“All this filming isn’t healthy,” says blind but perceptive Mrs. Stephens (Maxine Audley) late in Michael Powell’s resolutely disturbing Peeping Tom, and every aspect of the film’s rigorously self-reflexive construction seems to bear her out. From the opening shot of an opening eye, to the final shot of a blank screen swathed in black and blood-red gel lighting, Peeping Tom obsessively examines the social and psychological ramifications of overactive cinephilia. This situates Powell’s film as a direct precursor to later 1960s autocritiques along the lines of Federico Fellini’s 8½, Michelangelo Antonioni’s Blow-Up, and Haskell Wexler’s Medium Cool.
Powell and screenwriter Leo Marks originally wanted to make a film about Sigmund Freud and his theories, but word of John Huston’s upcoming Freud biopic put the kibosh on those plans. So instead they came up with the story of Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm), who works...
Powell and screenwriter Leo Marks originally wanted to make a film about Sigmund Freud and his theories, but word of John Huston’s upcoming Freud biopic put the kibosh on those plans. So instead they came up with the story of Mark Lewis (Carl Boehm), who works...
- 5/24/2024
- by Budd Wilkins
- Slant Magazine
Stars: Karlheinz Bohm, Maxine Audley, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer, Brenda Bruce, Esmond Knight, Martin Miller, Michael Goodliffe, Jack Watson, Shirley Anne Field | Written by Leo Marks | Directed by Michael Powell
Originally released 64 years ago (!) and a Martin Scorsese favourite, Peeping Tom has already had a UK release from StudioCanal, with a print restored in association with The Film Foundation and the BFI National Archive; and now comes another release, this time in the US courtesy of the Criterion Collection.
My immediate reaction, almost from the opening scene is that for a film that was made so long ago, it has aged extremely well and I imagine it might have seemed quite shocking at the time.
That does seem to be the case as “on its initial release in 1960, Peeping Tom received a savage reception from critics who were dismayed by its controversial subject matter and the sympathy it seems to engender for its murderous protagonist.
Originally released 64 years ago (!) and a Martin Scorsese favourite, Peeping Tom has already had a UK release from StudioCanal, with a print restored in association with The Film Foundation and the BFI National Archive; and now comes another release, this time in the US courtesy of the Criterion Collection.
My immediate reaction, almost from the opening scene is that for a film that was made so long ago, it has aged extremely well and I imagine it might have seemed quite shocking at the time.
That does seem to be the case as “on its initial release in 1960, Peeping Tom received a savage reception from critics who were dismayed by its controversial subject matter and the sympathy it seems to engender for its murderous protagonist.
- 5/14/2024
- by Alain Elliott
- Nerdly
Out this week in theaters is Radio Silence’s Abigail, a heist-turned-bloodbath when kidnappers realize the child ballerina they’ve snatched isn’t quite human. That the petite vampire is a ballerina feels apt. After all, the deceptive art form has a reputation for dainty elegance that belies the sheer grueling dedication of its performers, both physically and mentally.
Ballet requires a high level of dedication to practice and performance and frequently spills over into body horror through broken toenails, stress fractures, and overuse injuries. In other words, ballet is often a mix of pain and beauty, which means it pairs well with horror.
This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to ballerinas in horror.
These horror movies feature at least one ballerina tormented by her art form, highlighting the stark, beguiling contrast between beauty and horror. Here’s where you can stream them now.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks,...
Ballet requires a high level of dedication to practice and performance and frequently spills over into body horror through broken toenails, stress fractures, and overuse injuries. In other words, ballet is often a mix of pain and beauty, which means it pairs well with horror.
This week’s streaming picks are dedicated to ballerinas in horror.
These horror movies feature at least one ballerina tormented by her art form, highlighting the stark, beguiling contrast between beauty and horror. Here’s where you can stream them now.
For more Stay Home, Watch Horror picks,...
- 4/15/2024
- by Meagan Navarro
- bloody-disgusting.com
Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Peeping Tom 4K Uhd from Criterion
Peeping Tom will join The Criterion Collection on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on May 14. The 1960 British horror-thriller has been newly restored in 4K with Dolby Vision Hdr and uncompressed monaural sound.
A progenitor of the contemporary slasher, Michael Powell (The Red Shoes) produces and directs from a script by Leo Marks. Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, and Maxine Audley star.
Special features include: a new introduction by Martin Scorsese; a new interview with Thelma Schoonmaker; a new featurette with Scorsese, Schoonmaker, and Boehm; audio commentaries by film scholar Laura Mulvey and film historian Ian Christie; featurettes Marks and on the restoration; and more.
Chucky Talking Board from...
Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!
Peeping Tom 4K Uhd from Criterion
Peeping Tom will join The Criterion Collection on 4K Ultra HD and Blu-ray on May 14. The 1960 British horror-thriller has been newly restored in 4K with Dolby Vision Hdr and uncompressed monaural sound.
A progenitor of the contemporary slasher, Michael Powell (The Red Shoes) produces and directs from a script by Leo Marks. Carl Boehm, Moira Shearer, Anna Massey, and Maxine Audley star.
Special features include: a new introduction by Martin Scorsese; a new interview with Thelma Schoonmaker; a new featurette with Scorsese, Schoonmaker, and Boehm; audio commentaries by film scholar Laura Mulvey and film historian Ian Christie; featurettes Marks and on the restoration; and more.
Chucky Talking Board from...
- 2/23/2024
- by Alex DiVincenzo
- bloody-disgusting.com
Stars: Karlheinz Bohm, Maxine Audley, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer, Brenda Bruce, Esmond Knight, Martin Miller, Michael Goodliffe, Jack Watson, Shirley Anne Field | Written by Leo Marks | Directed by Michael Powell
Released 64 years ago (!!!), a Martin Scorsese favourite, Peeping Tom, is getting a special edition 4K release this year after being restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive in association with StudioCanal.
This was a first-time watch for me, and my immediate reaction, almost from the opening scene is that for a film that was made so long ago, it has aged extremely well and I imagine it might have seemed quite shocking at the time.
That does seem to be the case as “on its initial release in 1960, Peeping Tom received a savage reception from critics who were dismayed by its controversial subject matter and the sympathy it seems to engender for its murderous protagonist.” It then remained...
Released 64 years ago (!!!), a Martin Scorsese favourite, Peeping Tom, is getting a special edition 4K release this year after being restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive in association with StudioCanal.
This was a first-time watch for me, and my immediate reaction, almost from the opening scene is that for a film that was made so long ago, it has aged extremely well and I imagine it might have seemed quite shocking at the time.
That does seem to be the case as “on its initial release in 1960, Peeping Tom received a savage reception from critics who were dismayed by its controversial subject matter and the sympathy it seems to engender for its murderous protagonist.” It then remained...
- 1/29/2024
- by Alain Elliott
- Nerdly
To celebrate Studiocanal’s Release Brand New 4K Restoration of Michael Powell’s Peeping Tom available on Special Edition 4K Uhd, Blu-ray & DVD on 29 January, we have a 4K Uhd copy to give away to a lucky winner!
Studiocanal are proud to announce the release of a spectacular 4K restoration of Michael Powell’s iconic serial killer classic Peeping Tom, restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive in association with Studiocanal. Written by Leo Marks (Twisted Nerve) and starring Carl Boehm (Sissi), Anna Massey (Frenzy), Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes) and Maxine Audley (A King in New York), this influential cinematic masterpiece will be available on Special Edition 4K Uhd, Blu-ray and DVD with 32-page booklet and 90 mins of brand new extra content from 29 January 2024.
Mark (Carl Boehm), a focus puller at the local film studio, supplements his wages by taking glamour photographs in a seedy studio above a newsagent.
