The Red Shoes

If you liked this

Black Swan2010

Aronofsky's ballet nightmare is Red Shoes rewired for body horror — the same fatal devotion to art, the same collapsing dancer, but drenched in modern paranoia and gore. The most direct, most feral descendant.

But The queasy handheld camera and psychosexual intensity can feel exhausting rather than exhilarating.

Whiplash2014

Swap ballet for jazz drumming and you get the same merciless mentor-student bond, the same conviction that greatness demands blood. Tense, propulsive, and just as certain that art is worth ruining yourself for.

But The relentless shouting and drill-sergeant mentor can feel abrasive if you're after warmth.

All About Eve1950

Backstage ambition, control, and the cost of a life devoted to performance, delivered with the same theatrical wit and doom Powell and Pressburger bring to ballet. A genuine classic.

But It's theatre, not dance — the pleasures are verbal daggers, not visual spectacle.

Not sure tonight? Get a pick in a minute, starting from The Red Shoes

Cast

• 
  Anton WalbrookBoris Lermontov
• 
  Marius GoringJulian Craster
• 
  Moira ShearerVictoria Page
• 
  Robert HelpmannIvan Boleslawsky
• 
  Léonide MassineGrischa Ljubov
• 
  Albert BassermannSergei Ratov
• 
  Ludmilla TchérinaIrina Boronskaja
• 
  Esmond KnightLivy
• 
  Jean ShortTerry
• G
  Gordon LittmannIke
• J
  Julia LangA Balletomane
• 
  Bill ShineHer Mate

Recommended by

Black Swan, Whiplash, Black Narcissus, Somm, Children of Paradise, Pennies from Heaven, An American in Paris, All That Jazz, A Matter of Life and Death, Strictly Ballroom, Billy Elliot, A Canterbury Tale, The Double Life of Véronique, House of Flying Daggers, Sawdust and Tinsel, Annie, Applause, Mahogany, Fantasia, Fosse/Verdon, Kaagaz Ke Phool, Toward the Unknown, Romeo and Juliet, Farewell My Concubine, The Dawn Patrol, The Blue Max, Mighty Joe Young, La traviata, Extreme Couponing, Easter Parade, Climax, Pina, Babylon, Immortal Beloved, The Young Girls of Rochefort, Custody, La Vie en Rose, Flashdance, Center Stage, The Turning Point, The Tales of Hoffmann, Dancer, McQueen, Waterloo Bridge, Beauty and the Beast, Medea, Séraphine, Three Colors: Red, Le Plaisir, Gone to Earth, Notebook on Cities and Clothes, Privates on Parade, Carmen, First Position, Xanadu, This Above All, Lili, The Deepest Breath, La Danse: The Paris Opera Ballet, Ballets Russes, East Side Story, Pandora and the Flying Dutchman, The Barefoot Contessa, Cameraman: The Life and Work of Jack Cardiff, Follow the Fleet, Afterimage, Parade, Rio Rita, Wild Hearts Can't Be Broken, The Fleet's In, The Demi-Paradise, Diamonds of the Night, A Damsel in Distress, The Great Waltz, Shall We Dance?, Copying Beethoven, A Matter of Time, I Wanted Wings, Maytime, Rhapsody in Blue, 7 Women, Shadow, Moulin Rouge, Thriller, These Foolish Things, The Loves of Carmen, Night and Day, The Iron Duke, Salome, Where She Danced, Unfaithfully Yours, The Dawn Patrol, Summer Stock, The Barkleys of Broadway, Von Richthofen and Brown, Yoyo, Invitation to the Dance, The Great Caruso, The Hip - Brainstorm, Follow the Boys, Dangerous Moonlight, Sangam, The Student Prince, A Song to Remember, Hans Christian Andersen, That's Dancing!, The Dancer, The Music Lovers, Roseland, Never Steal Anything Small, The Magic Flute, Call Me Madam, The Seventh Veil, Song of Scheherazade, All the Mornings of the World, Night Song, Syncopation, The Way to the Stars, The Story of Three Loves, Blind Spot: Hitler's Secretary, Godard Mon Amour, The Story of Gilbert and Sullivan, The Eternal Return, Captain January, Eaux d'Artifice, Quartet, The Red Danube, Cluny Brown, Man Who Causes a Storm, The Littlest Rebel, Poor Little Rich Girl, The Incredible Mr. Limpet, Mahanati, Fire of Love, Senorita from the West, Six Weeks, The Last Affair, The Immortal Story, The Chiltern Hundreds, Wandering Stars, Orchestra Wives, Springtime in the Rockies, The Dancing Years, Stromboli, Hail Mary, Presenting Lily Mars, On a Clear Day You Can See Forever, The Rogue Song, Song Without End, The Last Days of Pompeii, Flying Fortress, Ziegfeld Girl, Higher and Higher, Song of Russia, Out California Way, Becky Sharp, The Miniver Story, King Richard and the Crusaders, General Della Rovere, Neptune's Daughter, The Fabulous Dorseys, Chori Chori, Babes in Arms, Carnival, Moon Over Miami, The Devil Is a Woman, Broadway Melody of 1940, Earl Carroll Sketchbook, Broadway Melody of 1936, Judge Judy, The Crazy-Quilt, Holiday in Mexico, Million Dollar Mermaid, Isadora, L'Argent, Riverdance: The Show, The Poor Little Rich Girl, Aida, Nijinsky, Chasing Liberty, The Good Companions, Lord of the Dance, The Skin of Our Teeth, The Competition, Valentino, Till the Clouds Roll By, Mao’s Last Dancer, My Dear Secretary, Broadway Melody of 1938, The Deep Blue Sea, Lucky Stars, Pagliacci, Under the Red Robe, Springtime in the Sierras, The Rite, Music in My Heart, Tarantula, Orchestra of Exiles, Down to Earth, The White Tower, Kalpana, Dance Hall, Words and Music, The McConnell Story, The Belle of New York, Thunder Birds, Three for the Show, Prince of Foxes, The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle, Private Buckaroo, Sunny, Coney Island, The Loves of Joanna Godden