In both Brief Encounter (1945) and The Red Shoes (1948), music is used crucially to establish an

association between women and their fantasies and desires. In discussion of the place of music in
connection with these associations, music will be discussed alongside three of its demonstrative
qualities. Firstly, it will be argued that music is power and that the women in these films are able to
glean for their own purposes the power of music. Secondly, it will be discussed whether music is
more accurately a means of escape or a means by which one pursues reality. Thirdly – and seemingly
contradictory to the first of the three points of discussion – music will be described as an inferior art-
form by the very women it seems to empower. In analysing these three qualities of music, insight
will be gained into the fantasies and desires of the women in these films. The chosen qualities will
provide opportunity to explore the vast differences between the place of music within Brief
Encounter and within The Red Shoes, but they will also allow proof for various similarities.

In both of these films, music contains its own power. It can be argued that it is only with and through
music that the women in these films can express power for themselves. Thus music is featured as a
means to an end.

Throughout Brief Encounter the audience hears from the heroine Laura in the form of an internal
monologue. The very first time her inner thoughts are heard they are layered against the backdrop
of Rachmaninov’s second piano concerto and this is the pattern which continues throughout the
film. Up until this moment, Laura is a mysterious character, seemingly quiet, shy and enigmatic.
While this may continue to be true, once the audience hears aloud Laura’s own explanation for her
existence in the plot (whilst riding the train with an acquaintance she sees at the station’s waiting
room) Laura instantly displays a power we didn’t assume of her before: the power of speech. True,
we are gaining access into her inner thoughts, and she is not verbally speaking to any of the
characters on screen, but this is the method by which she speaks to the audience – her power
doesn’t exist primarily in the realm of her world, but in ours. Regardless of one’s opinions of Laura
and the decisions she makes throughout the film, she is undoubtedly the character with which the
audience can most connect and identify, because her voice is powerfully presented as the one to
cause all other voices and noises to fade away in their inferiority. Ivan Raykoff’s theory can be
applied well to this matter. He recognises the power of the concerto within films, and suggests a
character is able assume the position of ‘metaphoric “soloist” confronting greater forces’.1 In Brief
Encounter, Laura resembles this clearly: she uses the power of music to serve her own emotional
needs, and in being able to vocalise the feelings which she otherwise appears powerless to express,
she can confront her emotional turmoil with a strong voice rather than timid silence.

In The Red Shoes, a rather oppositional thing happens to the voice of its heroine Victoria Page. In the
film, Vicky in fact speaks or raises her voice very rarely. From early on in the film, it is clear that for
Vicky, dancing is synonymous with living – she makes this clear in her first conversation with
Lermontov at the post-show party at the film’s beginning – and so power, for Vicky, is to do with her
dancing ability, not her ability to speak. Andrew Moor mentions something of the film’s ambiguous
positioning of Vicky’s autonomy and power, referencing Lermontov’s exclamation that ‘he “will do
the talking” – while she can do the dancing’.2 Although the fact that Vicky speaks very little could
quite rightly suggest a lack of power, this assumption can be contested. Brief Encounter’s Laura
demonstrates power which is displayed through her inner speech, whereas Vicky’s power is
displayed through her ability to dance – here she is ‘heard’ by an adoring public and members of the

1
Ivan Raykoff, ‘Concerto con amore’, Echo 2 (Spring 2000)
2
Andrew Moor, ‘Art and Artists – The Red Shoes, The Tales of Hoffmann’, in Powell and Pressburger: A Cinema
of Magic Spaces, (I.B. Tauris, 2005), 210
company. Vicky’s type of power is very different to Laura’s, but it is similarly supported by and
manifested through the essential backdrop of music.

