Great Barrington — The Triplex will be showing the 1948 version of “The Red Shoes” on Saturday, April 5, at 3 p.m.
The screening will include a talk by Jacob’s Pillow Director of Preservation Norton Owen and Barnard College Professor Emerita of Dance Lynn Garafola.
The film, produced and directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s and based upon the 1845 fairy tale written by Hans Christian Andersen, received five Academy Award nominations and won Best Original Score and Best Art Direction.
Scottish actress Moira Shearer plays Victoria Page, a ballerina who joins Ballet Lermontov, which is owned by Boris Lermontov (played by Austrian actor Anton Walbrook).
Throughout the film, Boris tests Victoria’s dedication to her art and craft, including her love of composer Julian Craster, played by English actor Marius Goring.
While it has been 77 years since the release of “The Red Shoes,” Owen told The Berkshire Edge that the movie has stood the test of time. “It’s a real treat to see this movie on the big screen as opposed to a TV screen,” Owen said. “This film begs to be seen on the big screen because it is quite a spectacle in terms of color, and it is eye-popping. This movie has been such a cultural touchstone for many people in the dance field. It is also often the movie that has served as the catalyst which led many people to pursue dance as a career.”
“The movie came out just after World War II, right after it had decimated parts of London,” Garafola explained. “The Battle of Britain had been enormously destructive. It was a very drab time, and a very grey time in London despite this victory. And here was this English film that came out in blazing color with these extraordinary costumes, tapping into fantasies that most people could not otherwise have in real life.”
Garafola explained that the movie had “a certain amount of nostalgia” for audiences in 1948. “The film took place before the war and the depression that came after it,” Garafola said. “That world is, in a sense, recreated in the film.”
Owen and Garafola said that the film captures the energy and spirit of dancers and dance performances. “Throughout the movie, they take you backstage, into the makeup rooms and other places,” Garafola said. “They show you the extraordinary artifice of ballet and theatrical production, including the costumes, the scene changing, and the fakery that goes on with theater. When you see the fakery, that’s all part of demystifying it, bringing the audience into it, and making them feel like you are part of it. The movie makes you feel like you are more than just someone sitting in the audience. What’s amazing about ‘The Red Shoes’ is that the filmmakers dared to do something that very few filmmakers do: They created a 15-minute original ballet. You see some snippets of some real ballets, but then this original ballet uses the artifice of the camera to enlarge upon what the stage can do.”
The April 5 event benefits The Triplex, and Owen said that the theater reached out to Jacob’s Pillow to partner in the event. “One of the things that I am most proud of about Jacob’s Pillow is that we are very community-minded,” Owen said. “One of the things that we do is be a good neighbor. I’m looking forward to seeing this because the last time I saw the movie on a big screen was in 2009. What I have seen on a video screen is not nearly as impressive as what I can see on a big screen. This movie is very vibrant and full of life.”
Tickets to the event are $75 and can be purchased on The Triplex’s website.
