Interesting review of "The Red Shoes"

[Alexandra]

Thanks to Mme. Hermine for findiing this. I'm copying it over from Links for discussion. The whole review is interesting -- lots of good background info. And Ebert takes the film, and ballet, seriously!!!

Roger Ebert with a review of The Red Shoes film in the Chicago Sun-Times:

http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.d...EWS08/501010301

There is tension between two kinds of stories in "The Red Shoes," and that tension helps make it the most popular movie ever made about the ballet and one of the most enigmatic movies about anything. One story could be a Hollywood musical: A young ballerina falls in love with the composer of the ballet that makes her an overnight star. The other story is darker and more guarded. It involves the impresario who runs the ballet company, who demands loyalty and obedience, who is enraged when the young people get married. The motives of the ballerina and her lover are transparent. But the impresario defies analysis. In his dark eyes we read a fierce resentment. No, it is not jealousy, at least not romantic jealousy. Nothing as simple as that.

[Victoria Leigh]

Very impressed that he did that. Quite amazing for a ballet film, and well deserved. This film was groundbreaking and incredibly special, not only for it's time, but I think still. It certainly had a most profound influence on me as a child!

[canbelto]

I have to disagree with Mr. Ebert (although I love his writing, as usual). I never see Boris as a remote, sexless, ruthless villain in the movie. His tears while announcing the final "Red Shoes" are real. I think the whole movie is simply a parable of many dancers' dilemma: total, monastic devotion to art or a more mundane life. Julian is no prize in The Red Shoes -- he thoughtlessly gives Vicky the ultimatum. The difference is how the men view Vicky: Boris sees her as the ultimate expression of his ballet company, Julian just sees her as a beautiful girl he loves. The moral of course being that she's both -- that any attempt to deny one side of life for the other is futile.

I think the story is based on the Diaghilev/Nijinsky romance, while was changed to "Vicky" for obvious reasons. But in that real-life drama, Diaghilev was not a villain either (you could argue Nijinsky's wife was the villain).

[dirac]

Nice article. Very gallant of Ebert to promote Romola to ballerina status.