost impossibly beautiful Technicolor composition. Featuring an astounding extending performance of the title play that transcends the stage, fantasy and reality blend in a work of pure imagination. All comes together in an incredible tragic sequence in the end. Moira Shearer is absolutely riveting as the young dancer and Anton Walbrook is just as fine as the demanding leader of the dance company. The movie is also highly influential and Darren Aronofsky owes more then a little bit to it for the success of his
"Black Swan". "The Red Shoes" is a beautiful film that is a high demonstration for the expressiveness of film.
