1948: The Red Shoes

As young ballet dancer Vicky makes a brilliant carreer for herself, she attracts the interest of both ballet company director Lermontov and composer Julian. Conflict ahead! - Really, the melodramatic story of this film isn't much to speak of; the movie thrives, however, on the cinematography by Jack Cardiff, using three-strip technicolor and making this one of the best-looking colour films in the history of cinema. (If you don't want to take my word for it, take Martin Scorcese's word for it.) And the dance scene in the middle belongs in the museum of great movie sequences. I'm saying that as someone who usually has no time whatsoever for ballet. (8)