Ballet Shoes

Noel Streatfeild's book 'Ballet Shoes' was read by nearly every English girl who is now a woman over fifty. It was filmed in 1975 and here it is again. If you don't mind the fact that the plot will not stand a close examination (one character disappears for twelve years without explanation, before returning, but no one finds that odd), and if you are willing to watch a film for its fairtytale qualities and sparkle, then you will find this most enjoyable and well done. Most viewers will be female, either women delightfully reminiscing, or young girls still innocent enough to dream (if there are any left who are not already binge-drinking and having sex at the age of ten). Heidi Thomas's script doesn't even try to make sense of the implausible plot, but just gets on with the fun. The film has been very well directed by Sandra Goldbacher, now we hope rescued from the world of television advertising. The story concerns three orphan girls living in a big house whose owner is absent. They are played with tremendous youthful energy and verve by Emma Watson, Yasmin Paige, and Lucy Boynton. They are 'running out of money' and cannot afford dresses, despite the fact that they live in a huge mansion (see page 94), but let's not worry about that inconsistency. One wants to act, one wants to be a ballet dancer, and one wants to be an airplane pilot. Well, why not? They struggle and have vicissitudes, as one must do to succeed, and manage to earn enough money to keep the bailiffs from the door. They are looked after by Emilia Fox, who coughs and becomes increasingly frail and wan but never quite gets the TB that is hinted at, and she falls in love, and is broken-hearted and desolate, but ... well, I ain't sayin' what happens there. Comedienne Victoria Wood is a kind of super-nanny to all, showing her warm heart straight off the AGA, Richard Griffiths is as jolly as ever when he is around, and that is very jolly indeed. Everybody has a great time, and so do we.

I'm an American and I always enjoy the productions that the BBC plays. I was really excited about Ballet Shoes. I read the book when I was younger, my copy was destroyed in Katrina so I didn't have time to re-read it. So this review will be short and sweet and about the film itself. The film itself was well done, very seamless and didn't seem to leave any big gaps of unexplained information. The music really help set the mood. Tchaikovsky's Dance of the Sugar Plum Fairies set the mood for all the dancing, which as a dancer was pretty impressive for the three leads, especially Lucy Boyton. And Gershwin Along with Theo's radio help send in the time period (loved Theo!). The costumes and the sets were great. The acting was also fantastic. I don't remember a lot of the book, but I loved Madame Fidolia and Eileen Atkins was superb. I also loved Emilia Fox who is completely lovable and does a great job of bringing Sylvia alive. Richard Griffiths was adorable (horrible word choice, but that's how I feel) in an eccentric paleontologist way. I especially loved Theo and the Dr.'s, they were brought to life and very fun to watch.

As for the young fossil girls I have to say Lucy Boyton was my favorite. She was spunky, funny and very Posy. She showed a maturity far beyond her years. Yasmin Page was very intense as Petrova and appeared very thoughtful and intelligent. She was fantastic. Emma Watson was a little inconsistent. She had moments where she did great, the audition scene was very good, and when she acted like a prima donna she really shone, otherwise it appeared she was just reading off of a piece of paper, her performance was a little wooden and didn't do it for me. All together the three girls had a great amount of chemistry along with Nana and Sylvia they felt like a family. Overall I thought an enjoyable, CLEAN, family film. Worth seeing.

