I watched this as part of the Criterion Challenge, with this being in the category of, wait for it, “The 1940s.” As a Criterion Collection fan, this has been at the top of my list for a while. It’s another that has felt so overwhelmingly important that until now I was unable to get myself to watch it. Thank goodness for this challenge.
I’ve kind of silently come to love Powell and Pressburger movies. This is the third of theirs I’ve experienced, and all of them have been excellent. This lands directly on top of that list. The dancing, including the amazing sequence in the middle of the movie, was a real spectacle. Moira Shearer’s Victoria was awesome and believable. And what a magnificent dancer she was. Without the skill, this would not have been nearly as interesting.
Anton Walbrook’s Boris Lermontov is both a decent guy and a bastard. We get a sense that he is about money, of course, delivered through his true artistic expression. But we get that sense through him taking on Julian Craster (Marius Goring) after learning from Craster that the composition by Craster’s professor was a ripoff of Craster’s work. Lermontov critically believes this, which enables him to foster Craster’s work. It’s a win for Lermontov and Craster, with slightly cynical undertones.
Even Lermontov’s acceptance of Vicky is part and parcel with his of Craster. Vicky doesn’t have to dance for him to be intriguing. Her attitude is what wins her the audience. The dancing is what secures her spot. Lermontov comes across as a guy who is willing to take risks on talent, and can judge that talent in ways that don’t require the skill to be presented.
Now, Lermontov gets to be the bastard. His control over his dancers (they can’t get married?) is illogical and seemingly cruel. He never comes across as a sex pest or anything quite like that—just controlling and somewhat mean. He exercises that control over his dancers and his other staff, such as Craster. His demand that Craster leave Vicky or the company is just stupid. Lermontov is willing to lose what he has in his lead dancer and composer because the control he exerts may be compromised. He has some things to work out.
The movie’s real trick is that it has us watching multiple stories come together in the same way. Vicky’s life parallels the play, but in the movie’s final sequence, we get Vicky acting out the drama of her own life in real time as if it was also a play to live within. Vicky mimics herself by running away from the play and throwing herself in front of the train. She killed her career by leaving the company, and now she is killing herself by leaving the company.
Yup, this was as good as advertised. Shearer’s performance was tremendous. The stark contrast of her bright red hair with the rest of the color palette of the movie was a great look. Standout, even. It made Shearer more memorable on the whole. She absolutely stood out in every shot. If you haven’t seen this, please do.