There is nothing quite like the shades of red in a Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger movie. The color absolutely radiates from the screen in their Technicolor masterpieces, fully immersing us in the passions of the characters. You have the rouge on Kim Hunter's heart-shaped lips in "A Matter of Life and Death," like a premonition of a love so pure and strong it can bring David Niven's dashing airman back from the afterlife. At the other end of the scale, you have the ominous red in the closing scenes of "Black Narcissus," enveloping us in a spurned nun's murderous jealousy.
Then, of course, you have the titular footwear in "The Red Shoes," the film often considered the writer-producer-director duo's greatest work. Along with Jean Renoir's "The River," Powell and Pressburger superfan, Martin Scorsese, considers it to be one of the two most beautiful movies ever shot in color,...
Then, of course, you have the titular footwear in "The Red Shoes," the film often considered the writer-producer-director duo's greatest work. Along with Jean Renoir's "The River," Powell and Pressburger superfan, Martin Scorsese, considers it to be one of the two most beautiful movies ever shot in color,...
- 12/18/2022
- by Lee Adams
- Slash Film
The only sales pitch needed is “The Red Shoes has been encoded in 4K.” Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger’s 1947 masterpiece conquered America as had no previous English film. This is one artsy dance show that captivates nearly everybody: audiences can be counted on to ooh and ahh the film’s dazzling hues, striking dance artistry and endless visual creativity. Cameraman Jack Cardiff took first position as the world master of Technicolor, and Moira Shearer’s dancing is recorded forever, celebrated as with no other ballet artist. Criterion’s 4K remaster includes all the extras of their 2010 restored Blu-ray.
The Red Shoes
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 44
1947 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 133 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 14, 2021 / 49.95
Starring: Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Léonide Massine, Ludmilla Tchérina, Robert Helpmann, Albert Basserman.
Cinematography: Jack Cardiff
Production Design and Costumes: Hein Heckroth
Film Editor: Reginald Mills
Original Music: Brian Easdale
Written,...
The Red Shoes
4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 44
1947 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 133 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date December 14, 2021 / 49.95
Starring: Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, Marius Goring, Léonide Massine, Ludmilla Tchérina, Robert Helpmann, Albert Basserman.
Cinematography: Jack Cardiff
Production Design and Costumes: Hein Heckroth
Film Editor: Reginald Mills
Original Music: Brian Easdale
Written,...
- 12/18/2021
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
“Don’t forget, a great impression of simplicity can only be achieved by great agony of body and spirit.”
Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes (1948) will be available as part of the The Criterion Collection on 2-Disc 4K and Blu-ray November 9th
The Red Shoes, the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema’s quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the most glorious Technicolor feasts ever concocted for the screen. Moira Shearer is a rising star ballerina torn between an idealistic composer and a ruthless impresario intent on perfection. Featuring outstanding performances, blazingly beautiful cinematography by Jack Cardiff, Oscar-winning sets and music, and an unforgettable, hallucinatory central dance sequence, this beloved classic, dazzlingly restored, stands as an enthralling tribute to the life of the artist.
4K Uhd + Blu-ray Special Edition Features
• 4K digital transfer from the 2009 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• One...
Michael Powell’s The Red Shoes (1948) will be available as part of the The Criterion Collection on 2-Disc 4K and Blu-ray November 9th
The Red Shoes, the singular fantasia from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, is cinema’s quintessential backstage drama, as well as one of the most glorious Technicolor feasts ever concocted for the screen. Moira Shearer is a rising star ballerina torn between an idealistic composer and a ruthless impresario intent on perfection. Featuring outstanding performances, blazingly beautiful cinematography by Jack Cardiff, Oscar-winning sets and music, and an unforgettable, hallucinatory central dance sequence, this beloved classic, dazzlingly restored, stands as an enthralling tribute to the life of the artist.
4K Uhd + Blu-ray Special Edition Features
• 4K digital transfer from the 2009 restoration, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
• One...
