Abstract In this article, the writer analyzes the film "The Red Shoes". The writer considers a number of aspects of the film including characters, lighting, dance sequences and color. Further, the writer highlights a number of the film's main themes including passion and jealousy. Overall, the writer maintains that the film's appeal should be attributed to the good taste of Michael Powell and the multitude of prestigious aids he employed such as Jack Cardiff, Robert Helpmann, composer Brian Easdale, and art director Arthur Lawson. Their contributions to the film are invaluable, making "The Red Shoes" a special film that offers overwhelming visual and aural sensations. The writer concludes that combined with the complicated philosophical and emotional issues, Powell and company produced a movie that should stand among the greatest in its genre.
From the Paper "By the time this plot has come fully to fruition, the film is nearly over. The second act last somewhere around one hundred minutes; it is not hard to imagine a less patient audience being bored with, if not entirely dismissive of, the film's long path toward a culmination that last only a matter of minutes. The Red Shoes, however, is not really a love story at all; the relationship between Craster and Paige is present only to set up some of the larger themes that are all resolved in the end. Thus, the concrete story must be approached as something to be dissected, a narrative with many layers to be pulled away and exposed.
The real goal of Powell's film is to examine the pressures and costs of passion. This theme is focused directly on Vicki Paige; she is the character most influenced by Lermontov and most willing to sacrifice everything for the ballet."
