MovieChat Forums > The Red Shoes (1948) Discussion > went from one of the best endings I've e...

went from one of the best endings I've ever seen to one of the worst

posted 14 years ago by doowopfan
63 replies | jump to latest

******SPOILERS***********

I hope nobody rips on me too much on this. But for the record I did like this movie a lot and am in no way bashing it.
So she jumps in front of a train out of the distraught of being banished from dancing by Mr. Douchebag. He makes that speech to the crowd. At this point I thought that was one of the best endings I've ever seen and certainly one of the greatest death scenes of all time. She wanted this dream so badly that when she couldn't get it she throws herself in front of the train. Great stuff...then she lived. What the hell is that all about? Terrible for two reasons. One, from a realistic standpoint, she got hit by a train and lived. I mean she's all bloody so I assume she got hit. I suppose the fall bloodied her up. And two, from a movie standpoint, that gutwrenching feeling we have for her and her dream is ruined!

I guess most will disagree or maybe even point out something I overlooked. I welcome it. I am not a troll it just ruined the ending for me. Especially for reason two above. If I ranked the best death scenes in movie history it would have been top 10 for sure. But she lived. Very disappointed but not in the movie as a whole. Great movie.

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I did sixty in five minutes once...

[–] estella2 11 years ago

The ballet was called 'The Red Shoes' which was based off of a Hans Christian Andersen fairytale 'The Red Shoes.' The film is basically a story within a story because Vicki's real life story is reflection of the fairytale in someways, including the part about the girl being raised by an adoptive parent (Vicki's Aunt).

this is a summary of the ending of the fairytale via Wikipedia

An angel appears to her, bearing a sword, and condemns her to dance even after she dies, as a warning to vain children everywhere. Karen begs for mercy but the red shoes take her away before she hears the angel's reply. Karen finds an executioner and asks him to chop off her feet. He does so but the shoes continue to dance, even with Karen's amputated feet inside them. The executioner gives her a pair of wooden feet and crutches, and teaches her the criminals' psalm. Thinking that she has suffered enough for the red shoes, Karen decides to go to church in order for the people to see her. However her amputated feet, still in the red shoes, dance before her, barring the way. The following Sunday she tries again, thinking of herself at least as good as the others in church, but again the dancing red shoes bar the way. Karen gets a job as a maid in the parsonage, but when Sunday comes she dares not go to church. Instead she sits alone at home and prays to God for help. The angel reappears, now bearing a spray of roses, and gives Karen the mercy she asked for: it is as though the church comes home to her and her heart becomes so filled with sunshine, peace, and joy that it bursts. Her soul flies on sunshine to Heaven, and no one there mentions the red shoes.

In the film they instead chose to use the virtue of love instead of the virtue of faith that was used in Hans Christian Andersen's version of the fairytale. So Vicki chooses love over the shoes and she dies in the arms of her lover and she flies on to heaven, finally free from the shackles of the red shoes.

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

One, from a realistic standpoint, she got hit by a train and lived.

I agree with the OP in that it appeared over melodramatic. I don't know why they didn't leave it as just a dive from a balcony.

I mean this tiny, petite ballerina dives off a balcony, gets hit by a train and lives on long enough for a chat with hubby. Her body looked pretty OK too, all things considered. The scene actually gave me a giggle, when I think I was supposed to be horrified at the final outcome.

[–] Steve Crook 11 years ago

Is that another vote for the ending being just Jump, Splat, roll credits?

Steve

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

It's a vote for leaving every thing as it is, sans train. More believable that she may have been still alive to pass on the message if she'd just jumped (or forced to jump) from the balcony, without the overkill of the train.

[–] OneFilmLover 11 years ago

A whole movie about the power of art & someone can't get over the breaking of reality that is a person surviving being hit by a train to make one last statement? Weird...

There. It's on the Internet. Thus it's official

[–] spookyrat1 11 years ago

Weird for you buddy, for me as I said earlier...I couldn't help but see the humour. That is the power of art for you.

[–] HalBanksy 9 years ago

Nobody's saying that, and you know it.

A lot of people just don't like seeing her clearly NOT wounded body at the end. It simply looks stupid. Every single shot of the film could be unchanged - except for that one moment. Just simply show the shoes being taken off her still feet. Even keep her voice (although it would be nicer if she actually did sound near death, instead of just a bit tired.) That would have been enough - and many people think it would have been better. They are allowed that opinion.

[–] seahawk3133 10 years ago

It was another black mark on a very over rated movie...

[–] 10 years ago

[deleted]

[–] ElizabethJoestar (946) 9 months ago

Lots of nitpicking over typical melodramatic conventions. Like in many movies, the filmmakers forego realism to give the main character some dying words. She didn't live-- it's pretty clear by Julian and Lermontov's reactions.

Also the ending is thematically perfect. Vicky's inner conflict between the conventional life represented by Julian and the world of art represented by Lermontov led to self-destruction. It's a mirror of the Red Shoes fairy tale, where Karen's vanity leads to a living hell.