The Red Shoes (2005) – Theatrical v.s. Uncut (Korean DVD Version)

The Red Shoes 분홍신 (2005)

Directed by: Kim Yong-gyun (김용균)
Starring: Kim Hye-soo (김혜수), Kim Sung-soo (김성수), Park Yeon-a (박연아)
Release Date: June 30th, 2005

Plot Summary

After learning of her husband’s affair, the ophthalmologist Sun-jae (Kim Hye-soo) and her young daughter Tae-soo are left penniless after the husband is said to have fled the country with their money. Together, with Sun-jae’s collection of high heel shoes, they move out of their luxurious home and settle into a run-down apartment complex where they plan to begin life anew. While Sun-jae begins renovations on her new eye clinic, a pair of enigmatic pink heels without an owner catch her eye on the subway one day and she decides to take them home. Upon trying them on, she’s taken over by a newfound feeling of empowerment. But when her daughter Tae-soo begins to covet the pink shoes as her own immediately after seeing them, a rift between them begins to grow.

The confidence Sun-jae feels after coming into possession of the pink shoes allow her to invite the man responsible for renovating her eye clinic, In-chul (Kim Sung-woo) over for dinner. Despite Tae-soo’s disapproval of the man, Sun-jae and In-chul begin to date. But when Tae-soo secretly tries on the shoes for herslef one day, something strange begins to brew inside of her too. As the two continue to fight over the shoes, Sun-jae becomes consumed with nightmarish hallucinations and an impending sense of dread.

When Sun-jae and In-chul link together multiple shocking and mysterious deaths to the shoes, they begin to suspect that the pink shoes harbor an evil power that is somehow tied to a Japanese colonial era grudge between two ballerinas. When Tae-soo looks to be the pink shoes next victim, Sun-jae is left with no other option than to solve the years long mystery that will break the curse of the pink shoes once and for all.

Theatrical V.S. Uncut (DVD version)

Results

The Red Shoes (2005) was released with moderate success in 2005 but mostly found itself drowned in an oversaturated market of horror offerings of the time. The 103 minute cut of the film originally shown in Korean theaters is the same version seen internationally through the DVD by Tartan. But the Korean 2 disc Limited Edition DVD featured a bonus disc of a special 108 minute “DVD Version” of the film that was more extreme and contained major alterations to the film. After viewing both cuts, I found myself having a strong preference for the Korean “DVD Version” and hope someday this particular cut will see the light of day on a broad scale. If there were ever to be a new cut rendered of The Red Shoes (2005) for future DVD/Blu-ray releases, my wish list of inclusions/exclusions are as follows:

KEEP

• UNCUT – Music (eerie vibration/percussion sounds)
• UNCUT – Title Card (artistically placed over opening ballet sequence, red lettering shows the dual nature of grace and violence coming in the movie)
• UNCUT – Witnessing the Affairs (longer, more graphic = greater impact + plot resonance)
• UNCUT – Extended Date Scene with Sun-jae & In-chul (shows an important side of Sun-jae’s transformation – the lustful and desirable side of the curse + helps with pacing)
• UNCUT – Mother/Daughter Window Shopping for Shoes (more character development always good)
• THEATRIAL – Hallucination of Dad in Tae-soo’s Room (builds mystery and uneasiness surrounding father’s involvement + puts into question Sun-jae’s story of father leaving country with all their money)
• THEATRICAL – Bloody Snow Fall (memorable scene and great way to symbolize the mix of grace and violence present in the story, also seen through the ballet and other attempts at refined behavior glossing the surface of a dark cruelty)
•  UNCUT – Flashback Sequence (having it all (most all) come at one time so audiences can identify key characters of importance and make sense of the cursed history better)
• UNCUT – Death Scenes (Big Lady – eye gouge + leg sawed off by glass = more graphic for horror fans and taking the eye out is nice for punishing the corrupting beauty and power perceptions brought upon by coveting the red shoes) (In-chul – major character deserves a major death scene, and the neck stab + blood spray is befitting) (Oki – clearly getting her foot chopped by Keiko when being buried alive is very important for establishing the leg dismembering aspect of the curse)
• UNCUT – Possession of Tae-soo (Having Oki use Tae-soo as a vessel, the scenes where Oki speaks through Tae-soo to convey the story of the red shoes to Sun-jae was nice, and is consistent with Tae-soo being pulled into the ceiling)

OPTIONAL ENDINGS

• THEATRICAL – Sun-jae saves Tae-soo from being hit by subway car (in both versions, she clearly is compromised (theatrical version looks like her eyes are missing). If Tae-soo is saved by her mother Sun-jae, then Sun-jae should be killed by Keiko’s ghost for the sequence to make the most sense, and the curse will continue through Tae-soo. ( I do like the ending shot of Tae-soo looking in the mirror as a young ballerina carrying the ghost of either Keiko or Oki inside of her).
• UNCUT – Sun-jae fails to save Tae-soo from being hit by subway car. If this ending, then Keiko’s ghost can either stay or go. If Keiko’s ghost stays, then we should assume Sun-jae is now possesed by Keiko at the end and we should keep the scenes of her happily holding the shoes in the dark subway as Keiko is the victor. If Keiko’s ghost scene is cut, then we should assume Oki is the crazed victor in a nasty twist of events. Then the final scene of Sun-jae looking out the window of her office at the billboard of the girl holding the pink shoes (originally Oki) is her now looking at herself.

GET RID OF

• THEATRICAL – Music (symphonic/church organ sounds at opening) – feels tacky overall
• THEATRICAL – Title (Big blood lettering over black screen) – looks tacky
• THEATRICAL – Hallucinations (Sun-jae seeing the ghost of a newly wed couple from Japanese colonial era, this would be Oki + cheating husband, but unnecessary as they are explained enough in flashback, and we can get rid of the Japanese colonial aspects that feel like poorly produced communist propaganda footage). (ALSO: Sun-jae seeing the presumably dead school girls in the elevators and hallways of her apartment building can go. A scene like this moves The Red Shoes more towards generic genre territory which it does better without).
• THEATRICAL – Flashbacks (Don’t cut up the flashbacks and place them in bits and pieces throughout the film, this creates more confusion than necessary and takes away from the impact of realizing the true nature of the curse). (ALSO: The ballet scene of OKI’S REVENGE feels unnecessary and out of place, plus it visually doesn’t look consistent with the dark quality overall tone of the film up to that point).