Originally published on metropolis.co.jp on June 2011

Now, I realize that films take a while to get to Japanese screens, but 1948? Kidding. It’s being shown here now to capitalize on the wild success of Black Swan, for which it was a major inspiration. And that’s a good idea. It deals with a fictitious ballet based on a Hans Christian Andersen tale about a ballerina’s magical shoes what won’t let her stop dancing. Young ballerina (Moira Shearer) falls in love with young composer (Marius Goring) against the very strong will of brilliant, darkly jealous, control-freak impresario (Anton Walbrook). Awesome pre-CG special effects.