Andrei Tarkovsky, when asked about his time filming outside the Soviet system, once replied (I'm heavily paraphrasing) that he would show up on set, work out the scene, block it with the actors, integrate the various visual elements... and after one hour these people...

I came hesitantly to the films of Michael Powell and Emeric Pressburger; after all, those whose masterwork rested on the theme of Ballet seemed suspect to me. At any rate, The Red Shoes certainly belongs among the greatest cinema has to offer, and a good majority of...