Studiocanal are proud to announce the release of a spectacular 4K restoration of Michael Powell’s iconic serial killer classic Peeping Tom, restored by The Film Foundation and BFI National Archive in association with Studiocanal. Written by Leo Marks (Twisted Nerve) and starring Carl Boehm (Sissi), Anna Massey (Frenzy), Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes) and Maxine Audley (A King in New York), this influential cinematic masterpiece will be available on Special Edition 4K Uhd, Blu-ray and DVD with 32-page booklet and 90 mins of brand new extra content from 29 January 2024.
Mark (Carl Boehm), a focus puller at the local film studio, supplements his wages by taking glamour photographs in a seedy studio above a newsagent.
- 1/22/2024
- by Competitions
- HeyUGuys.co.uk
Horror films and controversy often go hand in hand. Historically, no genre has pushed the boundaries of what is acceptable onscreen as much as horror, with authorities like the MPAA and the BBFC constantly stepping in to protect filmgoers from extreme content.
Controversies abound in horror, with countless examples of censorship, intrusive cuts, or outright bans. Other times, films can provoke a visceral reaction from the audience; "Audition" prompted people to faint in the initial screenings, for example, while "The Exorcist" gained everlasting notoriety for the apparent hysteria it caused in cinemas.
Rather than a comprehensive list, this represents a broad spread of different types of controversial deaths in horror films. It might best be summed up as 14 of the most interesting controversial deaths, rather than necessarily all of the most obvious choices. As such, please take the order with a pinch of salt. Lots of spoilers below, so beware!
Controversies abound in horror, with countless examples of censorship, intrusive cuts, or outright bans. Other times, films can provoke a visceral reaction from the audience; "Audition" prompted people to faint in the initial screenings, for example, while "The Exorcist" gained everlasting notoriety for the apparent hysteria it caused in cinemas.
Rather than a comprehensive list, this represents a broad spread of different types of controversial deaths in horror films. It might best be summed up as 14 of the most interesting controversial deaths, rather than necessarily all of the most obvious choices. As such, please take the order with a pinch of salt. Lots of spoilers below, so beware!
- 10/15/2023
- by Nick Bartlett
- Slash Film
Is there a better work at the intersection of filmmaking, cinephilia, and their attendant madnesses? However evident its genius, Peeping Tom has awaited a proper upgrade––its Criterion is long out-of-print, Blu-rays are region-locked for the U.S., and whatever copy’s streaming is a bit of an eyesore. But 63 years after effectively killing Michael Powell’s career it’s just debuted a 4K restoration at the London Film Festival, will start playing U.K. theaters on October 27, and get a Uhd release on January 29––one hopes with equal treatment stateside.
There’s now a trailer that’s impressive in clarity if not, perhaps, a bit concerning for its jaundice––an all-too-common issue in modern restorations. The legitimacy of concerns notwithstanding, it’s also quite possible this has a bit more fidelity to the original image on a big screen, uncompressed.
Find the trailer below:
An influential cinematic masterpiece written...
There’s now a trailer that’s impressive in clarity if not, perhaps, a bit concerning for its jaundice––an all-too-common issue in modern restorations. The legitimacy of concerns notwithstanding, it’s also quite possible this has a bit more fidelity to the original image on a big screen, uncompressed.
Find the trailer below:
An influential cinematic masterpiece written...
- 10/9/2023
- by Nick Newman
- The Film Stage
"All this filming isn't healthy..." Studiocanal UK has unveiled a brand new trailer for a 4K restoration + re-release of a provocative classic titled Peeping Tom. This originally opened in 1960, but then was banned and shunned for years, finally being appreciated only decades later as a precursor to slasher films. It was the second film made on his own by Michael Powell, one half of the famous Powell & Pressburger duo, but this time he explores a dark topic. A young man murders women, using a movie camera to film their dying expressions of terror. Now regarded as a ground-breaking masterpiece of the British horror movement, on its initial release in 1960, Peeping Tom received a savage reception from critics who were dismayed by its controversial subject matter and the sympathy it seems to engender for its murderous protagonist. An influential cinematic film written by Leo Marks, starring Carl Boehm, Anna Massey, Moira Shearer,...
- 10/9/2023
- by Alex Billington
- firstshowing.net
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 term ‘filmed opera’ in no way describes this phantasmagoria. Powell & Pressburger re-envisions the Offenbach work with dance sequences refracted through a cinematic prism. It’s high art made for the movies, without the condescenscion seen in Disney’s Fantasia. The stars are Moira Shearer and Robert Helpmann. Powell perfects techniques from Black Narcissus and The Red Shoes to fuse music, theater, dance and cinema; Martin Scorsese calls it a ‘composed film.’ This full restoration reinstates footage not seen since the first previews in 1951.
The Tales of Hoffmann
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 317
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 133 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 7, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, Ludmilla Tchérina, Anne Ayars, Pamela Brown, Léonide Massine, Frederick Ashton, Mogens Wieth, Robert Rounseville;
— And the voices of: Robert Rounseville, Monica Sinclair, Bruce Dargavel, Fisher Morgan, Rene Soames, Dorothy Bond, Grahame Clifford, Murry Dickie, Margherita Grandi, Owen Brannigan, Ann Ayars, Joan Alexander...
The Tales of Hoffmann
Blu-ray
The Criterion Collection 317
1951 / Color / 1:37 Academy / 133 min. / available through The Criterion Collection / Street Date June 7, 2022 / 39.95
Starring: Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, Ludmilla Tchérina, Anne Ayars, Pamela Brown, Léonide Massine, Frederick Ashton, Mogens Wieth, Robert Rounseville;
— And the voices of: Robert Rounseville, Monica Sinclair, Bruce Dargavel, Fisher Morgan, Rene Soames, Dorothy Bond, Grahame Clifford, Murry Dickie, Margherita Grandi, Owen Brannigan, Ann Ayars, Joan Alexander...
- 6/14/2022
- by Glenn Erickson
- Trailers from Hell
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
(Welcome to The Quarantine Stream, a new series where the /Film team shares what they’ve been watching while social distancing during the Covid-19 pandemic.) The Movie: The Red Shoes Where You Can Stream It: HBO Max The Pitch: Aspiring ballerina Vicky Page catches the eye of ballet impresario Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), […]
The post The Quarantine Stream: ‘The Red Shoes’ is Technicolor Passion Come to Life appeared first on /Film.
The post The Quarantine Stream: ‘The Red Shoes’ is Technicolor Passion Come to Life appeared first on /Film.
- 11/17/2020
- by Hoai-Tran Bui
- Slash Film
Peter Strickland’s new film explores our obsession with clothes, an unlikely antagonist driving many classic chillers
Modern Toss on horror
“A purchase on the horizon, a panoply of temptation, the hesitation in your voice, soon to be an echo in the recesses of the spheres of retail.” Who could resist such seductively florid sales patter? Certainly not Marianne Jean-Baptiste in In Fabric, the latest, laudably bonkers movie by Peter Strickland. Ignoring the sales assistant’s vampiric demeanour, Jean-Baptiste falls in love with the dress she tries on (colour: “artery red”), only to find it is a haunted garment that inflicts upon its wearers pain, suffering and a nasty rash.
Like so many before her, Jean-Baptiste is a literal fashion victim; a woman who pays the price for seeking to make herself look better. It is a notion that harks back to fairytales and pulp horror fiction, and – by the...
Modern Toss on horror
“A purchase on the horizon, a panoply of temptation, the hesitation in your voice, soon to be an echo in the recesses of the spheres of retail.” Who could resist such seductively florid sales patter? Certainly not Marianne Jean-Baptiste in In Fabric, the latest, laudably bonkers movie by Peter Strickland. Ignoring the sales assistant’s vampiric demeanour, Jean-Baptiste falls in love with the dress she tries on (colour: “artery red”), only to find it is a haunted garment that inflicts upon its wearers pain, suffering and a nasty rash.