- 9/20/2021
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
Lust-filled treachery in the steaming tropics! He dared to love a cannibal empress! Taglines like that suggest that it wasn’t easy to sell Carol Reed’s phenomenally good adaptation of Joseph Conrad’s classic, a tale of human self-degradation and malevolence in the tropics. Long difficult to see, it’s finally here to dazzle a generation that might appreciate its superb performances. Forget Lord Jim and Colonel Kurtz. Trevor Howard’s back-stabbing Peter Willems shows us the price of total betrayal: permanent banishment from humanity.
Outcast of the Islands
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951 / B&w / 1:37 flat / 100 93 min. / Street Date April 29, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Trevor Howard, Ralph Richardson, Robert Morley, Wendy Hiller, Aissa, George Coulouris, Tamine, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Peter Illing, Betty Ann Davies, Frederick Valk, A.V. Bramble, Marne Maitland, James Kenney, Annabel Morley.
Cinematography: Edward Scaife, John Wilcox
Production Design: Vincent Korda
Second Unit Director: Guy Hamilton...
Outcast of the Islands
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1951 / B&w / 1:37 flat / 100 93 min. / Street Date April 29, 2020 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Trevor Howard, Ralph Richardson, Robert Morley, Wendy Hiller, Aissa, George Coulouris, Tamine, Wilfrid Hyde-White, Peter Illing, Betty Ann Davies, Frederick Valk, A.V. Bramble, Marne Maitland, James Kenney, Annabel Morley.
Cinematography: Edward Scaife, John Wilcox
Production Design: Vincent Korda
Second Unit Director: Guy Hamilton...
- 4/18/2020
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Classic cinematics from first-rank filmmakers. No ballet or heroism, so not a crowd pleaser, but Michael Powell’s original version of Gone to Earth is another unique Archers creation. Jennifer Jones finally gets to chew on a character role with grit, as a natural virgin/vixen misunderstood by contrasting suitors. David O. Selznick’s revision The Wild Heart is a classic too — of unnecessary meddling.
Gone to Earth / The Wild Heart
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1950 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 110, 86 min. / Street Date June 25, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jennifer Jones, David Farrar, Cyril Cusack, Sybil Thorndike, Edward Chapman, Esmond Knight, Hugh Griffith.
Cinematography: Christopher Challis
Film Editor: Reginald Mills
From the novel by: Mary Webb
Music by Brian Easdale
Written, Produced and Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
This is one beautiful production, one that will thrill Powell & Pressburger fans eager to see all of his films. With his typical cinematic simplicity,...
Gone to Earth / The Wild Heart
Blu-ray
Kl Studio Classics
1950 / Color / 1:37 flat Academy / 110, 86 min. / Street Date June 25, 2019 / available through Kino Lorber / 29.95
Starring: Jennifer Jones, David Farrar, Cyril Cusack, Sybil Thorndike, Edward Chapman, Esmond Knight, Hugh Griffith.
Cinematography: Christopher Challis
Film Editor: Reginald Mills
From the novel by: Mary Webb
Music by Brian Easdale
Written, Produced and Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressburger
This is one beautiful production, one that will thrill Powell & Pressburger fans eager to see all of his films. With his typical cinematic simplicity,...
- 7/9/2019
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Powell & Pressburger’s big-scale historical epic is perhaps the best show ever about an old-school naval encounter between battleships. The first half depicts the showdown between England and Germany in the South Atlantic, and the second half a tense diplomatic game in the neutral country of Uruguay. Peter Finch, Bernard Lee and Anthony Quayle shine as sea captains.
Panzerschiff Graf Spee (The Battle of the River Plate)
Region B Blu-ray
ITV Studios Home Entertainment (Germany)
1956 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 119, 106 117 min./ Pursuit of the Graf Spee / Street Date 2010 / Available from Amazon UK £16.90
Starring: Peter Finch, Bernard Lee, Anthony Quayle, John Gregson, Ian Hunter, Jack Gwillim, Lionel Murton, Anthony Bushell, Peter Illing, Michael Goodliffe, Patrick Macnee, Christopher Lee.
Cinematography: Christopher Challis
Production Design: Arthur Lawson
Film Editor: Reginald Mills
Original Music: Brian Easdale
Written, Produced & Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressberger
The best way so far to see the impressive The Battle of the River Plate...
