Don’t Look Now

Genre: horror movie

With: Julie Christie (Laura Baxter), Donald Sutherland (John Baxter), Hilary Mason (the visually impaired Heather), Clelia Matania (Wendy, Heather’s sister), Massimo Serato (Bishop Barbarrigo), Renato Scarpa (Inspector Longhi), Leopoldo Trieste (the Hotel Manager), Nicholas Salter (Johnny Baxter), Sharon Williams (Christine Baxter), David Tree (Anthony Babbage), Ann Rye (Mandy Babbage)

Director: Nicolas Roeg

Screenplay: Allan Scott and Chris Bryant (based on a story by Daphne Du Maurier)

Release: 1973

Studio: Casey Productions, Eldorado Films, D.L.N. Ventures Partnership, Paramount

Rating: R

MBiS score: 8.5/10

 

 

In memory of Donald Sutherland (1935-2024) 

 

‟She is dead! Dead, dead, dead, dead, dead!” 

QuickView

Story-line: after the death of their daughter Christine at home in England, John and Laura Baxter send their son Johnny to the Babbage boarding school and leave for Venice where John has been hired to restore a 16th century church. Logically, a change of scenery should soothe them as grieving parents… but brute logic has little to do with what’s coming their way.

Pluses: excellent acting by Julie Christie (a vulnerable Laura), Donald Sutherland (the anxious and frustrated John) and a fine cast in less-than-reassuring roles, competent and very guarded direction, an original and unpredictable screenplay that cultivates a strange and ominous mood, high-quality production values, superior cinematography (Anthony B. Richmond makes Venice looks great but also dark and spooky), very effective editing (Graeme Clifford), a scary musical score by Pino Donaggio and a startling ending.

Minuses: although it is usually labelled as a horror movie, DON’T LOOK NOW also deals with paranormal phenomena.  

Comments: this movie’s great strength is its skilful buildup of tension. After a tragic opening, it sets a quiet mood, traces psychological portraits of its characters and then uses a series of events – either meaningless, inexplicable or important – to set the stage for a stunning third act. Unlike run-of-the-mill slasher movies that are long on carnage but short on value, the subtle and persistent DON’T LOOK NOW is disturbing because it remains anchored in reality. This is accomplished cinema, no doubt about it.

  

MBiS 

© 2024 – All rights reserved