Like so many before her, Jean-Baptiste is a literal fashion victim; a woman who pays the price for seeking to make herself look better. It is a notion that harks back to fairytales and pulp horror fiction, and – by the...
- 6/24/2019
- by Steve Rose
- The Guardian - Film News
To bop, shimmy, tango, shake, wriggle; movement is the intrinsic lifeblood of the cinema, and from its earliest days it was physical motion that best exhibited the novel technology of the movies. Dance was one of the foremost of those visual pleasures, generally seen as escapist entertainment. This was even more the case as films blossomed into sound and the musical became de rigeur. Initially, dance was stage-bound and limited by heavy equipment required to record its subjects, but it didn’t take very long for song and dance numbers to reach a greater potential, especially under the auspices of talents like choreographer Busby Berkeley, with his dazzling geometric formations of chorines. In the forties, there came the wholesome vitality of MGM’s Freed Unit musicals. With their chirpy songs and rosy-cheeked pictures of good health, it’s difficult to detect any darkness in their depths. Yet dance, like any art form,...
- 11/16/2018
- MUBI
Lyon, France — The Hollywood Foreign Press Association (HFPA) is partnering with the Lumière Film Festival in Lyon to help restore 300 short films by brothers Auguste and Louis Lumière. In collaboration with Cineteca di Bologna and the Lumière Foundation, the donation will fund the second phase of restoration.
“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has long been a supporter of film restoration with the goal of preserving the rich history of the world’s cinematic heritage,” said HFPA president Meher Tatna. “We’re proud to partner with the Lumière Foundation in Lyon, one of the world’s premiere showcases of classic and restored films.”
The Institut Lumière said the collaboration represented a renewed commitment to the preservation of film threatened by decay and deterioration.
“Our organizations share similar missions,” said Institut Lumière director Thierry Frémaux. “They’re to preserve the culture and history of motion pictures, foster cultural exchanges and understandings through...
“The Hollywood Foreign Press Association has long been a supporter of film restoration with the goal of preserving the rich history of the world’s cinematic heritage,” said HFPA president Meher Tatna. “We’re proud to partner with the Lumière Foundation in Lyon, one of the world’s premiere showcases of classic and restored films.”
The Institut Lumière said the collaboration represented a renewed commitment to the preservation of film threatened by decay and deterioration.
“Our organizations share similar missions,” said Institut Lumière director Thierry Frémaux. “They’re to preserve the culture and history of motion pictures, foster cultural exchanges and understandings through...
- 10/15/2018
- by Ed Meza
- Variety Film + TV
Written in 1974, prolific young-adult novelist Lois Duncan’s “Down a Dark Hall” intriguingly anticipated some of the tropes of latterday Ya fantasy-fiction blockbusters. Thus “Buried” director Rodrigo Cortés’ belated screen adaptation comes off — at least in narrative terms — as something a halfway point between “Harry Potter” and “Suspiria,” as “gifted” girls at a curious, sinister private school become increasingly susceptible to supernatural forces.
Lionsgate Premiere’s Stateside launch of this Spanish-u.S. coproduction (which has already opened in several other territories) doesn’t suggest great faith, as it’s only providing very limited theatrical exposure alongside a VOD release. Still, this is a decent modern Gothic thriller handled with sufficient style and a straight face by genre ace Cortés. His efforts, and strong performances by the young female leads, make for a movie that’s fairly strong meat by juvenile fantasy standards, if probably a tad wimpy for horror-fan tastes.
Lionsgate Premiere’s Stateside launch of this Spanish-u.S. coproduction (which has already opened in several other territories) doesn’t suggest great faith, as it’s only providing very limited theatrical exposure alongside a VOD release. Still, this is a decent modern Gothic thriller handled with sufficient style and a straight face by genre ace Cortés. His efforts, and strong performances by the young female leads, make for a movie that’s fairly strong meat by juvenile fantasy standards, if probably a tad wimpy for horror-fan tastes.
- 8/17/2018
- by Dennis Harvey
- Variety Film + TV
Liliane Montevecchi, a veteran stage and screen performer who personified elegant old-world French glamour with an extravagant touch of camp, died June 29 at her home in New York City of colon cancer. She was 85.
A rail-thin, angular beauty with legs that went on forever, Montevecchi was born in Paris in 1932 and began dancing at age eight, starting her international career in the ballet company of Roland Petit.
She was lured to Hollywood in the 1950s, one of several foreign-born ballerinas to make the transition in that decade, along with Leslie Caron, Moira Shearer and Zizi Jeanmaire. Montevecchi ...
A rail-thin, angular beauty with legs that went on forever, Montevecchi was born in Paris in 1932 and began dancing at age eight, starting her international career in the ballet company of Roland Petit.
She was lured to Hollywood in the 1950s, one of several foreign-born ballerinas to make the transition in that decade, along with Leslie Caron, Moira Shearer and Zizi Jeanmaire. Montevecchi ...
- 6/30/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Liliane Montevecchi, a veteran stage and screen performer who personified elegant old-world French glamour with an extravagant touch of camp, died June 29 at her home in New York City of colon cancer. She was 85.
A rail-thin, angular beauty with legs that went on forever, Montevecchi was born in Paris in 1932 and began dancing at age eight, starting her international career in the ballet company of Roland Petit.
She was lured to Hollywood in the 1950s, one of several foreign-born ballerinas to make the transition in that decade, along with Leslie Caron, Moira Shearer and Zizi Jeanmaire. Montevecchi ...
A rail-thin, angular beauty with legs that went on forever, Montevecchi was born in Paris in 1932 and began dancing at age eight, starting her international career in the ballet company of Roland Petit.
She was lured to Hollywood in the 1950s, one of several foreign-born ballerinas to make the transition in that decade, along with Leslie Caron, Moira Shearer and Zizi Jeanmaire. Montevecchi ...
- 6/30/2018
- The Hollywood Reporter - Film + TV
Mubi is showing Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's The Small Back Room (1949), The Tales of Hoffmann (1951) and Michael Powell's Peeping Tom (1960) in November and December, 2017 in the United States in the series Powell & Pressburger: Together and Apart.The story goes that when they were casting their first flat-out masterpiece together, The Life and Death of Colonel Blimp (1943), Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger sent a letter to an actress outlining a manifesto of their production company, called "the Archers." At the time, the Archers was freshly incorporated, with Powell and Pressburger sharing all credit for writing, directing, and producing, and their manifesto had five points. Point one was to ensure that they provided their financial backers with "a profit, not a loss," which may raise eyebrows among those who are used to manifestos burning with anti-capitalist fire—but then, in a system like commercial cinema, profitability buys freedom.
- 11/8/2017
- MUBI
“Pour out the wine for drinking is divine!”
Tales Of Hoffmann (1951) screens Friday September 1st through Sunday September 3rd at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood). The movie starts each evening at 7:30pm.
This a film version of the 1881 opera by Jacques Offenbach “The Tales of Hoffmann”, however it is Not just a film of a staged performance. ‘Michael Powell’ & Emeric Pressburger work their usual magic here. The opera dramatizes the three great romances in the life of the poet-hero presented in a series of flashbacks. Hoffmann’s tales depict the struggle between human love and the artist’s dedication to his work. Hoffmann loses each of the women he loves but gains instead poetic inspiration — the ability to transform painful experiences into art.
Tales Of Hoffmann is an anthology of fantastic and romantic adventures, recounted by the fableist Hoffmann (Robert Rounseville) and featuring Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes), Ludmilla Tchérina,...
Tales Of Hoffmann (1951) screens Friday September 1st through Sunday September 3rd at Webster University’s Moore Auditorium (470 East Lockwood). The movie starts each evening at 7:30pm.
