Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 'The Red Shoes' (1948)
Her Head in FilmsFebruary 03, 202601:20:04

Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger's 'The Red Shoes' (1948)

In this episode, I talk about Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 film, "The Red Shoes." It centers on Vicky Page, a young ballet dancer whose extraordinary talent brings her into a world where art demands total devotion and where love and ambition collide.


I discuss "The Red Shoes" as a meditation on artistic calling, female ambition, and the desire for greatness. I’m interested in how the film portrays a woman who refuses to live a small life, and what happens when her boundless creative drive cannot be contained by the world around her.


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My Sources:

• The Red Shoes (BFI Classics) by Pamela Hutchinson (https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/red-shoes-9781839026065/)
• Original fairy tale by Hans Christian Anderson
• Ian Christie on The Red Shoes
• The Red Shoes: Dancing for Your Life by David Ehrenstein
• Letters to a Young Poet by Rainer Maria Rilke (https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/643471/letters-to-a-young-poet-by-rainer-maria-rilke-translated-by-anita-barrows-and-joanna-macy/)