Panzerschiff Graf Spee (The Battle of the River Plate)
Region B Blu-ray
ITV Studios Home Entertainment (Germany)
1956 / Color / 1:78 widescreen / 119, 106 117 min./ Pursuit of the Graf Spee / Street Date 2010 / Available from Amazon UK £16.90
Starring: Peter Finch, Bernard Lee, Anthony Quayle, John Gregson, Ian Hunter, Jack Gwillim, Lionel Murton, Anthony Bushell, Peter Illing, Michael Goodliffe, Patrick Macnee, Christopher Lee.
Cinematography: Christopher Challis
Production Design: Arthur Lawson
Film Editor: Reginald Mills
Original Music: Brian Easdale
Written, Produced & Directed by Michael Powell & Emeric Pressberger
The best way so far to see the impressive The Battle of the River Plate...
- 7/22/2017
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
Chicago – Can an old movie look too good on Blu-ray? This has been the subject of much debate, most notably in the over-removal of natural film grain by some production studios and the purists who think sometimes HD damages the original look of the film by coating it with too much polish. Watching the six-decades-old “The Red Shoes” from the incredibly influential Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, I was reminded once again of this controversy by a video transfer that’s simply jaw-dropping in its crystal clear quality.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Part of the reason “The Red Shoes” makes such a striking statement on Blu-ray is that the film’s bright, vibrant Technicolor has always been an essential ingredient in the dramatic proceedings. The film was released in an era where color filmmaking was still new enough that seeing these bright reds, yellows, and blues was as revolutionary as “Avatar” is today.
Blu-Ray Rating: 5.0/5.0
Part of the reason “The Red Shoes” makes such a striking statement on Blu-ray is that the film’s bright, vibrant Technicolor has always been an essential ingredient in the dramatic proceedings. The film was released in an era where color filmmaking was still new enough that seeing these bright reds, yellows, and blues was as revolutionary as “Avatar” is today.
- 7/21/2010
- by adam@hollywoodchicago.com (Adam Fendelman)
- HollywoodChicago.com
Cop Out
I missed Kevin Smith's homage to the buddy cop genre and can't wait to pick this up. His movies always have great extras as well.
Extras include:
"Maximum Comedy Mode" - Picture-in-Picture walk-ons, stretches of audio and video commentary, more than an hour of deleted scenes and outtakes, additional behind-the-scenes footage, wisdom from the Shit Bandit, pop-up production factoids, storyboards, etc.Focus Point featurettes:a Couple of DicksThe New Buddy Cop DuoKevin Pollak - Man of a Thousand Voices and InterestsImprovising - Now That's FunnyPoh Boy's Diamond VaultStunts-Brooklyn StyleTracy Morgan Speaks SpanglishDave's Calling CarKevin Smith DirectsThe individual Shit Bandit wisdom shorts
The Losers
Got mixed reviews but as a fan of the comic I wanna check it out.
Extras include:
Zoe and The LosersBand of Buddies: Ops TrainingAction-Style StorytellingAlternate EndingFirst Look - Batman: Under the Red Hood
The Runaways
Have heard good things about this Joan Jett biopic.
I missed Kevin Smith's homage to the buddy cop genre and can't wait to pick this up. His movies always have great extras as well.
Extras include:
"Maximum Comedy Mode" - Picture-in-Picture walk-ons, stretches of audio and video commentary, more than an hour of deleted scenes and outtakes, additional behind-the-scenes footage, wisdom from the Shit Bandit, pop-up production factoids, storyboards, etc.Focus Point featurettes:a Couple of DicksThe New Buddy Cop DuoKevin Pollak - Man of a Thousand Voices and InterestsImprovising - Now That's FunnyPoh Boy's Diamond VaultStunts-Brooklyn StyleTracy Morgan Speaks SpanglishDave's Calling CarKevin Smith DirectsThe individual Shit Bandit wisdom shorts
The Losers
Got mixed reviews but as a fan of the comic I wanna check it out.