This a film version of the 1881 opera by Jacques Offenbach “The Tales of Hoffmann”, however it is Not just a film of a staged performance. ‘Michael Powell’ & Emeric Pressburger work their usual magic here. The opera dramatizes the three great romances in the life of the poet-hero presented in a series of flashbacks. Hoffmann’s tales depict the struggle between human love and the artist’s dedication to his work. Hoffmann loses each of the women he loves but gains instead poetic inspiration — the ability to transform painful experiences into art.
Tales Of Hoffmann is an anthology of fantastic and romantic adventures, recounted by the fableist Hoffmann (Robert Rounseville) and featuring Moira Shearer (The Red Shoes), Ludmilla Tchérina,...
- 8/28/2017
- by Tom Stockman
- WeAreMovieGeeks.com
A raw fiction debut that feels like a romantic comedy with all of the bullshit taken out, Peter Mackie Burns’ “Daphne” is a remarkably real and well-realized big screen version of an archetype that has given birth to some of the best new television on both sides of the pond: The self-destructive single girl. “I’ve sort of given up on people, haven’t I?” Daphne (Emily Beecham) rhetorically asks one of her few remaining friends as she stumbles through another night at the pub, slurping down a glass of whatever keeps the feelings away.
A brittle 31-year-old Londoner who wears some heavy emotional armor and has a major Moira Shearer thing going on, Daphne may enjoy the odd spot of coked up sex in the bathroom of her local bar, but she doesn’t need a man to complete her. On the contrary, she doesn’t need anyone to...
A brittle 31-year-old Londoner who wears some heavy emotional armor and has a major Moira Shearer thing going on, Daphne may enjoy the odd spot of coked up sex in the bathroom of her local bar, but she doesn’t need a man to complete her. On the contrary, she doesn’t need anyone to...
- 3/11/2017
- by David Ehrlich
- Indiewire
Gather your fright-loving family members, fill your cup to the brim with egg nog, and find a comfy spot around the TV (or computer) screen, because enough horror movies to fill Santa's sleigh are coming to the streaming service Shudder this December, including Rob Zombie's 31, Bob Clark's Black Christmas, and many more.
Press Release: This December, there’s oh so much under Shudder’s tree. But before you get unwrapping, let’s shake the boxes a bit… We have something special for everyone, inside.
Love clowns? Coming exclusively to Shudder is Rob Zombie’s latest, 31, a vicious and characteristically Zombie film. Which is to say it’s dirty, mean and, from the get, right up in your face.
Looking to stay in? We’ve got a very special Shudder exclusive in Shrew's Nest. Directed by Juanfer Andrés & Esteban Roel (and produced by Alex de la Iglesia), this elegant,...
Press Release: This December, there’s oh so much under Shudder’s tree. But before you get unwrapping, let’s shake the boxes a bit… We have something special for everyone, inside.
Love clowns? Coming exclusively to Shudder is Rob Zombie’s latest, 31, a vicious and characteristically Zombie film. Which is to say it’s dirty, mean and, from the get, right up in your face.
Looking to stay in? We’ve got a very special Shudder exclusive in Shrew's Nest. Directed by Juanfer Andrés & Esteban Roel (and produced by Alex de la Iglesia), this elegant,...
- 12/2/2016
- by Derek Anderson
- DailyDead
Above: French poster by Boris Grinsson for You’ll Never Get Rich (Sidney Lanfield, USA, 1941).In the new edition of Film Comment, out this week, I write about British airbrush artist Philip Castle and his iconic poster for Stanley Kubrick’s A Clockwork Orange. The other man behind that poster, aside from Kubrick himself, was producer, director and writer Mike Kaplan who, at the time, was Kubrick’s marketing guru.Kaplan, who has been collecting movie posters, as well as art directing them, for 35 years, is a tireless proselytizer for the art form and his latest project is a labor of love and a pure delight. Gotta Dance! The Art of the Dance Movie Poster, a book he wrote and curated, was born out of a touring exhibition of his own personal collection that he has been exhibiting around the country for the past few years. Its latest stop is...
- 3/21/2015
- by Adrian Curry
- MUBI
Perhaps even more hallucinatory than The Red Shoes, Powell and Pressburger’s tale of a poet regaling a tavern with tales of his impossible loves is a thing of pure, dreamlike strangeness
“Made in England” is how Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger finally stamped their unworldly, otherworldly Tales of Hoffmann from 1951, an adaptation of the Jacques Offenbach opera, which is now on rerelease. It actually negated English and British cinema’s reputation for stolid realism. This is a hothouse flower of pure orchidaceous strangeness, enclosed in the studio’s artificial universe, fusing cinema, opera and ballet. It is sensual, macabre, dreamlike and enigmatic: like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In his autobiography, Powell recalls talking to a United Artists executive after the New York premiere, who said to him, wonderingly: “Micky, I wish it were possible to make films like that … ” A revealing choice of words. It was as if...
“Made in England” is how Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger finally stamped their unworldly, otherworldly Tales of Hoffmann from 1951, an adaptation of the Jacques Offenbach opera, which is now on rerelease. It actually negated English and British cinema’s reputation for stolid realism. This is a hothouse flower of pure orchidaceous strangeness, enclosed in the studio’s artificial universe, fusing cinema, opera and ballet. It is sensual, macabre, dreamlike and enigmatic: like Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. In his autobiography, Powell recalls talking to a United Artists executive after the New York premiere, who said to him, wonderingly: “Micky, I wish it were possible to make films like that … ” A revealing choice of words. It was as if...
- 2/26/2015
- by Peter Bradshaw
- The Guardian - Film News
Top 100 horror movies of all time: Chicago Film Critics' choices (photo: Sigourney Weaver and Alien creature show us that life is less horrific if you don't hold grudges) See previous post: A look at the Chicago Film Critics Association's Scariest Movies Ever Made. Below is the list of the Chicago Film Critics's Top 100 Horror Movies of All Time, including their directors and key cast members. Note: this list was first published in October 2006. (See also: Fay Wray, Lee Patrick, and Mary Philbin among the "Top Ten Scream Queens.") 1. Psycho (1960) Alfred Hitchcock; with Anthony Perkins, Janet Leigh, Vera Miles, John Gavin, Martin Balsam. 2. The Exorcist (1973) William Friedkin; with Ellen Burstyn, Linda Blair, Jason Miller, Max von Sydow (and the voice of Mercedes McCambridge). 3. Halloween (1978) John Carpenter; with Jamie Lee Curtis, Donald Pleasence, Tony Moran. 4. Alien (1979) Ridley Scott; with Sigourney Weaver, Tom Skerritt, John Hurt. 5. Night of the Living Dead (1968) George A. Romero; with Marilyn Eastman,...
- 10/31/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
By Anjelica Oswald
Managing Editor
Hollywood films portraying the world — including the troubled side — of show business have garnered best picture nominations for years. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) could be a serious Oscar contender and features Michael Keaton as a former film star known for his portrayal of a superhero named Birdman. He attempts to renew his career by writing, directing and performing in a Broadway play. The film hit theaters Friday. Here are ten best picture Oscar-nominated films about show business (in chronological order):
1. The Red Shoes (1948)
The film is a tragic story about a young ballet dancer (Moira Shearer) who is forced to choose between her future dance career and the composer she falls in love with. The film was nominated for five Oscars and won two.
2. All About Eve (1950)
Anne Baxter stars as Eve, an aspiring, conniving actress who...
Managing Editor
Hollywood films portraying the world — including the troubled side — of show business have garnered best picture nominations for years. Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s Birdman or (The Unexpected Virtue of Ignorance) could be a serious Oscar contender and features Michael Keaton as a former film star known for his portrayal of a superhero named Birdman. He attempts to renew his career by writing, directing and performing in a Broadway play. The film hit theaters Friday. Here are ten best picture Oscar-nominated films about show business (in chronological order):
1. The Red Shoes (1948)
The film is a tragic story about a young ballet dancer (Moira Shearer) who is forced to choose between her future dance career and the composer she falls in love with. The film was nominated for five Oscars and won two.
