A strong film from P&P. The beautiful use of Technicolor is more than evident throughout, the centerpiece ballet is a stunning use of dance in a cinematic context, and the brilliant marriage between art and life makes for an emotionally complex film. Walbrook as Lermontov is especially good in his performance, making a Faustian deal with the young dancer. The Red Shoes strips away the lies about a heart sold to ambition, showing us a world where people cannot have everything they want.

Red Shoes flips between being a wonderful classic with great artistic direction and a watchable afternoon over dramatic weepie. I'm still undecided.

Perhaps the most lavishly decorated tragedy in cinema memory, The Red Shoes is unsullied by the clear fingerprints of the aesthetically attentive Powell and Pressburger, which are more like badges of honor. The film's premise - a curious, enticing amalgam of dance, music and movies - stupendously grips in its portrait of romantic entanglement in the ranks of a ballet company, setting an artful precedent enhanced by Altman's superior The Company before Black Swan hideously neglected it.

This film's trite concept is executed with such superb attention to character that it transcends its simplisitic plot and delivers a powerful, though flawed, experience. Shearer's Page is vibrant and entrancing, but her descent into madness is abrupt and out of step with her performance. Nonetheless, the film's characters inspire profound pity, particularly Walkbrook's Lermontov, who is trapped and blinded by the ballet that he loves.

The Black Swan? This is the definitive ballet movie.

Lusciously filmed and strangely compelling, I was rather engulfed by the entirety of the production and its makers' devotion, not so much by the dance sequences which I think halted the film's desire to move forward with the story. The ending is awful, but it's good as a whole and I think it'll grow on me after repeated viewings.

I watched this via Criterions Bluray, the technicolor transfer was fantastic. Wonderfully vivid color and great detail. I found this a very enjoyable film, even the long ballet sequences kept my rapt attention.

I know that this is a highly respected classic but I didn't love it. It was certainly beautiful. Maybe I would have enjoyed it if I didn't hate ballet. I thought that I might feel this way before I watched it but I had to give it a shot. And now I know for sure that I don't like ballet. It was slow in parts, the main ballet part was pretty surreal and the ending was kind of retarded. I don't know. I respect the film, I just didn't really enjoy much of it.

I was completely blown away by The Red Shoes. There's that 20 minute dance sequence in the middle where... well, I guess you could explain it by saying that the fourth wall is constructed before our eyes, and we are totally immersed in the fantasy of the ballet. The sequence is euphoric, if that makes sense. And the ballet at the end is one of the more moving endings to a movie ever. The whole thing's just fantastic. So highly recommended.

Os conflitos interno (simbolizado pelo par romântico Marius Goring) e externo (o tutor-dominador do magnífico Anton Walbrook) motivados pela indecisão entre polos com frequência incompatíveis como vocação/carreira/realização pessoal versus relacionamento afetivo é representado por meio de soluções criativas inteligentes, como a extensa, estonteante coreografia do balé que serve de título à obra.

One of the greatest films of the 40s. The colors in this film are unmatched in their vibrancy and beauty. The passion in this film is incredible. A wonderful story told in the most beautiful way possible. The 15 minute ballet scene in the middle is one of the most wonderful things ever filmed.

"The Ballet of the Red Shoes" sequence was one of those holy shit moments where a film bridges the difficult chasm between being good and being masterful. Most great films have a scene or sequence like this; The Red Shoes actually has two: in addition to the one just mentioned, there's the end of the film when Vicki runs off with the shoes on. Simply stunning and I only wish I had seen the restored 2009 version rather than the original Criterion. Next time.

Definitely not without its flaws -- some of the overt, overly literal symbolism, particularly in the central dance scene, seems sophomoric in juxtaposition with the maturity of the cinematography. But it didn't stop me from loving both the dance scene and the rest of the movie.

This film has many, many flaws, but the ballet scene in the middle is breathteaking as also the usage of Technicolor, that really brought the "magic" here. Walbrook was good, as for Shearer - that woman could dance !!!

Technicolor rules. It's so perfect for the kind of pseudo-fantastical tone that the story demands. It was pretty engaging before the actual Red Shoes production, but then all of a sudden here's this overwhelmingly psychedelic sequence that stands on its own to this day. Lermontov has a rather fascinating sexual bent to his power mongering; it's almost as if he gets off on Vicki's unbridled ambition. The ending hits hard and is almost unexpected but remains totally appropriate.

The camera work during the opening night performance was magnificent and dreamlike. The stagework was great, and it seemed to me that a lot of thought went into details such as color and placement. A fine film and a stunning portrayal of the ballet.

The art direction and the ballet scene in the middle where very good.The story however never really interested me and never fully explored the relationship between the dancer and composer.It really felt like a lot of the plot between them happened off screen.The ending was really melodramatic and I didn't like it.

Brilliant film with the most amazing on screen ballet ever. Stunning.

Far too much time wasted on ballet and special effects wanking for it to be a great film. The first act is totally boring. The combining conflicts of artist/creation/love was very poetic, but realised amidst wooden acting and a lot of meaningless scenes. The photography is very good, and the Technicolor was surprisingly artistic. Also, the layers of story work on a meta-level: a film about a ballet about a fable - all tell the same message. Something poststructuralist about it.

#138

A perfect film that everybody should watch.

Lovely film. The ballet sequence is absolutely gorgeous. If only all ballet was that excellent.

This movie is fantastic. I have a huge thing for ballet, so getting to see it in beautiful Technicolor with occasional Melies-esque editing and transitions is a real treat. It's definitely one of the best films I've ever seen, and the dance sequence is THE best thing I've ever seen on film.