The Red Shoes

Two individuals in a theatrical setting; one stands in a light-colored dress while the other kneels, assisting with a red shoe, against a backdrop of shoe-filled shelves.

Perhaps the most well-known of Powell and Pressburger's collaborations, The Red Shoes centers on Vicky, a young ballerina starring in a ballet called "The Red Shoes". Like her character in the ballet, she is irresistibly drawn to dancing. While her imperious instructor, Boris Lermontov, urges to her to forget anything but ballet, Vicky begins to fall for the charming young composer Julian Craster. Eventually Vicky, under great emotional stress, must choose to pursue either her art or her romance, a decision that carries serious consequences.

Widely considered to be one of the greatest films ever made and winner of two Academy Awards, This Powell and Pressburger classic contains ravishing ballet sequences of stylistic mastery, and is visually one of the most innovative and beautiful works of cinema ever created.

Part of our "Powell and Pressburger: Titans of Technicolor" series. Courtesy of Park Circus.

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