2. All About Eve (1950)
Anne Baxter stars as Eve, an aspiring, conniving actress who...
- 10/19/2014
- by Anjelica Oswald
- Scott Feinberg
Best British movies of all time? (Image: a young Michael Caine in 'Get Carter') Ten years ago, Get Carter, starring Michael Caine as a dangerous-looking London gangster (see photo above), was selected as the United Kingdom's very best movie of all time according to 25 British film critics polled by Total Film magazine. To say that Mike Hodges' 1971 thriller was a surprising choice would be an understatement. I mean, not a David Lean epic or an early Alfred Hitchcock thriller? What a difference ten years make. On Total Film's 2014 list, published last May, Get Carter was no. 44 among the magazine's Top 50 best British movies of all time. How could that be? Well, first of all, people would be very naive if they took such lists seriously, whether we're talking Total Film, the British Film Institute, or, to keep things British, Sight & Sound magazine. Second, whereas Total Film's 2004 list was the result of a 25-critic consensus,...
- 10/12/2014
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
The barrister, broadcaster and Labour peer says critic's reviews introduced her to film-makers from Bergman to Truffaut
Lady Kennedy is a barrister, broadcaster and Labour member of the House of Lords. She is also a long-time reader of Philip French.
When I came to London, I was 18 and knew absolutely nothing about film – I had regularly gone to schlock movies. I was studying law with a whole load of people who had gone to Oxbridge, many of whom were very well versed in film. I was an ingenue surrounded by alpha males who knew everything about Godard, and every French film-maker.
I stumbled on Philip's reviews in the early 70s and he became my secret crib sheet. He introduced me to all sorts of film-makers, from Bergman to Truffaut. It was as if I had somebody who liked the things that I like and so I found, in his writing,...
Lady Kennedy is a barrister, broadcaster and Labour member of the House of Lords. She is also a long-time reader of Philip French.
When I came to London, I was 18 and knew absolutely nothing about film – I had regularly gone to schlock movies. I was studying law with a whole load of people who had gone to Oxbridge, many of whom were very well versed in film. I was an ingenue surrounded by alpha males who knew everything about Godard, and every French film-maker.
I stumbled on Philip's reviews in the early 70s and he became my secret crib sheet. He introduced me to all sorts of film-makers, from Bergman to Truffaut. It was as if I had somebody who liked the things that I like and so I found, in his writing,...
- 8/24/2013
- The Guardian - Film News
Nicolas Winding Refn is the latest in a long line of directors to find inspiration among plastic dolls
Only God Forgives 2013
For years, Kristin Scott Thomas has been trashing her brittle English upper-classness in French films, but anglophone audiences who still think of her as posh Fiona from Four Weddings and a Funeral might get a shock when they see her in Nicolas Winding Refn's ultra-violent revenge parable. Sample dialogue: "And how many cocks can you 'entertain' with that cute little cum-dumpster of yours?"
Her Crystal is an abrasive, chain-smoking, bottle-blonde Messalina tottering around in fuck-me shoes and too much eye makeup, wielding Virginia Slims as though they were deadly weapons. She's the Barbie from hell, as if Paris Hilton had suddenly lived 20 more years and had a personality transplant from Lucy Liu in Kill Bill: Volume 1. Just as the hotel chain heiress apparently modelled her own makeover on Mattel's fashion doll,...
Only God Forgives 2013
For years, Kristin Scott Thomas has been trashing her brittle English upper-classness in French films, but anglophone audiences who still think of her as posh Fiona from Four Weddings and a Funeral might get a shock when they see her in Nicolas Winding Refn's ultra-violent revenge parable. Sample dialogue: "And how many cocks can you 'entertain' with that cute little cum-dumpster of yours?"
Her Crystal is an abrasive, chain-smoking, bottle-blonde Messalina tottering around in fuck-me shoes and too much eye makeup, wielding Virginia Slims as though they were deadly weapons. She's the Barbie from hell, as if Paris Hilton had suddenly lived 20 more years and had a personality transplant from Lucy Liu in Kill Bill: Volume 1. Just as the hotel chain heiress apparently modelled her own makeover on Mattel's fashion doll,...
- 5/30/2013
- by Anne Billson
- The Guardian - Film News
There are no dinosaurs in Terrence Malick's sixth feature, but there are bison, sea turtles, prairies, toxic sludge, sun-dappled water, more prairies, a conflicted priest (Javier Bardem) and enough pirouetting by Olga Kurylenko to make you imagine that she probably felt dizzy at the end of each day's shooting. It's a floatier, more ethereal variety than Moira Shearer's mad spinning in "The Red Shoes", but since twirling with her arms outstretched seems to be her favoured mode of expression it sometimes leaves you wondering if her character Marina isn't supposed to be a little unhinged herself -- a dreamy free spirit from Paris who seemingly takes the wrong turn in life by allowing herself to be caged in the Midwestern tract home of Ben Affleck's aloof, inexpressive Neil. Affleck has joked that "The Tree Of Life" looks like "The Transformers" compared to "To The Wonder". The former certainly delineates a grander,...
- 4/10/2013
- by Matt Mueller
- Thompson on Hollywood
“40 films from the ‘40s” is a movie challenge to watch and write about one film from that era weekly. Why the ‘40s? That decade is fascinating, because of the juxtapositions between films released during WWII and those released after. Half the decade was spent scrambling to keep nations afloat during war and the second half was spent trying to pick up the pieces and move forward.
****
The Red Shoes
Written & Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Starring Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, and Marius Goring
UK, 133 min. – 1984
Based on Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale, The Red Shoes follows the story of young, aspiring ballet dancer, Victoria Page (Shearer). Vicky dreams of dancing for Boris Lermantov’s (Walbrook) company. She finally gets the chance to do so, in Lermnatov’s newest ballet, “The Red Shoes”, composed by the young, musical genius, Julian Craster (Marius Goring). Vicky lives for dancing and Lermantov...
****
The Red Shoes
Written & Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Starring Moira Shearer, Anton Walbrook, and Marius Goring
UK, 133 min. – 1984
Based on Hans Christian Anderson’s fairytale, The Red Shoes follows the story of young, aspiring ballet dancer, Victoria Page (Shearer). Vicky dreams of dancing for Boris Lermantov’s (Walbrook) company. She finally gets the chance to do so, in Lermnatov’s newest ballet, “The Red Shoes”, composed by the young, musical genius, Julian Craster (Marius Goring). Vicky lives for dancing and Lermantov...
- 11/4/2012
- by Karen Bacellar
- SoundOnSight
Ryan Lambie Jul 28, 2016
What do Bambi, The Dark Knight and Seven all have in common? Some powerful moments of off-screen violence...
Nb: The following contains spoilers for Seven (1995) and The Witch (2015)
The seminal moment in the history of cinema came at the turn of the 20th century, when the medium began to move away from the storytelling language of the theatre. Filmmakers like Edwin S Porter began to realise that the camera could do so much more than simply record what was in front of it; such techniques as close-ups and edits to different angles or locations could be used to create drama.
It’s these filmmaking techniques that the masters of cinema use to create suspense and feelings of dread. And while there’s nothing wrong with jabs of violence of gore in movies, it remains the case that anticipation or suggestion of a violent act is more effective than seeing the moment itself.
What do Bambi, The Dark Knight and Seven all have in common? Some powerful moments of off-screen violence...
