The Red Shoes

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger

 
The Red Shoes Criterion Blu-Ray

20 Jul 2010

Blu-Ray

1 Disc

SRP: $39.95

Criterion Store price:$31.96

Add to Cart
  • United Kingdom
  • 1948
  • 133 minutes
  • Color
  • 1.33:1
  • French, English

SYNOPSIS: 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, now dazzlingly restored, stands as an enthralling tribute to the life of the artist.

Cast & CreditsOpen

Cast

Boris LermontovAnton Walbrook
Julian CrasterMarius Goring
Victoria PageMoira Shearer
Ivan BoleslawskyRobert Helpmann
LjubovLeonide Massine
RatovAlbert Basserman
BoronskajaLudmilla Tcherina
LivyEsmond Knight
Professor PalmerAustin Trevor
DimitriEric Berry
Lady NestonIrene Brown

Credits

DirectorMichael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Written, produced, and directed byMichael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Production designHein Heckroth
EditingReginald Mills
Music composed, arranged, and conducted byBrian Easdale
Art directionArthur Lawson
The "Ballet of the Red Shoes" choreography byRobert Helpmann
The part of the shoemaker created and danced byLeonide Massine
The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra conducted bySir Thomas Beecham
CinematographyJack Cardiff

Disc Features

  • New high-definition master from the award-winning 2009 digital restoration (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition)
  • Introductory restoration demonstration with filmmaker Martin Scorsese
  • Audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie, featuring interviews with stars Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and Scorsese
  • Profile of “The Red Shoes,” a documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with members of the production team
  • Video interview with director Michael Powell’s widow, Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, from the 2009 Cannes Film Festival, in which she discusses Powell, the film, and the restoration
  • Audio recording of actor Jeremy Irons reading excerpts from Powell and Pressburger’s novelization of The Red Shoes
  • Collection of rare publicity stills and behind-the-scenes photos
  • Gallery of items from Scorsese’s personal collection of The Red Shoes memorabilia
  • The “Red Shoes” Sketches, an animated film of Hein Heckroth’s painted storyboards, with the Red Shoes ballet as an alternate angle
  • Audio recording of Irons reading the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Red Shoes”
  • Theatrical trailer
  • PLUS: A booklet featuring an essay by critic David Ehrenstein and a description of the restoration by UCLA film archivist Robert Gitt

From the CurrentView the Current »

Film Essays

The Red Shoes:
Dancing for Your Life

By David EhrensteinJuly 20, 2010

“Why do you want to dance?” “Why do you want to live?” A question followed by another question stands at the beating heart of The Red Shoes. It’s an Read more »

The Red Shoes

By Ian ChristieMay 24, 1999

Before The Red Shoes, there were films with dance numbers. After it, there was a new medium which combined dance, design, and music in a dreamlike spectacle. Hollywood musicals Read more »