Extras include:
Zoe and The LosersBand of Buddies: Ops TrainingAction-Style StorytellingAlternate EndingFirst Look - Batman: Under the Red Hood
The Runaways
Have heard good things about this Joan Jett biopic.
- 7/21/2010
- by josh@reelartsy.com (Joshua dos Santos)
- Reelartsy
Following last weekend’s general release of Christopher Nolan’s Inception, those of us who’ve seen it (and perhaps many who haven’t yet) are contemplating cinema’s ability to capture and partially emulate the dream state, as well as that film’s commentary on the structures of consciousness and our inherently subjective experience of reality. This week’s new Criterion releases may not be the first films that come to mind when we think of works that influenced or remind us of Inception, but they both have plenty to say about disoriented psyches functioning as best they can under mind-bending pressure, using vivid color and evocative compositional schemes to masterful effect in the process.
Yes, I’m talking about Powell & Pressburger’s signature works from the late 1940s, The Red Shoes (read James’ review of the Blu-ray) and Black Narcissus. Both films have been available on Criterion Laserdisc...
Yes, I’m talking about Powell & Pressburger’s signature works from the late 1940s, The Red Shoes (read James’ review of the Blu-ray) and Black Narcissus. Both films have been available on Criterion Laserdisc...
- 7/20/2010
- by David Blakeslee
- CriterionCast
Photo: Criterion Collection Just how good is the color in Black Narcissus? I was showing an online clip of it to a friend and without me saying a word about the film they said, "Well they've obviously done something to it." I didn't know what they were talking about. "This was released in 1947?" they asked. I said, "Yes," and they said, "Well they didn't have color like that in 1947!" I couldn't think of a more appropriate endorsement of cinematographer Jack Cardiff's work on this film and the colors directors Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger were able to present with films such as Black Narcissus in '47 and The Red Shoes in '48. Best of all, this was a statement made based on watching a compressed online Flash-based video. Now imagine what the reaction would be to Criterion's newly released Blu-ray editions.
The Red Shoes was first released on Criterion...
The Red Shoes was first released on Criterion...
- 7/20/2010
- by Brad Brevet
- Rope of Silicon
“Sorrow will pass, believe me.
Life is so unimportant.
And from now onwards, you will dance like nobody ever before.”
When sitting down to watch a film that you not only love to death but call one of your top 10 films of all time is a hard one to review. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film ‘The Red Shoes‘ is a much beloved film by countless critics and filmmakers, the most prominent one being Martin Scorsese, who helped with the restoration process for this film. So how does one give this film the credit it so rightly deserves?
[Warning: This review contains spoilers for The Red Shoes.]
The film is loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen story of the same name and follows the rise of dancer Vicky Page (Moira Shearer) who just wants to dance and be the best in the world. She meets Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), who is the charismatic and ruthless Svengali-esque head of the Ballet Lermontov,...
Life is so unimportant.
And from now onwards, you will dance like nobody ever before.”
When sitting down to watch a film that you not only love to death but call one of your top 10 films of all time is a hard one to review. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film ‘The Red Shoes‘ is a much beloved film by countless critics and filmmakers, the most prominent one being Martin Scorsese, who helped with the restoration process for this film. So how does one give this film the credit it so rightly deserves?
[Warning: This review contains spoilers for The Red Shoes.]
The film is loosely based on the Hans Christian Andersen story of the same name and follows the rise of dancer Vicky Page (Moira Shearer) who just wants to dance and be the best in the world. She meets Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), who is the charismatic and ruthless Svengali-esque head of the Ballet Lermontov,...
- 7/13/2010
- by James McCormick
- CriterionCast
The Red Shoes
On July 20th, the studio will release Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's classic The Red Shoes (1948) on DVD/Blu-ray with a new, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition).
