Μύ "The Red Shoes" is a film of haunting beauty. Based on the fairytale by Hans Christian Anderson, this story of a young ballerina who must choose between her art and true love is a visual delight. It's now available on a DVD that has every right to market itself as a Special Edition.
Hein Heckroth's incredible art direction and Jack Cardiff's stunning cinematography transfer onto a DVD of rich and vivid colours. The dramatic Technicolor shades shine through a picture that's often very clear, despite the age of the film.
Perhaps the only complaint of the DVD is in the sound department. It is at times a little thin, and does distort during musical crescendos.
Both the striking DVD packaging and the disc menus are beautifully designed, but there's also substance under the pretty display. Of key interest is a brand new 25-minute documentary, entitled "A Profile of The Red Shoes". It includes interviews with Jack Cardiff, Christopher Challis (camera operator), Christian Routh (grandson of Hein Heckroth), ballerina Darcey Bussell, and Kevin MacDonald (grandson and biographer of Emeric Pressburger). All offer a wealth of fascinating comments from the combination of egos that it took to make this film to the treatment of it by Rank, and their assertion that the movie was rubbish. It went on to win two Oscars.
Art designer Hein Heckroth had never worked on a movie before. He was a painter and he created a painted storyboard that formed a short 15-minute film. It's included on the disc along with wonderful behind-the-scenes photos and detailed biographies.
Chapters: 15
Region: 2
Ratio: 1.33:1 (fullscreen)
Sound: Dolby Digital 2.0 (Mono)
Extra Features:
- Scene selection, English subtitles for the hearing impaired
- "A Profile of The Red Shoes" documentary
- "The Ballet of The Red Shoes" featurette
- behind-the-scenes stills gallery
- cast and crew biographies, trailer, theatrical trailer, animated menus.
