Review of Red Shoes, The Special Edition

Introduction

This perfectly haunting movie, based on the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale, is probably the most famous from writing, directing and producing team Micheal Powell and Emeric Pressburger. Allthough not a success when originaly released in Britain, way back in 1948, the Americans loved it. This surprised executives at Rank who were sure a movie about ballet would bomb almost everywhere.

Video

Presented in 1:33:1 (Full Screen) The picture is perfectly stunning with no visible digital artefacts. Blacks are strong and the Technicolor master print reproduced with a fabulous vivid richness. The film is clear and bright despite its considerable age.

Audio

Sound is the only item to let down this fabulous DVD. The whole soundtrack is very thin and distorts quite often on crescendos. That said, the film`s age must be taken into account and it would be a difficult, expensive and probably impossible to bring the soundtrack up to today`s digital standards.

Features

The highlight is a 25-minute insight into the making of The Red Shoes. There are profiles of all involved and a featurette entitled "The Ballet of The Red Shoes" that offers more detailed information on the art direction and musical score. There are also some behind-the-scene still photos, cast and crew biographies and trailers. My favourite extra is a 15-minute short on the production of the films painted storyboards by Hein Heckroth, who incidently had never worked on a motion picture before.

Conclusion

A superb, but underrated classic that shows its age but is always compelling viewing. The good people across the pond at the Academy got it right back in 1949 and gave it five Oscar nominations. It won two of those it should have picked up the lot.