One moment in The Red Shoes is particularly confusing, but is worth mentioning for its potential to
shed some sort of light on the notion of Vicky’s power. Vicky seems to be given power not only
through music, but power over the music when, despite repeatedly rowing with Vicky over the
tempo of the ballet sequence, Julian rushes to Vicky on opening night to say, ‘dance whatever tempo
you like – I’ll follow you!’ Whether Julian is only trying to calm Vicky’s overly apparent nerves, or
whether he means the statement (or, indeed, whether he is joking) is unclear. But perhaps, at least,
Vicky is allowed to believe that as she dances she has control and power over the situation.

The ethos of these two films represent contrary attitudes towards music/art as escapism or as the
means for a pursuit of reality. Although on the surface Brief Encounter appears most aligned with
the notion that music is for escapism and The Red Shoes offers music a legitimate position within
real-life, live performance, it should be suggested that these films do not conform to these
categories exclusively. Laura herself doesn’t think very highly of music, but it does appear to be used
to help her escape the harshness and complexity of her thoughts and emotions. In The Red Shoes,
music is treated as a passion, but also as a profession – this doesn’t necessarily mean that music isn’t
used as a means of escapism by Vicky.

When Laura turns on the radio in her and Fred’s drawing room and tunes it to the Rachmaninov
concerto, it is as though she turns it on only to indulge in the music and allow it to release and
accompany her inner thoughts – she stitches a single stitch of her needlework and immediately
resigns to pay attention to her thoughts: music is the vehicle through which she can do this. The
musical excerpt which she hears as she sits down to sew is a horn solo (mvt. 1, rehearsal 13). This
theme is also that which was heard when Laura’s internal monologue begins (on the train journey)
and is again repeated during a scene when Laura calls a friend to ask her to help lie. Sean Michael
O’Connor suggests that in these three instances, the film associates the musical excerpts with times
at which she thinks about her past, loneliness and guilt.3 At the point where she has abandoned her
sewing, the camera shot focuses closely on her face, which appears troubled as her inner voice
accounts the reasons why. Soon after, the image of the living room fades masterfully into the
Railway refreshment-room scene (Laura is sat facing the same way in each scene and so the change
is seamless). The fade effect makes it clear that Laura is trying to escape – all the while the concerto
is heard. The concerto is never explained for its role as ‘escape-artist’, but its role is made clear
because of the cinematic techniques which accompany: in this case intense close ups and/or fade
effects. Other more obvious reinforcements that Laura has allowed the music to help her escape are
clear: over the loud, booming and overwhelming music it can suddenly be heard (from her husband,
Fred) ‘Do you think we might have that down a bit, darling? Hi, Laura!’ This point of the film is really
interesting because it allows the audience to see how entangled and messy the relationship is
between music in reality and music as an assistant to the conscience.

During a scene towards the end of The Red Shoes, Vicky lies awake in bed and hears her husband
Julian composing his opera at the piano. Although she is listening to the opera music (which is
diegetic) the interjecting Red Shoes theme from the ballet pointedly interrupts – it is the tune we
hear which reminds us of the once significant contempt shared between Vicky and Julian when they
argued over the tempo: the battle between dance and music. It appears as though these bursting
themes can be heard in Vicky’s head – it is as though the only music she understands/can really hear

3
Sean O’Connor, ‘Soundtrack to a Love Story: The Use of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto in the Film
Brief Encounter’, MHL 252, (April 22, 2013), 7
is her music: the music of The Red Shoes ballet. As these interruptions are heard, Vicky leaves her
bed and lovingly looks at and caresses some of her currently unused ballet shoes. In this instance,
the music she hears – but more predominantly the music she hears in her head – allows her to recall
the reality she once lived through her successful dancing career. Raymond Williams notes the
perception many have had that Art is a ‘superior reality’.4 The desire she appears to have at this
moment is to return to the reality she once lived. Even so, immediately after she runs to the reality
she is currently living in as she enters the arms of her husband Julian. Because of this, it might not be
impossible to argue that the brief moments in which Vicky caressed her shoes and heard the music
she in fact was escaping from her current situation. Although the Archers studio 1942 manifesto
states that ‘no artist believes in escapism’ it is not entirely clear whether this is true of Vicky. In this
scene, she appears deeply dissatisfied with the reality in which she is living and it seems as though
she receives brief and momentary relief in indulging in thoughts of the life that could have been. On
the other hand, the main plot of the film, which centres significantly around the plot of The Red
Shoes ballet, has been identified as bearing strong resemblance to the ‘back-stage musical’ genre,
which is itself deeply premised in a notion of reality.5

