The Tales of Hoffman
Directed by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger
Written by Michael Powell, Emeric Pressburger, Dennis Arundell, Jules Barbier, E.T.A Hoffman
Starring Moira Shearer, Robert Helpmann
Released April 4th, 1951
The Michael Powell-Emeric Pressburger film, The Tales of Hoffmann, is receiving a brand new Criterion Collection release on Tuesday, June 7th, 2022. Though it is not as well known as Powell and Pressburger’s unparalleled classic, The Red Shoes (1948), The Tales of Hoffmann is quite similar to that 1948 film in terms of style and ambition. Powell and Pressburger’s unprecedented challenge was to bring Opera and Ballet to the big screen in a cinematic package. Their accomplishment of that ambition makes The Tales of Hoffmann historic.
The Tales of Hoffmann tells three tales, not counting the story being told within the framing device employed by Powell and Pressburger. The framing device has our protagonist, Hoffmann (Robert Rounseville), attending a ballet performance by his beloved Stella (Moira Shearer). During intermission, Hoffman joins his friends and fellow poets in a pub where he is called upon to tell tales. Hoffmann agrees and sets about telling three tales of his failed romances.
Find my full length review at Geeks.Media, linked here.
