The Line, the Cross and the Curve (1993)

Original title

The Line, the Cross & the Curve

Directed by

Kate Bush

Genre

musical film

Country

United Kingdom

Runtime

44 min

Rated

PG

Rating

7.2 of 10 from 19 voters

Elsewhere

IMDb

How it feels

A frustrated singer dancer is lured by a mysterious woman into putting on magic ballet slippers that dance on their own. She must battle the woman to break the spell with guidance from a dance mentor.

dreamlikewhimsicalsurrealdance-drivenmysteriousvisually lushslightly campy

What happens

The Line, the Cross and the Curve is a 1993 British musical short film written and directed by and starring singer Kate Bush, co-starring Miranda Richardson and choreographer Lindsay Kemp, who had served as dance mentor to Bush early in her career. The short film is essentially an extended music video, featuring songs from Bush's 1993 album, The Red Shoes, which in turn was inspired by the classic movie musical-fantasy The Red Shoes. In this version of the tale, Bush plays a frustrated singer-dancer who is enticed by a mysterious woman (Richardson) into putting on a pair of magical ballet slippers. Once on her feet, the shoes start dancing on their own, and Bush's character (who is never referred to by name) must battle Richardson's character to free herself from the spell of the shoes. Her guide on this strange journey is played by Kemp. The film was released direct-to-video in most areas, and was only a modest success. Kate Bush later expressed her displeasure with the final product, calling it "a load of bollocks". Soon after its release, Bush effectively dropped out of the public eye until her eighth studio album, Aerial, released in November 2005. Two years after the UK release, due to late promotion in the US, the film was nominated for the Grammy Award for Best Long Form Music Video in 1996. The film continues to be played in arthouse cinemas around the world, and was screened at Hollywood Theatre in 2014 along with modern dance interpretations to Bush's music. (from Wikipedia, CC BY-SA)

More like this

• The Red Shoes (1948)
• Opéra imaginaire (1993)
• Barbie in the Pink Shoes (2013)
• Dancing Queen (1993)
• The Magic Shoes (1992)
• The Punk (1993)
• The Princess and the Cobbler (1993)
• Brave (1994)