The Red Shoes

Covent Garden, London. A group of students arrive early to see the new ballet, 'Hearts of Fire', by the Ballet Lermontov, with music by their tutor, Professor Palmer. However, when one of the students, Julian Crastor, recognises the music as his own, the group leave in disgust. Meanwhile, wealthy patron of the arts Lady Neston extends an invitation to Professor Palmer and Boris Lermontov to join her at a party later that evening. Reluctantly, Lermontov agrees.

At the party, Lermontov is annoyed when Lady Neston proposes to invite her niece, Vicky Page, to perform a dance for him. Later in the evening, Lermontov is approached by a young woman and remarks that they have been spared the spectacle of a dance performance. He is embarrassed when the woman introduces herself as Vicky Page. Vicky impresses Lermontov with her dedication to dancing, and he invites her to rehearsals at Covent Garden the next day.

The next morning, Lermontov is disturbed at breakfast by Julian, who is furious that Palmer stole his music for 'Hearts of Fire'. Lermontov advises Julian to leave the matter alone, but recognises his talent, invites him to a junior position with the orchestra.

Vicki is employed by the company as a junior dancer. When she asks for and receives permission to dance the lead in a small amateur production, she is surprised to see Lermontov in the audience. Later, she is delighted to learn that she is among those selected to tour Europe with the company.

As the tour gets underway, the company's primadonna, Irina Boronskaja, announces during a rehearsal that she is engaged to be married. Convinced that she is no longer committed to dancing, Lermontov dismisses her from the company. Meanwhile, Julian is summoned to see Lermontov, who informs him of his intention to begin a new ballet, 'The Red Shoes', based on a story by Hans Christian Anderson about a young girl who buys a pair of enchanted shoes to help her to dance: the girl dances the night away but finds she is unable to stop dancing, or to take off the shoes; eventually, she dances herself to death. Lermontov presents Julian with a copy of the score for the ballet and tells him that certain parts need improvement. The ambitious Julian, disappointed not to be offered something more challenging, agrees.

As the company reaches Monte Carlo, Vicky is told that she is to be given a chance to dance the lead in 'The Red Shoes'. When Julian plays Lermontov part of his reworked score, Lermontov instructs him to finish rewriting the score. Afterwards, Julian and Vicky meet by chance on the promenade and discuss their new appointments. As rehearsals begin, Lermontov instructs Julian to play the score of 'The Red Shoes' for Vicky at every mealtime.

'The Red Shoes' opens and is a huge success. Lermontov tells Vicky he intends to make her a great dancer - before the season is out she will perform all the great roles. As the season continues, Vicky becomes an enormous success. Lermontov sends a dinner invitation to Vicky, but is told that she has already left the hotel. When he learns that the entire crew have gone to celebrate the birthday of Grischa Lubov, one of the male principals, Lermontov joins the party, but notices that Vicky is not among them. He disguises his alarm when he is told that Vicky and Julian have fallen in love.

When Lermontov tells Julian he thinks that the relationship is affecting Vicky's dancing, and that he is dissatisfied with Julian's latest score, Julian resigns in disgust. Told that the new ballet is to be scrapped, Lubov resigns hastily in anger. The company's designer, Sergei, attempts to talk to Lermontov on behalf of the two, but although Lubov is forgiven, Julian is not. Vicky approaches Lermontov herself, but her plea is rejected, and she leaves the company.

As Vicky and Julian marry and continue their careers elsewhere, the furious and dejected Lermontov is forced to invite Irina Boronskaja to return as his primadonna. The company continues to enjoy success, but when Lermontov learns that Vicky is to pass nearby on her way to join her aunt for a short holiday, while Julian is in London preparing for the opening of his first opera, he resolves to intercept her train en route. He invites Vicky to rejoin the company to perform 'The Red Shoes' .

Vicky is preparing for her first night when Julian, who is supposed to be at Covent Garden for his own first night, appears in her dressing room. He pleads with Vicky to return with him, until Lermontov arrives and they quarrel. Torn between her love for Julian and her need to dance, Vicky is unable to go with Julian, who leaves in despair while Vicky is comforted by the triumphant Lermontov. However, as Vicky leaves for the stage, she is apparently possessed by the red shoes. The shoes carry her out of the theatre onto the concourse outside, and finally over a balcony into the path of an oncoming train, while a horrified Julian looks on.

As the orchestra finish the introduction for 'The Red Shoes' , Lermontov appears on stage and announces that Vicky Page will not be appearing tonight or ever again. However, the performance will go ahead without her as a tribute. As the performance begins, Vicky, dying in her husband's arms, asks him to remove the red shoes.

[註釋]: 原先並不知道英國曾在1948年拍過這部精彩影片,直到去年十月,重新翻閱劉藝先生由皇冠出版社出版的奧斯卡51年(1979年版),並且恰好在影音專賣店看到新出版的DVD,才如獲至寶,經整理各家評論,鄭重推薦給大家共同欣賞.

红菱艳 Red Shoes, The (1948)

把这部影片加入到你的IE收藏夹里 影片下载观看地址 导 演： 米切尔·鲍威尔 Michael Powell Emeric Pressburger 主 演： Yvonne Andre Brian Ashbridge Edmond Audran Albert Bassermann Peter Bayliss Michel Bazalgette Eric Berry Leonard Boucher 上 映： 1948年09月06日 ( 英国 )更多地区 地 区： 英国 ( 拍摄地 ) 对 白： 英语 评 分： 8.1/10( 1699票 )　详细 颜 色： 彩色 声 音： Mono 时 长： 133 分钟 类 型： 剧情 爱情 音乐 分 级： 芬兰：S

剧情简介： 　　这部英国影片是罕见的、能将舞蹈语汇天衣无缝地融入电影语汇的作品，也是芭蕾舞爱好者的最爱。它讲述一名芭蕾舞女演员的痛苦抉择，她必须挣扎在一个具有强烈占有欲的音乐天才和一个排斥爱情的制作人之间，她的舞蹈不是才华的炫耀，而是情感的体现和升华。 影片有大段的舞台表演，但因为处理手法高超，非但一点也不枯燥，反而对门外汉也能产生吸引力。女主角妙曼的舞姿、摄影和美工的丰富想象力尤其值得称道。《红菱艳》被誉为“英国电影艺术手段的一个胜利”，而在美国也被列为当年十部优秀影片之一。 　　本片的女主角佩姬是爱舞如命的人。当舞蹈团团长莱蒙托夫问她为什么要跳舞时，她的回答是：“就像你为什么活着。”她把自己生命的激情倾洋在芭蕾舞剧《红菱艳》的排练之中，结果她的演出大为成功。后来她和作曲家朱利安附入情网。于是她陷入了爱情与事业和冲突之中。莱蒙托夫认为：“没有一位伟大的舞蹈演员可以去享受常人的爱情。”但是他说服不了佩姬佩姬离开了舞蹈团并结了婚。但是后来一种强大的诱惑使佩姬决心重返舞台，致使朱利安拂袖而去。走上舞台之后，佩姬忽然想到那个穿着红舞鞋跳到生命终点的姑娘，感到不寒而栗，她感到自己不能失去爱情的丈夫。她猛地冲出剧院去追赶即将离去的丈夫，结果被迎面而来火车轧死……