How others will see it. The Red Shoes is a dramatic love story, and for its many ardent advocates, the movie has it all. Sumptuous technicolor, a rich and original symphony score, costumes, sets, and production numbers. There's also no shortage of hammy acting, which a lot of people find delightful.
For contemporary audiences, the drawback is there's substantial dialogue in French. The color cinematography also has the odd forties look where the focus seems slightly off.
How I felt about it. This undeniably entertaining movie gets off to a rousing start. The main players are introduced, but their importance and future relationships aren't yet clear. As the charming chaff of the building scenes is separated from the true plot, we finally discover a power struggle between Lermontov and Craster for the possession of Victoria's soul. Since she requires both love and a career, and her demanding masters are irreconcilable, she blows a fuse to provide a suitably tragic closure. Ah, if only men weren't such pigheaded jerks!
There is a familiar saying that the journey can be better than the destination, and this is the case for The Red Shoes. When we are immersed in backstage ballet minutia, we treasure it. When it is gradually removed to leave our three leads to bicker with one another, we miss it. The show must go on, but not with any of the dozen secondary dancers, none of whom register onstage.
Lermontov is a single-minded Svengali, whose problem is that he wants to control his new prize when she is off the stage as well. If he had simply ignored the romance of Craster and Page, all would have gone well. But then the movie would not parallel The Red Shoes, the tragic tale by Hans Christian Anderson.
Was it the Red Shoes that brought Page to an untimely end? That is, her need to dance? If so, Lermontov is merely an enabler, while Craster is the villain. He wants to remove the shoes, and turn her into a domesticated pet. Craster's arrogance regarding his brilliance as a composer is certainly more annoying than Lermontov's affectation of refined calm. We know that Lermontov will lose it once aggravated. But Craster will never let his guard down. He'll always believe he's God's gift to classical music.