Starring Robert Rousenville, Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann, and Pamela Brown
Directed by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger
Music by Jaques Offenbach; English translation by Dennis Arundell, from the original libretto by Jules Barbier
For years, Powell had wanted to combine moving images and operatic music. The Red Shoes and its ballet sequence was one step to that goal. This is the culmination, a movie set to almost the entire soundtrack of the original opera. This is unique movie in many respects. It's a true opera film. Everything is danced and sung; there's no dialogue. We also have dubbed dancers or singers who can act, with a deliberately unreal stage set and stylized acting. Does Powell's gamble work, or should it be abandoned? Let's begin backstage, where ballerina Stella (Shearer) is being courted by student E.A Hoffman (Rousenville), and find out...
The Story: This is an opera anthology, so there's actually four stories:
The first begins with Stella onstage, dancing in "The Ballet of the Enchanted Dragonfly." Wealthy Councillor Lindorf (Helpmann) intercepts Stella's message for Hoffman. He goes downstairs to a tavern with his friends, including boyish Nicklas (Brown), and proceeds to get drunk while telling stories of his past romances...
In the second story, we learn how Hoffman fell for Olympia (Shearer), a lifelike mechanical doll created by scientist Spalanzani (Leonide Massine) and inventor Coppelius (Helpmann). Thanks to a pair of magic spectacles that Coppelius puts on him, he truly believes she's real...until the two men tear her apart in a dispute, and he realizes what he's really in love with.
The third story has Hoffman in love with the courtesan Giulietta (Ludmilla Tcherina), but her only interest in him is to steal his reflection for the evil magician Dapertutto (Helpmann).
The final story veers into tragedy as Hoffman travels to Greece, where he visits his beloved Antonia (Ann Ayers). Antonia has a fatal disease that doesn't allow her to sing. She's tormented by Dr. Miracle (Helpmann), who encourages her to perform the aria that could kill her...
The Song and Dance: And it's all about the song and dance here. As mentioned, this is a full-blown opera, without a bit of dialogue. And it's just gorgeous, as much as the previous Red Shoes. The Technicolor is absolutely radiant, cool and clear. The art direction is sumptuous, the costumes lavish and historically accurate to the 1820's. Helpmann and Rousenville dance off with the movie as they smarmy count who portrays the many variations on evil and the writer who can never seem to keep his lovers around for long. Shearer's even lovelier as the fickle dancer and the darling doll who is so real, she has a living man helplessly in love with her, and Ayers is in ravishing voice as the doomed Antonia.
Oh, and I appreciate that Powell had each person who dubbed a dancer appear alongside them in the end credits. That was an honest and classy touch.
Favorite Number: Shearer dances "Ballet of the Enchanted Butterfly" with Edmund Audran. Their costumes are realistic, but rather grotesque, making them look almost skeletal as they flit around. She also has some enchanting dances as Olympia, both solo, and with a chorus in hoop skirts, painted white and red "masques," and suits with enormous ruffled shirts. Helpmann does his best work here, too, paired with effeminate Massine. Helpmann is also effective playing off slinky Tcherina. Ayers gets one of the best arias in the film towards the end of the Antonia sequence when she performs a trio with herself, her deceased mother (Joan Alexander), and Miracle.
Trivia: This also got Oscar nominations for the color art direction and costumes; lost both to An American In Paris.
What I Don't Like: Unlike the passionate Red Shoes, the opera sort of puts this one at a remove. It comes off as a bit colder compared to the warm and vital Shoes. Also, as mentioned, this is a through-sung opera. This isn't a typical girls-and-gags musical with spoken sequences between the dance routines. It's not even a rock opera. It's as typical of a grand opera as you're going to get on the big screen. If you're not an opera fan or aren't interested in opera, you probably won't be into this.
The Big Finale: This and The Red Shoes are required viewing for fans of opera and ballet, or even those who just want to see what can be done with Technicolor in imaginative hands.
Home Media: This is also a part of the Criterion Collection on DVD and Blu-Ray. It can currently be found streaming for free on Flex.
No comments:
Post a Comment