David O'ConnellThe Red Shoes
March 18th 2009 03:05
A long way from Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger’s 1948 classic, this incarnation of The Red Shoes (Bunhongsin) is actually a 2005 South Korean horror film that offers a spine-tingling twist on the Hans Christian Andersen fairytale of the same name. Though the cursed shoes in Kim Yong-gyun’s film are really pink, they acquire more than a few streaks of crimson along the way, revealing as much life of their own as those in Andersen’s original story.
When Sun-jae (Kim Hye-su) staggers in on her husband’s infidelity one afternoon she decides it’s time for a clean break, whisking daughter Tae-su (Yeon-ah Park) away to a new life in a grimy apartment complex. Her real troubles begin however when she spots a pair of untended shoes on the subway one night, and attracted to their alluring shade of brilliant pink, she takes them home.
The shoes have a magnetic force that will soon transform into a deadly fascination as the film’s clever prologue establishes: two schoolgirls fight over them after their magical appearance out of thin air, leading to a grisly end for the victor with the shoes reclaimed by their ghostly owner – with the girl’s feet still inside of course!
Sun-jae has a battle on her hands controlling not only her daughter’s increasingly unreasonable behaviour but Tae-su's own singular desire to possess the shoes which transform her into an older version of herself as she gazes wondrously into the mirror. There are many uncomfortable scenes of mother and daughter's heated exchanges, even wrestling maniacally for the shoes which soon begin to appear and reappear at will, plunging their lives into the realm of a recurring nightmare.
Finally, after the spectacular death of a jealous friend who swipes the shoes from their home during a visit, Sun-jae begins to comprehend the source of their unraveling lives and its otherworldly force. But like all vengeful objects in such films, the shoes have no intention of being consigned to the oblivion of being denied an owner to haunt, and with new boyfriend In-cheol (Kim Seong-su) tagging along - as clueless to the sinister potential of a pair of fashionable shoes as Sun-jae - they attempt to deconstruct the puzzle of its origins and reasons for plaguing their lives.
The Red Shoes has a wonderfully slick and glossy visual style, elevating it well beyond your average horror film, and though it’s hindered by the usual convoluted, non-sensical plot twists which attempt to unravel the mystery before everyone has their feet separated from the rest of their bodies, it holds the story together with enough genuine creepy atmosphere and intensity to prevent it from toppling over into laughability.
There are quite a few memorable creepy set-pieces, most managing to eschew a sense of flirting with a manufactured feel to achieve a chilling effect. Copious amounts of blood are spilt too, especially during one of many unsettling dream sequences which features a cracking ceiling unleashing a river of blood upon the hapless Sun-jae.
The acting is decent without being startling whilst the intricately crafted sound design compliments the music of Lee Byung-woo to perfection, never pre-empting the scariest jolts or resorting to overkill. Maintaining the standard of South Korea's diverse output of the last decade, The Red Shoes proves to be more than just curiosity value and well worth the time of genre fans.
When Sun-jae (Kim Hye-su) staggers in on her husband’s infidelity one afternoon she decides it’s time for a clean break, whisking daughter Tae-su (Yeon-ah Park) away to a new life in a grimy apartment complex. Her real troubles begin however when she spots a pair of untended shoes on the subway one night, and attracted to their alluring shade of brilliant pink, she takes them home.
The shoes have a magnetic force that will soon transform into a deadly fascination as the film’s clever prologue establishes: two schoolgirls fight over them after their magical appearance out of thin air, leading to a grisly end for the victor with the shoes reclaimed by their ghostly owner – with the girl’s feet still inside of course!
Sun-jae has a battle on her hands controlling not only her daughter’s increasingly unreasonable behaviour but Tae-su's own singular desire to possess the shoes which transform her into an older version of herself as she gazes wondrously into the mirror. There are many uncomfortable scenes of mother and daughter's heated exchanges, even wrestling maniacally for the shoes which soon begin to appear and reappear at will, plunging their lives into the realm of a recurring nightmare.
Finally, after the spectacular death of a jealous friend who swipes the shoes from their home during a visit, Sun-jae begins to comprehend the source of their unraveling lives and its otherworldly force. But like all vengeful objects in such films, the shoes have no intention of being consigned to the oblivion of being denied an owner to haunt, and with new boyfriend In-cheol (Kim Seong-su) tagging along - as clueless to the sinister potential of a pair of fashionable shoes as Sun-jae - they attempt to deconstruct the puzzle of its origins and reasons for plaguing their lives.
The Red Shoes has a wonderfully slick and glossy visual style, elevating it well beyond your average horror film, and though it’s hindered by the usual convoluted, non-sensical plot twists which attempt to unravel the mystery before everyone has their feet separated from the rest of their bodies, it holds the story together with enough genuine creepy atmosphere and intensity to prevent it from toppling over into laughability.
There are quite a few memorable creepy set-pieces, most managing to eschew a sense of flirting with a manufactured feel to achieve a chilling effect. Copious amounts of blood are spilt too, especially during one of many unsettling dream sequences which features a cracking ceiling unleashing a river of blood upon the hapless Sun-jae.
The acting is decent without being startling whilst the intricately crafted sound design compliments the music of Lee Byung-woo to perfection, never pre-empting the scariest jolts or resorting to overkill. Maintaining the standard of South Korea's diverse output of the last decade, The Red Shoes proves to be more than just curiosity value and well worth the time of genre fans.
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Comment by Matt Shea
20/20 Filmsight
Comment by David O'Connell
Screen Fanatic
I'm a huge fan of Korean cinema as well mate - from their horror to their more intimate dramas to their stylish gangster pics, I've been impressed by nearly everything that comes out of that country. And always on the lookout for more hidden gems from their wonderful last decade or so of cinema!