This was my first film by the Archers. I saw it two summers ago. I was moderately impressed, mostly by the centerpiece, the titular ballet, but felt that it lacked something, too. I was hoping that it would connect more on a second viewing, as at least one other Archers film did, Black Narcissus. Unfortunately, I liked it even less. Let me establish this right away: that centerpiece is one of the best pieces of cinema ever created. But each of the hours on either side of that is nothing special at best, something awful at worst. The direction is once in a while good, a couple of times great, but the script is generic and emotionless. The actors are generally dull. I disliked both Marius Goring and Anton Walbrook the first time around (both of whom I liked in other Archers films). I still didn't like Goring, but I absolutely hated Walbrook the second time. He seems to be channeling Hitler through most of the film, or maybe Werner Klemperer (especially when he makes that announcement at the end of the film). Part of it is certainly his character. Pressburger just doesn't give him any humanity whatsoever, and I just can't sympathize with him. I remember liking Moira Shearer a lot the first time around, but I found her acting pretty bad this time. I guess I was just fooled because she is so beautiful. That happens sometimes, of course. Can't criticize her dancing, though. She does a lot of mugging with those big, beautiful, deeply blue eyes, but not much acting. The only actor whom I still like is Léonide Massine, who plays Grischa, the lead male dancer. The script holds 90% of the film's problems. The characters are very poorly developed, for the most part. Walbrook's would be good if he weren't such an execrable one. The plot is made up of cliches, and the parts that are not seem rather forced to me. Yet I can't dislike the film. Powell and Pressburger are just too clever with their direction. I think, for instance, how romantic that scene in the buggy would be if it were to be found in A Matter of Life and Death, my favorite film from the pair. And the centerpiece! Again, I can't stress how much I love it. It brought me to tears. Of course, so did the rest of the film, but those were tears of boredom. I'll just proclaim that it is, if not the greatest sequence in cinema, the greatest sequence in cinema to be found in a mediocre film. 7/10.
Review of The Red Shoes