In a similar vein, Laura in Brief Encounter appears as though she may not be one hundred percent
committed to using music as a means of escapism. (Certainly, Richard Dyer believes the film is
deeply rooted in a British Cinematic sense of realism).6 In fact, she may not knowingly acknowledge
that she does this at all – especially as she freely mocks music elsewhere in the film (as will be
further explained).

Although it may appear to be in direct opposition to the first highlighted point, both of these films
allow their leading ladies to address music as an inferior art form – even though music is necessary
for their empowerment. Neither Laura nor Vicky seem to appreciate the role music has in their
ability to express themselves.

When Laura first turns on the music in her drawing room, it appears she does so only to provide
herself with some background distraction; she certainly doesn’t seem to have turned the music on
because of a belief that she needs or relies upon it. In fact, throughout the film, Laura’s views
towards music are frequently less than positive, which is ironic because as Richard Dyer points out
‘no film could be more a case of drama unfolded to music’.7 Laura and Alec pointedly mock the
women’s orchestra which plays in the restaurant, and Laura calls the spectacle ‘dreadful’ before
explaining that she was once forced to play the piano but abandoned the practice – for which Alec is
thankful. Laden with more irony is the fact that Laura hates ‘those noisy musical’ films when this is
exactly what the film in which she stars can be seen to be. Peter Franklin raises the question of the
seriousness of film music and whether it deserves proper discussion.8 Franklin explains that music in
film at around the time of Brief Encounter’s release became ‘demeaningly’ feminine,9 and indeed,
Laura seems to try to demarcate herself from a typical notion of femininity even though the intense
emotion she frequently displays embodies her thus. Perhaps this is what makes Brief Encounter so
interesting and honest: music gives Laura the power for her words to be heard, but her emotional

4
Raymond Williams, Culture and Society 1780-1950 (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1961), 55
5
Andrew Moor, ‘Art and Artists – The Red Shoes, The Tales of Hoffmann’, in Powell and Pressburger: A Cinema
of Magic Spaces, (I.B. Tauris, 2005), 202
6
Richard Dyer, Brief Encounter (London, BFI: 1993), 43
7
Ibid., 49
8
Peter Franklin, ‘Men’s Musicology/Women’s Films’, Seeing Through Music: Gender and Modernism in Classic
Hollywood Film Scores (Oxford: OUP, 2011), 22
9
Ibid., 25
mess and psychological distress is so severe that she doesn’t realise how dependent upon music she
is – through her weakness, music gives her power.

Vicky, in The Red Shoes, is also evidenced as considering herself to be superior to music. Her
conviction, as she practices the steps for The Red Shoes ballet, is that the tempo is too fast. Sternly
she says, ‘something will have to be done about the music’ explaining firmly that the tempo is
‘wrong’. Vicky believes that music is there merely out of service to her dancing – she may be partly
correct, but she doesn’t seem to understand that music is so essential to her success, and that
without it she would be powerless. Andrew Moor highlights that within this film and there is a
present a tension between woman’s need for autonomy and the potential power she can exude
through dancing.10 Vicky is at times treated as the powerless woman who is endlessly and
dominantly fought over – take the final scene in Vicky’s dressing room as the prime example – but at
the times when she is dancing she embodies unparalleled power. Following her rehearsal, Vicky
resents that she must listen to the music from The Red Shoes as she eats. She openly laughs at and
mocks Lermontov’s repeated exclamation: ‘the music is the only thing that matters. Nothing but the
music!’ Even though Vicky’s position from the beginning of the film shows her clearly aligned
position with the devotion to dancing, when her life becomes entangled with love, her loyalty
becomes confused. Indeed, she does sacrifice her dancing career for the sake of her new husband
Julian’s musical career. She never appears to do this entirely willingly, and of course ultimately ends
up dying in the name of her chosen art form.