Nb: The following contains spoilers for Seven (1995) and The Witch (2015)
The seminal moment in the history of cinema came at the turn of the 20th century, when the medium began to move away from the storytelling language of the theatre. Filmmakers like Edwin S Porter began to realise that the camera could do so much more than simply record what was in front of it; such techniques as close-ups and edits to different angles or locations could be used to create drama.
It’s these filmmaking techniques that the masters of cinema use to create suspense and feelings of dread. And while there’s nothing wrong with jabs of violence of gore in movies, it remains the case that anticipation or suggestion of a violent act is more effective than seeing the moment itself.
- 11/17/2011
- Den of Geek
What do Bambi, The Dark Knight and Seven all have in common? Spectacular moments of off-screen violence, obviously. Here’s a list of a few other favourites…
Exploding heads are great, obviously. And there are some action and horror films that simply wouldn’t be the same without copious bloodletting, broken limbs and flying eyeballs. So while we’ve nothing against cinematic excess, it’s also the case that truly horrific violence can be implied rather than explicitly shown.
To this end, here’s a list of a few particularly noteworthy moments of implied nastiness in cinema. Needless to say, there are dozens upon dozens that we’ve failed to remember, so feel free to chip in with your own favourite moments of off-screen menace in the comments section.
M (1931)
“Just you wait, the nasty man in black will come,” is the first line uttered in Fritz Lang’s unforgettably disturbing 1931 thriller,...
Exploding heads are great, obviously. And there are some action and horror films that simply wouldn’t be the same without copious bloodletting, broken limbs and flying eyeballs. So while we’ve nothing against cinematic excess, it’s also the case that truly horrific violence can be implied rather than explicitly shown.
To this end, here’s a list of a few particularly noteworthy moments of implied nastiness in cinema. Needless to say, there are dozens upon dozens that we’ve failed to remember, so feel free to chip in with your own favourite moments of off-screen menace in the comments section.
M (1931)
“Just you wait, the nasty man in black will come,” is the first line uttered in Fritz Lang’s unforgettably disturbing 1931 thriller,...
- 11/17/2011
- Den of Geek
We're picking out your finest responses to our My favourite film series, for which Guardian writers have selected the movies they go back to time and again.
Here's a roundup of how you responded in week three, when the selections were American Splendor, The Red Shoes, The Princess Bride, Rio Bravo and Hoop Dreams
Who was Harvey Pekar? He was a grouch, a slouch, a miserablist. He griped and bitched about everything. But he did it in style. And he did it publicly, through American Splendor – a series of autobiographical comic books and the subsequent movie adaptation, which Amy Fleming chose to open the third week of our My favourite film series.
"Harvey didn't do happy," wrote Amy. "But he did funny and truth, and so does this movie – beautifully." Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman's film was a cinematic holiday from Hollywood's gloss and fantasy, she said. Trudging around,...
Here's a roundup of how you responded in week three, when the selections were American Splendor, The Red Shoes, The Princess Bride, Rio Bravo and Hoop Dreams
Who was Harvey Pekar? He was a grouch, a slouch, a miserablist. He griped and bitched about everything. But he did it in style. And he did it publicly, through American Splendor – a series of autobiographical comic books and the subsequent movie adaptation, which Amy Fleming chose to open the third week of our My favourite film series.
"Harvey didn't do happy," wrote Amy. "But he did funny and truth, and so does this movie – beautifully." Robert Pulcini and Shari Springer Berman's film was a cinematic holiday from Hollywood's gloss and fantasy, she said. Trudging around,...
- 11/14/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
In our writers' favourite films series, Charlotte Higgins applauds a picture that jetés through the imagination's darkest recesses
• Think you can post a better review of The Red Shoes? Then get moving – or take the floor in the comments thread below
I remember the first time I watched The Red Shoes. I was a child, it was on the television some rainy afternoon, and I watched it on my own. I think I was probably expecting a straightforward retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, also called The Red Shoes – though why that would be reassuring viewing I don't know, since Andersen's story, like his disturbing tale The Little Mermaid, is a thoroughly disquieting piece of work.
Instead, this film – which I would later discover was made in 1948, by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger – was set in postwar London, with an aspiring ballerina at its heart, played by the luminous,...
• Think you can post a better review of The Red Shoes? Then get moving – or take the floor in the comments thread below
I remember the first time I watched The Red Shoes. I was a child, it was on the television some rainy afternoon, and I watched it on my own. I think I was probably expecting a straightforward retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, also called The Red Shoes – though why that would be reassuring viewing I don't know, since Andersen's story, like his disturbing tale The Little Mermaid, is a thoroughly disquieting piece of work.
Instead, this film – which I would later discover was made in 1948, by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger – was set in postwar London, with an aspiring ballerina at its heart, played by the luminous,...
- 11/8/2011
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
In our writers' favourite films series, Charlotte Higgins applauds a picture that jetés through the imagination's darkest recesses
• Think you can post a better review of The Red Shoes? Then get moving – or take the floor in the comments thread below
I remember the first time I watched The Red Shoes. I was a child, it was on the television some rainy afternoon, and I watched it on my own. I think I was probably expecting a straightforward retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, also called The Red Shoes – though why that would be reassuring viewing I don't know, since Andersen's story, like his disturbing tale The Little Mermaid, is a thoroughly disquieting piece of work.
Instead, this film – which I would later discover was made in 1948, by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger – was set in postwar London, with an aspiring ballerina at its heart, played by the luminous,...
• Think you can post a better review of The Red Shoes? Then get moving – or take the floor in the comments thread below
I remember the first time I watched The Red Shoes. I was a child, it was on the television some rainy afternoon, and I watched it on my own. I think I was probably expecting a straightforward retelling of Hans Christian Andersen's fairytale, also called The Red Shoes – though why that would be reassuring viewing I don't know, since Andersen's story, like his disturbing tale The Little Mermaid, is a thoroughly disquieting piece of work.
Instead, this film – which I would later discover was made in 1948, by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger – was set in postwar London, with an aspiring ballerina at its heart, played by the luminous,...
- 11/8/2011
- by Charlotte Higgins
- The Guardian - Film News
Kirk Douglas on TCM: A Letter To Three Wives, Mourning Becomes Electra Schedule (Et) and synopses from the TCM website: 8:00 Pm The Strange Love Of Martha Ivers (1946). Years after a murder drove them apart heiress tries to win back her lost love. Dir: Lewis Milestone. Cast: Barbara Stanwyck, Van Heflin, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Judith Anderson. Bw-116 mins. 10:00 Pm Out Of The Past (1947). A private eye becomes the dupe of a homicidal moll. Dir: Jacques Tourneur. Cast: Robert Mitchum, Jane Greer, Kirk Douglas, Rhonda Fleming. Bw-97 mins. 11:45 Pm I Walk Alone (1948). An ex-convict discovers the world of crime has changed drastically since he went up the river. Dir: Byron Haskin. Cast: Burt Lancaster, Lizabeth Scott, Kirk Douglas, Wendell Corey. Bw-97 mins. 1:30 Am A Letter To Three Wives (1949). A small-town seductress notifies her three best friends that she has run off with one of their husbands. Dir: Joseph L. Mankiewicz.
- 9/7/2011
- by Andre Soares
- Alt Film Guide
Choreographer and dancer who created stunning roles for his wife, Zizi Jeanmaire
When Roland Petit's Les Ballets des Champs Elysées opened its first London season in 1946, the company brought to the British dance scene an explosion of chic and excitement which had long been missing. Not only was the standard of male dancing from Petit and his fellow dancer Jean Babilée better than anything for many years, the enthusiasm of the young company was a contrast to the restrained correctness of the Sadler's Wells dancers. Les Forains, a piece about a troupe of strolling entertainers, distinguished by beautiful decors and costumes by Christian Bérard, was the triumph of what the critic Richard Buckle described as "an evening of wonderful surprises".