It is a rare treat to view a film like "Ballet Shoes." It's one of the those films where everyone has a piece of the cake of a happy ending but more importantly the film steers away from fluffy clichés and mushiness. The story takes place during the 1930s in a small house in London. Sylvia Brown (the luminous Emilia Fox), the niece of eccentric, traveling paleotolongist Great Uncle Matthew aka "Gum" who brings along from his travels three orphaned baby girls and it is Sylvia and her plucky Nana (Victoria Wood) that raise the three girls who grow up into fine young ladies with dreams and aspirations. The eldest is Pauline (Emma Watson aka "Hermoine Granger") dreams and aspires to be an actress, Petrova (Yasmin Paige) is the tomboyish one of the three and wants to become an aviator, and finally, Posy, the youngest and boldest one of the three has ambitions to become a ballet dancer. But this small family are facing harsh financial times and set their house for room and board. Enter the tenants that impact the girls' and Sylvia's lives: Mr. Simpson (the expressive Marc Warren), a man with a tragic past but a keen interest in cars and airplanes. He is someone Petrova can talk to; The retired scholarly professors Drs. Jakes and Smith (Gemma Jones and Harriet Walter) who take on the task of tutoring the girls; Theo Dane (Lucy Cohu), a professional dancer and actress, who makes the most profound influences on Pauline and Posy. The film tells how the girls struggle with Sylvia to save their home and at the same time pursue their dreams. To add to their struggles, Sylvia is ill and the girls do all they can to provide for her as well. The words I have to describe this little gem are charming and smart. With a wonderful cast delivering equally endearing performances. Emilia Watson is as always lovely and sweet as Sylvia a woman who selflessly gives and gives without ever once asking for repayment with Victoria Wood as Nana providing as a strong front for her and the household. The girls are wonderful: Emma Watson as Pauline is wonderful. She proved me wrong that she really can act and she definitely is more than the Harry Potter franchise. This is a performance that will hopefully carry her even further. Yasmin Paige as the big hearted and adventurous Petrova is a star in the making. Every scene she conveys such honesty and most of all she is real. Lucy Boynton as Posy is very lovely. She brings her character to life as the bold and daring young lady with such grace and maturity. Her scenes with Eileen Atkins, who plays Madame Fidolia a Russian dance instructor and head of a prestigious dance school, are wonderfully done and acted together. The film is sweet, smart, wonderfully acted and written without the added fluff and mumbo jumbo of made for TV films. The only tragedy was that this film wasn't released in the U.S.A theatrically or at least on HBO. This is a little gem I hope to own on DVD.

This reminded me of the Sunday afternoon dramas that the BBC used to show when I was young. There was nothing to dislike about this; it had charm, an improbable story, over-the-top characters and a real feel of the period it was set in - the thirties.

There were lots of familiar faces; it was good to see Peter Bowles back on TV and anything with Victoria Wood has to be good. Emma Watston sustained the reputation she built up in the Harry Potter films - she is definitely going to be a big-name actress in the future. My personal accolade of Best Actress, however, went to Yasmin Paige who played Petrova, the girl who wants to be the aviator. You heard it here first folks - she is going to be a famous actress - and I'm not even her mother!

The reason why I actually saw this movie is cause a girlfriend of mine is a die-hard Harry Potter fan, loves the movies and will look every movie the cast of HP has a part in. So watching this one with her, I had no expectations cause I didn't know what this film was about and to be honest, when it was over I still had no clue whatsoever what this was supposed to be. A drama, a comedy, a vehicle to boost some young talents careers? I had no clue. So after 90 minutes of twists and turns, unlikely coincidences and a kind of rushed happy end I was sitting there uttering the words "now this is bogus!". It's not that it was a bad movie per se, we have a very unlikely story, a very good but also very very stereotypically cast set of actors that act over the top, a weird storyline and lots of dancing. So I didn't have the feeling that it was a bad movie, but I still had no idea what this was supposed to be. The only thing I really took from it was that whoever is to direct the next film starring Emma Watson has to botox her forehead back to the stoneage cause her eyebrows have to stop moving when she is acting. I mean I ended up staring at them cause even though there is lots of dancing in the film her eyebrows are the things that move the most. On the other hand, it has been worse in the HP movies. However, it wasn't until I spoke with another friend of mine - another Harry Potter fan and mom of 4 kids - and complained about this film that I was told that this is an adaption of a child book classic. I suppose this was the godmother of all "duuuuh" moments someone can have, especially after I was lectured for a solid 15 minutes about how great the book is how her kids love it how much they can learn about the importance of hard work and taking care of each other and yadda yadda yadda plus just cause I'm a guy and not into the Harry Potter stuff I still have no right to badmouth the girl playing Hermione cause it's her fave character in the books. So, knowing that it's a kids book the stereotypical characters make sense and with that in mind the actors casted for the roles actually fit perfect. Richard Griffiths is befuddled and funny as always, Marc Warren can be the shy guy once more just to name a few. And so finally, the twist and turns and the happy end make sense too, so does the fact that I couldn't understand the story, cause it's made for little girls in the 1930s. I guess I really dodged a bullet there, for a few days I thought I was just stupid.