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Concept album becomes film
The Red Shoes is a concept album (CD) based on the classic novel and film of a ballarina who aquires a pair of magical red ballet shoes that when worn becomes a curse of having to dance forever and ever across the land as she can not remove them. The story has been a classical ballet for some time and a wonderfull film. Kates film drawn from her CD is her interpretation of the story of The Red Shoes...very artsy as anything Kate Bush touches is....and completely mesmerising to watch and listen too...very good story with a great perfomance by Miranda Richardson (The Crying Game, Sleepy Hollow)...it is performance art...filmed as if it was a play being filmed..no big budget here but big talent and big concepts by a truly great conceptual artist!
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IF YOU'RE A KATE BUSH FAN
If you're a KaTe fan you'll love this film. The music is as beautiful as ever as is Kate herself. Being a perfectionist she is reported to not be totally happy with the finished product. This film was made using songs from her latest album "The Red Shoes" and draws on the fairy tale that also inspired Michael Powell's film of the same name. Since the album was written first The Line, The Cross and The Curve is more a series of loosely linked music clips connected by the story line than a film with incidental music. I view it as a showcase for the music and feel it serves this purpose well. The film also features Miranda Richardson and Lindsay Kemp.
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Extraordinary Work
In 1985, Kate Bush was planning to make a movie based on "The Ninth Wave," the second part of her brilliant "Hounds of Love" album. It never came to fruition.
However, Kate managed to give a clue of what experiences may have been in store with "The Line, The Cross, and The Curve" a video album based on songs off her "Red Shoes" album. This movie is basically Kate's rendition of "The Red Shoes," but the traditional folktale is reinterpreted to convey Kate's search as an artist to find herself, her spirituatlity, her love, and her expression.
I suspect two of the numbers ("Rubberband Girl" and "Eat the Music") were probably planned for the concert tour she was originally planning to promote "The Red Shoes." "Rubberband Girl," especially, but whatever Kate was planning is worked well into the video. In "Rubberband Girl" Kate tries on an interesting routine where she and another dancer dance closely together to convey the concept of the Rubberband. It's worked into the story of the movie by having Kate feel that the rehearsal is not well, that she is "not a great dancer" and wishes to be so.
What happens next, (without trying to spoil everything for you) are several numbers that render horrifying spectacles of a black bird who cannot get out of a room, Kate being pulled into the world of the other side of the mirror, and of course the sinister Miranda Richardson as the woman who tricks Kate into putting on the Red Shoes (of course, this means Richardson does steal the show, but that's still fine. Richardson performs evil vividly and makes you shiver as she should for this movie).
Of course, it's probably not as spectacular as Pink Floyd's "The Wall," when it comes to the concept of music video as movie, but the potential's there, especially when I think of Kate's past work such as the music videos from Hounds of Love, "Cloudbusting" and "Experiment IV." In those two videos, a story was told in just the right amount of time, a good deal of acting put in place, and in "Cloudbusting" characters we are drawn to and care very much about.
For the REd Shoes-- If Kate's going to be the main character--then there needs to be more about Kate and who she is . . . but this movie seems to drop only "hints" for the most part. The "Moments of Pleasure" sequence is probably an area where Kate really missed the mark. We need more than her simply dancing around repitiously-- somehow in that case the "spell of the dance" got more in the way. In fact that number seemed to be more "filler" and when it comes to Kate's music and videos, "filler" is not typical.
However, this movie does reach for a "Wall" experience and the attempt is admirable. I still wonder what would have transpired if "The Ninth Wave" was made into a film, as I feel those set of songs as poetry and music was stronger than the set of songs used here.
Songs from the "Red Shoes" album include:
Rubberband Girl
And So Is Love
The Red Shoes
Lilly
[poetry sequence not on the album]
Moments of Pleasure
Eat the Music
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Eat the music? Eat this video--it's delicious!
A 43 minute concept video based around a few songs of Kate's to-date last album, The Red Shoes, The Line, The Cross & The Curve shows the creativity behind music's rara avis, Kate Bush. Basically, she is tricked into helping a woman who suddenly appears from behind the mirrored walls of her studio. She draws a line, cross, and curve, which not only frees the woman from her bondage, but transfers the red shoes she's been wearing on Kate. Kate soon realizes she's been suckered, as the shoes are possessed, threatening to dance her legs off. Transported into a strange land from whence her opponent came, she gets assistance from a man in white-face who appears to be the guardian of the land, and Lily, an old woman.
The melancholy "And So Is Love," which follows the performance of "Rubberband Girl," shows Kate's abject loneliness. The bird that flies aimlessly around the darkened chamber until it dies is a reflection of her heart and soul.
"The Red Shoes" sequence is basically of Kate dancing like a dervish in the hellish other land, fitting for the second most upbeat track from The Red Shoes.
"Lily" is the song where Kate, with the aid of Lily and her four guardian angels, Gabriel, Raphael, Michael, and Uriel, gets back her line, i.e. her past.
The best song from The Red Shoes, the sweet ballad "Moments Of Pleasure," features Kate's attempt to free herself from the spell by calling on those she loves, which gets her the cross. The scene of Kate dancing amid the snow while those whom she summons to help her dance alongside her is magical.
The reggae-ish bounce of "Eat The Music" is the celebratory part of the song, where Kate sings for her smile and gets it. Kate's fruit-print dress, and her dancing amid the mountain of fruit accompanied by black women and men is another indelible Kate image.
In the end, does Kate emerge from her ordeal with a renewed sense of herself and the people around her? Conventional wisdom seems to say yes.
Miranda Richardson is the only other well-known face here, playing Kate's adversary. Someone please tell her or the costume designer that singly grown eyebrows that look like a caterpillar is crawling over her forehead are not in vogue.
This is somewhat more conventional than Kate's music video, but the striking visuals and set designs are vintage Kate. This will be a nice cuppa for Kate fans--others are well advised to drink something else.
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Fun
I recommend this movie solely on the fact that I could listen to Kate Bush speak forever. She has the sexiest speaking voice in the universe. Anyway, you can tell Kate and her co-stars had a swell time making this. Even though it is flawed, it is enjoyable to watch, and the songs are first rate. 3 Stars.
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