Both Brief Encounter and The Red Shoes present their musicality as being associated with the
fantasies and desires of women. Music is powerful and has been presented as a crucial tool which
offers women power. In Brief Encounter, music is that which gives Laura the power of speech and of
expression. It also provides her with the ability to process and come to terms with the emotions she
has been struggling to cope with. In The Red Shoes, music allows Vicky to showcase her dancing
prowess – indeed, she iconises the music of The Red Shoes ballet because it becomes so thoroughly
associated with her, as the debut performer. Neither woman seems to completely understand or
recognise the provision of power given by music. Similarly, neither woman presents her gratitude or
appreciation accordingly. It has also become clear that the line between music as escapism and
music being a part of reality is not as clear-cut as one might initially assume. Laura, in Brief
Encounter, resents music in the real world, but in the world of her inner monologue – in which the
concerto is sometimes but not always diegetic – she relies upon it heavily. Laura never references or
remarks on the Rachmaninov concerto, and so perhaps even she doesn’t know whether musical is
an influential part of her ‘real world’ existence. In The Red Shoes Vicky also resents music, but must
listen to it diegetically – and does indeed appear to hear the music in her head from time to time –
and her response to music does sometimes seem to be one of escapism. For example when the
silhouettes of Lermontov and Julian appear to the beat during her debut performance; after all, she
has been told that she must think of something when she hears the music and dances on the
opening night.

It would not be unreasonable to say that Brief Encounter and The Red Shoes have similar treatment
of music, and that their leading ladies possess similar attitudes towards music. Neither tries to be a
conventional melodrama, but both films satisfy the definition by allowing music to be so entwined
with female fantasies and desires. The films defy conventions because neither leading lady
particularly ‘admits’ to her musical indulgence. But undisputedly, these films feature within them

10
Andrew Moor, ‘Art and Artists – The Red Shoes, The Tales of Hoffmann’, in Powell and Pressburger: A Cinema
of Magic Spaces, (I.B. Tauris, 2005), 210
love and tragedy. Laura, in Brief Encounter, resigns to a life without Alec, with whom she had an
impassioned (but not consummated) affair, acknowledging that her ‘misery can’t last’. Her happy
marriage and family life still exists, but in the process she has sacrificed her love for Alec and the
tragedy lies in her inability to express to tell the truth to her husband. Vicky’s love, in The Red Shoes,
is also sacrificed, but it is clear she wished it needn’t be the case. The tragedy of The Red Shoes is
much more severe – Vicky’s very passion and livelihood is what leads her to her death. In both film,
music is a magnetic force from which the heroines can’t escape – for the viewer, that association is
similarly forceful. Music allows both the characters on the screen and the audience in their seats to
feel. This is the great power behind the Melodrama.

Bibliography
Dyer, R.

Brief Encounter (London, BFI: 1993)

Franklin, P.

‘Men’s Musicology/Women’s Films’, Seeing Through Music: Gender and Modernism in

Classic Hollywood Film Scores (Oxford: OUP, 2011)

Moor, A.

‘Art and Artists – The Red Shoes, The Tales of Hoffmann’, in Powell and Pressburger: A
Cinema of Magic Spaces, (I.B. Tauris, 2005)

O’Connor, S.

‘Soundtrack to a Love Story: The Use of Rachmaninov’s Second Piano Concerto in the Film
Brief Encounter’, MHL 252, (April 22, 2013)

Raykoff, I.

‘Concerto con amore’, Echo 2 (Spring 2000)

Williams, R.

Culture and Society 1780-1950 (Harmondsworth, Penguin, 1961)