Petit, who has died from leukaemia aged 87, was capable of tailoring a role so that it perfectly reflected the abilities of the dancer on whom it was made, often...
When Roland Petit's Les Ballets des Champs Elysées opened its first London season in 1946, the company brought to the British dance scene an explosion of chic and excitement which had long been missing. Not only was the standard of male dancing from Petit and his fellow dancer Jean Babilée better than anything for many years, the enthusiasm of the young company was a contrast to the restrained correctness of the Sadler's Wells dancers. Les Forains, a piece about a troupe of strolling entertainers, distinguished by beautiful decors and costumes by Christian Bérard, was the triumph of what the critic Richard Buckle described as "an evening of wonderful surprises".
Petit, who has died from leukaemia aged 87, was capable of tailoring a role so that it perfectly reflected the abilities of the dancer on whom it was made, often...
- 7/11/2011
- The Guardian - Film News
Director to curate four night season at Cornish festival with Brunel viaduct providing backdrop to outdoor screenings
Even legendary Hollywood director Martin Scorsese has never had a set like this to play with – a giant screen by a river under the stars, with a backdrop of trains rumbling across a towering viaduct designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Scorsese, who is curating The Director's Cut, a unique four-night film season at the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall this June, clearly agonised over an opening film that would live up to the grandeur of the setting in 4,000 acres of Humphry Repton-designed parkland.
Trains and clouds of steam were obviously essential ingredients, and he considered both Shanghai Express (1932), with the luminous Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong, or Hitchcock's thriller The Lady Vanishes (1938).
His final choice may surprise devotees of Raging Bull or Gangs of New York: his opener is Murder on the Orient Express...
Even legendary Hollywood director Martin Scorsese has never had a set like this to play with – a giant screen by a river under the stars, with a backdrop of trains rumbling across a towering viaduct designed by Isambard Kingdom Brunel.
Scorsese, who is curating The Director's Cut, a unique four-night film season at the Port Eliot Festival in Cornwall this June, clearly agonised over an opening film that would live up to the grandeur of the setting in 4,000 acres of Humphry Repton-designed parkland.
Trains and clouds of steam were obviously essential ingredients, and he considered both Shanghai Express (1932), with the luminous Marlene Dietrich and Anna May Wong, or Hitchcock's thriller The Lady Vanishes (1938).
His final choice may surprise devotees of Raging Bull or Gangs of New York: his opener is Murder on the Orient Express...
- 3/26/2011
- by Maev Kennedy
- The Guardian - Film News
Many unsuspecting cinema-goers who clearly hadn’t read the reviews got quite a shock when they went into Darren Aronofsky’s Black Swan expecting a nice movie about ballet. Black Swan is a fully-fledged (pun intended) horror movie full of fantastical elements – or is it? Horror it certainly is – fantasy, it may not be, as it is entirely possible that every uncanny event in the film exists only in the protagonist’s disturbed mind. Black Swan is far from the first film to play with the line between fantasy and reality, and it won’t be the last. What follows is a subjective list of some of my favourite reality-bending fantastical films.*
A Matter of Life and Death (dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1946, known as Stairway to Heaven in the Us)
A Matter of Life and Death uses exactly the same method as Black Swan to bend reality, but to the exact opposite effect.
A Matter of Life and Death (dir. Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, 1946, known as Stairway to Heaven in the Us)
A Matter of Life and Death uses exactly the same method as Black Swan to bend reality, but to the exact opposite effect.
- 2/25/2011
- by Juliette Harrisson
- SoundOnSight
Ica, London
Akhe Engineering Theatre defies categorisation. Presented under the banner of the 2011 London International Mime festival, its latest piece, Gobo. Digital Glossary, offers an exploration of humanity's powerlessness in the face of the chaos of existence. At the centre of the performance is the elusive notion of Gobo, a concept definable only by its absence. Ironic references to heroism and the hero suggest that Gobo might be some kind of ordering principle, perhaps based on antique notions of virtue. A self-deluding dream that a Beckett character might cling to.
Or not, because this event resists all efforts at interpretation. The hour-long performance is almost entirely mute, except for the occasional brusque Russian imprecation, but there are cryptic references to "Judith from Catford" and "Susan from West Ham". Lasers zip across a stage littered with detritus, reflecting off spoons and illuminating a fish tank in which a Big Ears puppet is ritually drowned.
Akhe Engineering Theatre defies categorisation. Presented under the banner of the 2011 London International Mime festival, its latest piece, Gobo. Digital Glossary, offers an exploration of humanity's powerlessness in the face of the chaos of existence. At the centre of the performance is the elusive notion of Gobo, a concept definable only by its absence. Ironic references to heroism and the hero suggest that Gobo might be some kind of ordering principle, perhaps based on antique notions of virtue. A self-deluding dream that a Beckett character might cling to.
Or not, because this event resists all efforts at interpretation. The hour-long performance is almost entirely mute, except for the occasional brusque Russian imprecation, but there are cryptic references to "Judith from Catford" and "Susan from West Ham". Lasers zip across a stage littered with detritus, reflecting off spoons and illuminating a fish tank in which a Big Ears puppet is ritually drowned.
- 1/23/2011
- by Luke Jennings
- The Guardian - Film News
Darren Aronofsky's New York ballet psychodrama is a watchable if rather pretentious study of artistic obsession
Darren Aronofsky made a strong impression in 1998 with Pi, his low-budget debut as writer-director, in which a number theorist descends into insanity as he searches for a mathematical solution to the secret of the universe. He followed this up with Requiem for a Dream, about four people in a rundown corner of New York whose dreams are destroyed by their addiction to drugs. His third film, the confused fantasy The Fountain, dealt with a 16th-century conquistador, a present-day American scientist and an astronaut in the 26th century searching for eternal life. This was followed by The Wrestler, a somewhat earthier study of an ageing practitioner of a despised, lowlife profession, much given to self-mutilation and prepared to risk his life in order to make the comeback that will restore some self‑respect.
His latest film,...
Darren Aronofsky made a strong impression in 1998 with Pi, his low-budget debut as writer-director, in which a number theorist descends into insanity as he searches for a mathematical solution to the secret of the universe. He followed this up with Requiem for a Dream, about four people in a rundown corner of New York whose dreams are destroyed by their addiction to drugs. His third film, the confused fantasy The Fountain, dealt with a 16th-century conquistador, a present-day American scientist and an astronaut in the 26th century searching for eternal life. This was followed by The Wrestler, a somewhat earthier study of an ageing practitioner of a despised, lowlife profession, much given to self-mutilation and prepared to risk his life in order to make the comeback that will restore some self‑respect.
His latest film,...
- 1/23/2011
- by Philip French
- The Guardian - Film News
Movie stars should earn their spurs in vaudeville, then next time a Black Swan comes around, the lead can do her own fouettés
Much as I enjoyed Black Swan (tutus, blood, evil ids – what's not to like?), I thought it was a shame Natalie Portman couldn't do all her own dancing. Don't get me wrong – the girl done good. She nailed the bun, achieved a creditable facsimile of the neurotic thoroughbred physique, and managed Ok with the expressive arm-flapping.
But anyone can dance with her arms. What I would call the "proper dancing" had to be performed by a professional with Portman's face overlaid using CGI. It's not her fault she didn't have the technique; she's an actress, not a ballerina. To pull off the highlight of the Odette/Odile double-role – the 32 fouettés en tournant – you would need to have practised 25 hours a day, from birth, on a diet of Silk Cut,...
Much as I enjoyed Black Swan (tutus, blood, evil ids – what's not to like?), I thought it was a shame Natalie Portman couldn't do all her own dancing. Don't get me wrong – the girl done good. She nailed the bun, achieved a creditable facsimile of the neurotic thoroughbred physique, and managed Ok with the expressive arm-flapping.
