By Karli Lukas / Senses of Cinema (July 2005)
Proofreading: Issac
The translation was first published in "Iris"
The films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressberg are rich and eccentric. Masterpieces or bumblings, amazing or disappointing, they always have a strange angle, intriguing or teasing people's minds. - British film critic Raymond Durnert
I love movies...I'm not a director with a personal style. I'm just a filmmaker. - Michael Powell
To me, the above two sentences best sum up the subtlety and boldness of Michael Powell and his films. Powell has been one of my favorite directors since I first watched Black Narcissus (1947) on a borrowed tape. I love his films for their revered visual beauty and poetic beauty; the use of color or other cinematic devices that create psychological ruptures in the text; the powerful women in the film and the "journeys they take and ultimately transcend" ” (often to the point of being disturbing); vivid depictions of places; palpable nostalgic moments; Powell’s (and of course Pressberg’s) playful sense of humour manifested through visual puns and concise, witty dialogue . But most of all, what I love about Powell's films is their determined style and clever experimentation with the "imagination" of the worlds of their characters. "Hong Lingyan" is no exception.
Powell's career as a director has been prolific and evergreen precisely because he has never been shy about experimenting with different genres, film styles and techniques, and perhaps most tellingly, he is willing to take on challenges - in limited Working with different producers on a production budget to complete the shoot, but at the same time, leave his unique and indelible mark on the finished film. His career spanned 50 years. In the 1960s and 1970s, his glamorous, extremely British films began to be popularized by American "movie boys" - Scorsese, Coppola, Spielberg and De Palma - as well as British Reviewed by critics and scholars such as Raymond Durnert and Ian Christie. Such accolades led to re-releases and retrospectives of all of his work, culminating in Powell's place in the pantheon of the world's greatest film directors.
"Hong Lingyan" is a landmark dance film because it is the first dance film to go beyond the drama of dance and enter the level of "pure film". As a "play within a play," the film's structure and production provides a concrete example of how films about dance can be interpreted more illuminatingly. It influenced countless musicals, most notably those of Gene Kelly, Vincent Minnelli, Stanley Dornan, and others: An American in Paris (1951), Singing in the Rain (1952) and Caravan (starring Fred Astaire, 1953). As Ian Christie puts it, "Before 'Red Lingyan,' there were films that included dance performances. After that, a new medium emerged that combined dance, design, and music to form fantasy It’s a sight to behold.” In order for “An American in Paris” to hit theaters, Gene Kelly gave MGM executives multiple screenings of “Hundred Days”—a testament to its brilliance.
However, at its first internal screening, Red Shoe was despised by Rank Organisation executives, but due to the British government's then-imposed import ban on American films, there was a quota for British films. Demand was at an all-time high, and executives ended up giving the film a lot of support. This adaptation of Andersen's fairy tale more than doubled its budget and ended up being too horrific and nihilistic in a stereotypical era of post-war rationing and rough realism; in short, it's un-British something like a fairy tale, not a fairy tale. Like The Hundred Battles (1943), the film was considered a "continuous attack on good manners and good taste". Executives made no secret of their disdain for the film, according to crew members who attended that in-house screening. They stood up from their seats with unprecedented gestures and left silently. In anticipation of a public backlash, Rank Films canceled the premiere of "Hong Ling Yan" and did not produce a theatrical poster for its debut. The film's brief, small-scale release came after 10 days in a West End theatre.
However, the film's largely positive reviews in the UK, and later abroad, suggest that Rank's executives are short-sighted and ultra-conservative about its product and its independent production company, The Archers. of. For example, Picturegoer called it "a very beautiful movie...and you shouldn't miss it, even if you're one of those so-called 'no ballet.' The world... The use of special art color is very keen - except that the blood smear in the ending scene is a bit excessive, and the film generally presents the audience with a feast of beauty and superb performance." movie, except for its ending. After a private screening at Alexander Kodak's home in London, the young Princesses Elizabeth and Margaret were said to be "both stunned by how the film ended... They thanked him tearfully for screening them for them. "Such a wonderful -- (crying) -- movie"".
Since then, "Hong Lingyan" has been re-screened many times, and its enduring status as a classic film is largely due to the miraculous screening of "The Bijou", a small 200-seat movie theater off Broadway in New York. season. The movie theater initially negotiated six-month theatrical rights with Rank Pictures, but due to audience demand, they renewed the contract for another season, for a total of two years, and won a contract with Rank Pictures for the film. The total spend on the film is equal to the box office. As mentioned earlier, the film (and Michael Powell) had a boost in America's reputation as a result, and despite mixed reviews, it inspired a Hollywood renaissance in the production of color musicals. The New York Times called it a "must-see": "An unbridled romantic film...a visual and emotional interpretation of the grace, rhythm, and power of ballet. The color, excitement, and bizarre intoxication of dance life are everywhere. Visible. And the ecstasy and heartbreak that only a passionate and loving person can experience.”
However, perhaps it was the cinematic interpretation of "emotion" and "passion" in "Hong Lingyan" that divided the audience. Those who either lack the romantic spirit or are more familiar with the "high art" of ballet and its context seem to see the film as a series of ignorant camouflages that bear no realistic resemblance to dance or to the codes of life . Pauline Kael, a prominent figure in the group, described the film as "a tearful and self-conscious work by the purveyors of high-end kitsch". To disparage the film in this way completely ignores its intent and the context in which it was made, as Powell said in an interview late in his life that he believed the film's success lay in the fact that "for ten years, regardless of For one reason or another, we were all told to sacrifice for freedom and democracy, and now that the war is over, Hong Lingyan tells us to go out and sacrifice for art.” The problematic image of the film's dance troupe leader Boris Lermontov, mirrored in Powell's real life, has inspired future directors including Coppola and Scorsese, Let them have the same obsessive ambition - they all watched "Hong Lingyan" when they were children.
At the end of the day, it was Powell's focus on the multiple identities of Moira Shearer's ballerina, daughter, and loving wife that fascinated me and I will never forget it. These sublime and unsettling moments are found throughout the film, and they also foreshadow her impending doom and are thus more nuanced. Today, "Hong Lingyan" is not just a visually stunning and complex film about art, ambition and sexuality, it is also an exciting exploration of a "modern" What it might mean to be a woman - sandwiched between individualistic career ambitions and the desire to fulfill family life as a wife/mother.
Original link:
https://www.sensesofcinema.com/2005/cteq/red_shoes/
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