Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #172 in DVD
• Released on: 2008-01-07
• Rating: Parental Guidance
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 83 minutes

Synopsis

"We three Fossils vow to put our name in the history books, because it is ours, and ours alone, and nobody can say it's because of our grandfathers". With these words, three orphans embark on an exhilarating journey through the world of show business...

Set in 1930s London, Ballet Shoes tells the inspiring tale of Pauline (Emma Watson), Petrova (Yasmin Paige) and Posy Fossil (Lucy Boynton), who are adopted by an eccentric explorer named "Gum" (Richard Griffiths). Raised as sisters by his selfless niece (Emilia Fox) and her nurse (Victoria Wood), each of the girls has a dream to fulfill: Pauline longs to act, Petrova yearns to be an aviator, and Posy seems destined to become a ballerina. When Gum suddenly disappears, however, the girls are left with no money and it becomes a struggle just to make ends meet. Feisty, ambitious and devoted, the Fossils learn they must fight to survive.

Customer Reviews

Good Choice for a Family Evening Together
I watched this film without having read the book; and so I approached it without any preconceived ideas about the story or the characters. What initially got me curious is the opportunity to see Emma Watson in something else other than the HP franchise; and I must say that Miss Watson is developing into a fine young actress. Still a little rough, but she could be a real gem with more diverse roles. Hopefully she will blossom into her full potential.
The cast performed credibly, bringing a homely feel to the film. Emilia Fox was convincing as the longsuffering Garnie and Victoria Wood was a tough cookie Nana. This being a 90 minute film, I could not expect it to do justice to the book. Alas, this seems to be the problem with many film adaptations of books and Ballet Shoes is no exception.
I do wish the characters could have more time and space to further develop, instead of looking rather one dimensional. Also, it's hard to imagine that with guardians like that the girls would so easily throw tantrums. The scene where Pauline shot a mean and rude statement at her guardians over her dress for the premiere feels strange, as does Posy bawling her eyes out in self-pity when Madame suffered a stroke.
I wonder if the bath tub scene was necessary? Or was it a ploy to exploit the increasingly surfacing sensuality of Emma Watson?
I must reiterate that my approach to the film may be different from those who have read and enjoyed the book, and thus have the advantage of a mental representation of the plot and characters. My neighbour's daughter grumbled that Posy was too mean and Pauline was too tall - and too pretty!
Still, it is a lovable and enjoyable film and will be a good choice for the family to enjoy on a nice evening, especially when the family consists of grandma and little grand-daughters. Of course, any hard-core Emma Watson fans will enjoy this too. At least she has more screen time than the latest HP offering.
Too bad the DVD does not offer any cast interviews or 'making-of'. That would be really nice.

LOVED IT!!!!!!!!! ONE BALLET DANCER TO ANOTHER!!!!!!!!!!!
I am in ther Royal Acaedmy of Dance at the Henley College theater, and I do 15 hours a weekand I am very fond of dance and ballet so this movie was abouslotly amazing and enjoyable!
It is about three little girls who grew up toegther in an old house and they were ophans or their parents had left them and they are quite poor so they are advisting rent bedrooms for sale for money and one lady is a proper ballet dancer and notices the girls talent and sends them along to the Royal Ballet school. Over a period of time they are sone doing performances on stage and they grow up together as ballet dancers. In the film there are twista ands turns and unexpected things. I saw this on tv and it was so good I am giong to buy it!!!!!!!

It's all very nice, if a little empty
"Ballet Shoes" was a very pleasant, Sunday-afternoon kind of film. The three child actresses were impressive; I was pleasantly surprised with Emma Watson (who I had been a little prejudiced towards from her acting in Harry Potter) - but Lucy Boynton as Posy was the real star. Her acting is natural without the need to exaggerate, and she was convincing at portraying the immature, spoiled and ambitious Posy. The film moreover captures the atmosphere of 1930s London successfully with some very charming scenes, and I thought the dancing scenes were done well considering none of the girls had dancing experience.

However, throughout all this I could not help feeling that something was missing - the story was nice but somewhat insipid; the acting was nice but not outstanding; there is little that stays with you and pulls you towards a second viewing. The girls all have typecast personalities and personal ambitions, yet you cannot feel much empathy for them. The ending I also felt greatly disappointed with; it felt all too contrived to bring about an unrealistically happy ending.

Granted, I have not read the book, so perhaps the magic of it was not fully transferred on-screen (as is the case of many book-screen adaptations). Overall, I'd say it is an OK film - probably would be a hit with younger girls - but not something that you will be pulling out of your shelves 5 years later.