THE RED SHOES PG

Shearer brilliance…

1948 ★★★★★ OUT 8 DECEMBER CINEMAS

One of the most influential British films of all time, Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s beguiling, ballet-centred fairy tale makes a welcome big-screen curtain call. Now 75 years young, the film’s re-release comes as part of a major Powell and Pressburger BFI season (there’s a free Southbank exhibition, too).

A backstage look at both the world of ballet and the creative process itself, it follows the journey of would-be starlet Victoria Page (real-life prima ballerina Moira Shearer) as she joins the Ballet Lermontov. Alongside Victoria is Julian Craster (Marius Goring), a passionate, ambitious musician. Both are given the chance to make a name for themselves by the company’s impresario Boris Lermontov (Anton Walbrook), who casts Victoria as the lead and Julian as the composer for his new show, an adaptation of Hans Christian Andersen’s The Red Shoes. Magic, mysticism, love and tragedy all ensue in short order, as Victoria begins to echo the character she plays.

It’s a heightened, sensual experience – although to call the visuals merely ravishing is almost to do the work of cinematographer Jack Cardiff (Black Narcissus, A Matter of Life and Death) a disservice. His Technicolor lensing conjures beauty that’s rarely, if ever, been matched on screen. The performances are also sublime, especially from Shearer, who brings all of her elegance to bear. But it’s Powell and Pressburger’s fusion of the arts that truly captivates.

THE VERDICT If ever there was a movie to dance the blues away, it’s this one. Step to the cinema ASAP.

Starlet fever: Moira Shearer dazzles as the would-be prima ballerina

AMERICAN GRAFFITI PG THE FUGITIVE 15

A Ford to be reckoned with…

1973 ★★★★★ 1993 ★★★★★ OUT NOW 4K UHD

EXTRAS ★★★★★ Commentary, Making Of, Screen tests (AG) Commentary, Intro, Featurettes (TF)

One of the great US coming-of-age movies, George Lucas’ second feature American Graffiti gets a 50th anniversary re-release on 4K steelbook - apt, given the protagonists spend a summer night in ’62 cruising their chrome hot rods around Modesto, California. With high school over, Curt, Steve, John and Terry (Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard, Paul Le Mat, Charles Martin Smith) are about to be parted, leaving innocence in the rearview mirror as America motors towards the JFK assassination, the Vietnam War, Watergate and more.

In Graffiti’s parade of star-making turns, Harrison Ford leaps out as drag racer Bob Falfa. By the time he played Dr. Richard Kimble in Andrew Davis’ reimagining of 60s TV show The Fugitive, he’d long been one of the world’s biggest stars. Here, his innate charisma locks us into the plight of a Hitchcockian everyman who’s wrongly accused of his wife’s murder. As Kimble flees a manhunt orchestrated by Tommy Lee Jones’ US marshal, the set-pieces are precision-tooled and spectacular.

Both movies offer nostalgia. In American Graffiti, even the rock ’n’ roll served up by DJ Wolfman Jack sounds innocent. The Fugitive, meanwhile, displays how old-school craft and zeal can trump CGI.

THE VERDICT Harrison Ford’s star power illuminates two of the (non-SW/Indy) classics on his CV.