Extras include:
Audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie, featuring interviews with stars Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and filmmaker Martin ScorseseIntroductory restoration demonstration with ScorseseProfile of 'The Red Shoes' (2000), a 25-minute documentaryVideo interview with Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, Michael Powell's widowGallery from Scorsese's collection of The Red Shoes memorabiliaThe 'Red Shoes' Sketches, an animated film made from Hein Heckroth's painted storyboardsReadings by actor Jeremy Irons of excerpts from Powell and Pressburger's novelization of The Red Shoes and the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy taleTheatrical trailerA booklet featuring an essay by Ian Christie
Black Narcissus
On July 20th, they will also release...
On July 20th, the studio will release Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's classic The Red Shoes (1948) on DVD/Blu-ray with a new, restored high-definition digital transfer (with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray edition).
Extras include:
Audio commentary by film historian Ian Christie, featuring interviews with stars Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and filmmaker Martin ScorseseIntroductory restoration demonstration with ScorseseProfile of 'The Red Shoes' (2000), a 25-minute documentaryVideo interview with Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, Michael Powell's widowGallery from Scorsese's collection of The Red Shoes memorabiliaThe 'Red Shoes' Sketches, an animated film made from Hein Heckroth's painted storyboardsReadings by actor Jeremy Irons of excerpts from Powell and Pressburger's novelization of The Red Shoes and the original Hans Christian Andersen fairy taleTheatrical trailerA booklet featuring an essay by Ian Christie
Black Narcissus
On July 20th, they will also release...
- 4/17/2010
- by josh@reelartsy.com (Joshua dos Santos)
- Reelartsy
Well all you lucky tax-payers, you have all new Criterion Collection releases to spend that hard earned tax return on. It feels like only yesterday we were posting the June 2010 new releases from Criterion, and here we are with July’s!
First up, we’re getting two Powell and Pressburger films that have been long rumored: The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus. The Red Shoes restored print that has been making it’s way around the country has been of much talk on our podcast over the last several months, and has even found it’s way onto Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature. Soon to be available on DVD and Blu-ray, these are two titles that are clearly worth a revisiting. The restored print of The Red Shoes screened last December in Austin at Butt-Numb-a-Thon, and our own James McCormick joined us on this early bonus episode, to discuss his thoughts on the screening.
First up, we’re getting two Powell and Pressburger films that have been long rumored: The Red Shoes and Black Narcissus. The Red Shoes restored print that has been making it’s way around the country has been of much talk on our podcast over the last several months, and has even found it’s way onto Netflix’s Watch Instantly feature. Soon to be available on DVD and Blu-ray, these are two titles that are clearly worth a revisiting. The restored print of The Red Shoes screened last December in Austin at Butt-Numb-a-Thon, and our own James McCormick joined us on this early bonus episode, to discuss his thoughts on the screening.
- 4/15/2010
- by Ryan Gallagher
- CriterionCast
BFI Southbank to exhibit paintings and sketches of 'Freudian ballet' created for the film by Hein Heckroth
The Red Shoes, Powell and Pressburger's 1948 masterpiece, is one of the most visually spectacular movies in British history, and an abiding inspiration for artists such as Martin Scorsese, who counts it among his favourite films.
Now, ahead of its re-release in a newly restored version, its colours returned to their original Technicolor vividness, visitors to BFI Southbank in London will have the chance to see some of the original artwork for the film, created by surrealist painter Hein Heckroth.
The Red Shoes, the story of a dancer's struggle to achieve greatness against the demands of "normal" life, has entranced balletomanes and cineastes in the 61 years since it was made.
The most ambitious aspect of the film is the extended ballet sequence at the heart of the story, in which The Red Shoes...
The Red Shoes, Powell and Pressburger's 1948 masterpiece, is one of the most visually spectacular movies in British history, and an abiding inspiration for artists such as Martin Scorsese, who counts it among his favourite films.
Now, ahead of its re-release in a newly restored version, its colours returned to their original Technicolor vividness, visitors to BFI Southbank in London will have the chance to see some of the original artwork for the film, created by surrealist painter Hein Heckroth.
The Red Shoes, the story of a dancer's struggle to achieve greatness against the demands of "normal" life, has entranced balletomanes and cineastes in the 61 years since it was made.
The most ambitious aspect of the film is the extended ballet sequence at the heart of the story, in which The Red Shoes...
- 11/20/2009
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
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