But anyone can dance with her arms. What I would call the "proper dancing" had to be performed by a professional with Portman's face overlaid using CGI. It's not her fault she didn't have the technique; she's an actress, not a ballerina. To pull off the highlight of the Odette/Odile double-role – the 32 fouettés en tournant – you would need to have practised 25 hours a day, from birth, on a diet of Silk Cut,...
- 1/21/2011
- by Anne Billson
- The Guardian - Film News
Black Swan stars Natalie Portman as a ballerina hitting the big time. How realistic is the movie? We asked the cream of British ballet to give their verdicts
Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky, claims to penetrate to the romantic, obsessional heart of ballet. Based loosely on Swan Lake, the film follows Nina, its ballerina heroine, as she grapples with learning the dual role of Odette and Odile (the white and black swans in Swan Lake).
Nina, played by Natalie Portman, is bullied by her mother and director, works herself punitively hard and becomes violently paranoid about her rival, Lily. What tips her over the edge is the challenge of dancing the Black Swan. As Nina tackles the sexy, malevolent role, she unleashes dark forces within herself that plunge us into full-on cinematic horror.
Prior to the film's Us release last month, the dance community had imagined Black Swan to...
Black Swan, directed by Darren Aronofsky, claims to penetrate to the romantic, obsessional heart of ballet. Based loosely on Swan Lake, the film follows Nina, its ballerina heroine, as she grapples with learning the dual role of Odette and Odile (the white and black swans in Swan Lake).
Nina, played by Natalie Portman, is bullied by her mother and director, works herself punitively hard and becomes violently paranoid about her rival, Lily. What tips her over the edge is the challenge of dancing the Black Swan. As Nina tackles the sexy, malevolent role, she unleashes dark forces within herself that plunge us into full-on cinematic horror.
Prior to the film's Us release last month, the dance community had imagined Black Swan to...
- 1/6/2011
- by Judith Mackrell
- The Guardian - Film News
By Todd Garbarini
I first saw The Red Shoes on a PBS viewing 35 years ago on a Zenith black and white television. My younger sister, who was taking dancing lessons at a nearby studio, seemed transfixed by Moira Shearer’s effortless moves. While the Hans Christian Andersen tale of a ballerina who is danced to death went over my head, the images, even then, remained burned in my subconscious. Such is the power of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film, quite simply one of the most sumptuous color films ever photographed. Shot in the original three-strip Technicolor dye transfer process, The Red Shoes was released by the Criterion Collection on laserdisc in 1995 and on DVD in 1999. While those versions were a real eye-opener to those of us who were used to seeing the film on television, on 16mm, or on videocassette, the new 2010 Criterion Collection Blu-Ray and standard DVD...
I first saw The Red Shoes on a PBS viewing 35 years ago on a Zenith black and white television. My younger sister, who was taking dancing lessons at a nearby studio, seemed transfixed by Moira Shearer’s effortless moves. While the Hans Christian Andersen tale of a ballerina who is danced to death went over my head, the images, even then, remained burned in my subconscious. Such is the power of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film, quite simply one of the most sumptuous color films ever photographed. Shot in the original three-strip Technicolor dye transfer process, The Red Shoes was released by the Criterion Collection on laserdisc in 1995 and on DVD in 1999. While those versions were a real eye-opener to those of us who were used to seeing the film on television, on 16mm, or on videocassette, the new 2010 Criterion Collection Blu-Ray and standard DVD...
- 1/2/2011
- by nospam@example.com (Cinema Retro)
- Cinemaretro.com
Filed under: Columns, Cinematical
Welcome to Framed, a column at Cinematical that runs every Thursday and celebrates the artistry of cinema -- one frame at a time.
Ballet is unnerving to say the least. Take your pick: the claw of social physique anxiety, the distorted extremes that the body endures (those feet ... ) and all the masochistic rapture wrapped in elegant silks and serene music can be profoundly disturbing. The art form's beauty is ripe with paradox. Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' exposes the wounded psyche of dancer Nina (Natalie Portman), while Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 'The Red Shoes' follows ballerina Victoria (Moira Shearer) -- weaving a somewhat different kind of tale.
The 1948 film has all the technicolor grandeur one might expect about a ballet hopeful who relentlessly immerses herself in the dance -- her shining moment a fantastical performance based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen,...
Welcome to Framed, a column at Cinematical that runs every Thursday and celebrates the artistry of cinema -- one frame at a time.
Ballet is unnerving to say the least. Take your pick: the claw of social physique anxiety, the distorted extremes that the body endures (those feet ... ) and all the masochistic rapture wrapped in elegant silks and serene music can be profoundly disturbing. The art form's beauty is ripe with paradox. Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' exposes the wounded psyche of dancer Nina (Natalie Portman), while Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 'The Red Shoes' follows ballerina Victoria (Moira Shearer) -- weaving a somewhat different kind of tale.
The 1948 film has all the technicolor grandeur one might expect about a ballet hopeful who relentlessly immerses herself in the dance -- her shining moment a fantastical performance based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen,...
- 12/2/2010
- by Alison Nastasi
- Moviefone
Filed under: Columns, Cinematical
Welcome to Framed, a column at Cinematical that runs every Thursday and celebrates the artistry of cinema -- one frame at a time.
Ballet is unnerving to say the least. Take your pick: the claw of social physique anxiety, the distorted extremes that the body endures (those feet ... ) and all the masochistic rapture wrapped in elegant silks and serene music can be profoundly disturbing. The art form's beauty is ripe with paradox. Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' exposes the wounded psyche of dancer Nina (Natalie Portman), while Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 'The Red Shoes' follows ballerina Victoria (Moira Shearer) -- weaving a somewhat different kind of tale.
The 1948 film has all the technicolor grandeur one might expect about a ballet hopeful who relentlessly immerses herself in the dance -- her shining moment a fantastical performance based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen,...
Welcome to Framed, a column at Cinematical that runs every Thursday and celebrates the artistry of cinema -- one frame at a time.
Ballet is unnerving to say the least. Take your pick: the claw of social physique anxiety, the distorted extremes that the body endures (those feet ... ) and all the masochistic rapture wrapped in elegant silks and serene music can be profoundly disturbing. The art form's beauty is ripe with paradox. Aronofsky's 'Black Swan' exposes the wounded psyche of dancer Nina (Natalie Portman), while Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 'The Red Shoes' follows ballerina Victoria (Moira Shearer) -- weaving a somewhat different kind of tale.
The 1948 film has all the technicolor grandeur one might expect about a ballet hopeful who relentlessly immerses herself in the dance -- her shining moment a fantastical performance based on a fairy tale by Hans Christian Andersen,...
- 12/2/2010
- by Alison Nastasi
- Cinematical
Natalie Portman plays an obsessed dancer whose psyche may be splintering under the stress of preparing for a new show in Darren Aronofsky's "Black Swan." It's not new for an onscreen ballerina -- ballet's been a handy battleground for the clash between one's art and everything else in the movies. This week on the IFC News podcast, we get en pointe to discuss ballet movies, from Powell and Pressburger's classic "The Red Shoes" to the, er, less canonized "Center Stage."
Download MP3, 56:59 minutes, 52.2 Mb
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This week's keyword game giveaway is two copies of Alonso Duralde's new book "Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas."
Correction: Alison incorrectly states "The Red Shoes" was Moira Shearer's only role. It was her first, but she appeared in several other films following.
Download MP3, 56:59 minutes, 52.2 Mb
Subscribe iTunes | Xml
This week's keyword game giveaway is two copies of Alonso Duralde's new book "Have Yourself a Movie Little Christmas."
Correction: Alison incorrectly states "The Red Shoes" was Moira Shearer's only role. It was her first, but she appeared in several other films following.
- 11/30/2010
- by Alison Willmore
- ifc.com
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