The essence of music and dance is concentrated in the ballet "Red Shoes" performance in the play, about 15 minutes. The music, the performances, the ideas all show the beauty of ballet. Peggy's feet in red shoes really seemed to have magic, dancing non-stop, very beautiful. But other scenes are in the normal feature film mode, and there are not too many bright colors, so the score is slightly lower.
Moreover, as far as the picture is concerned, it may be that the story of the red dancing shoes itself implies horror, and most of the scenes of the film are covered in darkness. Especially when Lermontov was alone in the room, he turned off all the lights. When you hear someone knocking on the door, turn on the light and let others in. The clown on the stage looks weird and the music is really creepy.
【Character】
Lermontov is a successful businessman and an experienced artist. He is good at discovering talents and attaches great importance to artistic talents.
He is not flattering to the powerful, and thinks that the Countess's active performance is a blasphemy to art. "If that fat woman sings, I'll go. Because I can't stand amateurs."
Although Julian was a little guy who came to ask for advice, he hired him as an orchestra teacher after listening to simple piano accompaniment. For the talented Peggy, he also abandoned his previous hatred and resolutely reused it.
On the other hand, he despises human emotions, does not allow any person or behavior that disrespects art, treats everyone equally, even if the ardent promise of the day before is still in his ears, he will treat you with cold eyes today. So when Julian blew a kiss on Peggy on the stage, he absolutely couldn't tolerate it, "seeing her dancing like a layman participating in a benefit show"; he didn't even look at the pillars that were about to get married, even if they danced very vividly The farewell performance also begrudges any word of praise.
In the end, Peggy chose to die, which made him extremely regretful, and performed "Hong Lingyan" without dancers.
If Peggy and Julian are both like vulnerable children, they are running away from the devil in embarrassment. And Lermontov was firm and mad enough to grab the devil by the throat, and in the end he turned into the devil, a charming monster.
On the other hand, the male and female protagonists are like two children, greedy and afraid of consequences, talented and willful. But the love is sincere, especially on the day the show ends, when they sneak out. Walking on the small road on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea, they were lying on the carriage and enjoying the peaceful and warm world of two. "When I'm old, I look back on the past. I must remember my happiest moment when I was passionately in love with a dancer named Peggy." But overall I don't like the characterization.
[Story]
The story with only one main line is not complicated, but the movie took more than two hours, which is indeed a bit procrastinating. And some plots were not shown, such as the previous stage column - why did the former heroine of the dance company suddenly get married? The cold reception she received after she quit the dance company shocked Peggy, but why did Peggy choose to get married? The two should have contrasted well, but the movie didn't show it.
The first half is procrastinated, while the second half develops rapidly, and some characters do not explain clearly. For example, why did Peggy suddenly decide to marry Julian, and why can't Peggy continue to dance after marriage? What happened after the two got married? etc. If a modern movie is to come, it will definitely bring out some typical shots in the form of quick cuts. But 70 years ago, these narratives didn't seem to be in vogue.
Because of the terminals of these story lines, the progress of the plot is not coherent enough, the turns are abrupt, and the logic is not rigorous enough.
[Subject]
I think the ending is not to advocate returning to the family, but to magnify the contradiction between art and reality, leaving questions for the audience.
In the fairy tale, the little girl died of exhaustion from the non-stop red dancing shoes. Before her death, she regretted it and hoped to return to the family. Peggy's choice in the movie is actually a real-life version of the red shoes. But there is another difference between the two, that is - Peggy's death was not an accident. She went down from the patio, and in the end she didn't choose family. She was just afraid, contradictory, and didn't know how to choose. So like the heroine of the red shoes, only physical death can escape this choice. Only before death can you be freed and gently take off the life-threatening red dancing shoes.
【About Art】
At the beginning of the film, the hero and heroine gather in the theater to watch the dance. One pays attention to dancers, one pays attention to music, one is happy to see an idol, and one is angry that a song was copied. In this way, two people who had never known each other had an intersection because of Lermontov. And Lermontov at the beginning of the film has been hiding behind the curtain, like a metaphor - on this stage, both the composer and the dancers are manipulated.
On the other hand, I'm also doubting whether a genius has to be manipulated in this way to become a genius. Such as Qi Rushan to Mei Lanfang, Diaghilev to Nijinsky. A perfect Bole must be a creative cage for geniuses in order to create great works, but it ends in tragedy.
Qi Rushan wrote to Mei Lanfang——
"It has been 20 years since I wrote to you in the winter of the second year of the Republic of China. . . . Most of my time is spent on you. . . Progress has been made every day; from now on, it has stopped."
After reading it, Master Qi's sad, proud and stubborn face not only appeared in front of his eyes.
Nijinsky wrote to Bole Diaghilev -
"I don't want to work with you, I want to tell you one thing, I am working hard, I am not dead, I am alive and well, God is in me If I live on my body, I also live on God. God lives on me, I try to make progress in dance, and my dance has improved a lot."
Full of childishness and sincerity.
Maybe this is the contradiction between Bole and genius. A genius meeting Bole is not necessarily a happy ending.
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