The Red Shoes (1948) is a British dance drama film by Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger, based on Hans Christian Andersen’s 1845 fairytale. It follows aspiring ballerina Victoria Page, who joins the prestigious Ballet Lermontov under the demanding impresario Boris Lermontov. Cast as the lead in a ballet adapted from Andersen’s story, Victoria must navigate the relentless demands of art, her ambition, and her love for composer Julian Craster. As her career soars, she faces impossible choices between love and professional success. Ultimately, caught between loyalty to her art and her heart, Victoria tragically mirrors the fate of the Andersen heroine, her life and death inseparable from the symbolic power of the red shoes.