The Criterion Collection – Michael Powell’s THE RED SHOES Available on 4K UHD and Blu-ray November 9th

By Tom Stockman | September 20, 2021

“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 4K UHD disc of the film presented in Dolby Vision HDR and one Blu-ray with the film and special features• Introductory restoration demonstration featuring filmmaker Martin Scorsese

• Audio commentary from 1994 by film historian Ian Christie, featuring interviews with actors Marius Goring and Moira Shearer, cinematographer Jack Cardiff, composer Brian Easdale, and Scorsese

• Profile of “The Red Shoes,” a 2000 documentary on the making of the film, featuring interviews with members of the production team

• Interview with director Michael Powell’s widow, editor Thelma Schoonmaker Powell, from the 2009 Cannes Film Festival• Audio recordings from 1994 of actor Jeremy Irons reading excerpts from Powell and screenwriter Emeric Pressburger’s novelization of The Red Shoes and the Hans Christian Andersen fairy tale “The Red Shoes”

• Publicity stills and behind-the-scenes photos• Gallery of memorabilia from Scorsese’s collection

• The “Red Shoes” Sketches, a 1948 animated film of Hein Heckroth’s painted storyboards, with the Red Shoes ballet as an alternate angle

• Trailer

• English subtitles for the deaf and hard of hearing

• PLUS: An essay by critic David Ehrenstein and a description of the restoration by UCLA film archivist Robert Gitt

1948 • 133 MINUTES • COLOR • MONAURAL • 1.33:1 ASPECT RATIO