Nicolas Roeg directed Don’t Look Now, a stylish horror thriller set in Venice, adapted from Daphne du Maurier’s 1971 short story.
Grade: A- (**** out of *****)
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Theatrical release poster
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The tale focuses on grief and the effect of a child’s death on a relationship, in this case young marriage.
Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland portray Laura and John Baxter, a married couple who travel to Venice after the recent death of their daughter, when John accepts commission to restore a church.
While there, they encounter two sisters at a restaurant. One claims to be clairvoyant and informs them that their daughter is trying to contact them and warn them of danger. The other is blind. John at first dismisses their claims, but then he starts to experience mysterious sightings himself.
The film is renowned for its innovative editing style, recurring motifs and themes, and a sex scene that was explicit by standards of mainstream cinema.
It also employs flashbacks and flashforwards in keeping with the depiction of precognition, but some scenes are intercut or merged to alter the viewer’s perception of what is really happening. It adopts an impressionist approach to its imagery, often presaging events with familiar objects, patterns and colors using associative editing techniques.
The film’s reputation has grown in the years since its release. It is now considered to be a classic and influential work in the horror film genre, and in British cinema in general.
The prologue depicts the drowning of John and Laura Baxter’s young daughter Christine (Sharon Williams) in an accident at their English country home.
John Baxter (Donald Sutherland) and his grief-stricken wife Laura (Julie Christie) then travel to Venice where John has accepted a commission from a bishop (Massimo Serato) to restore an ancient church.
Laura encounters two elderly sisters, Heather (Hilary Mason) and Wendy (Clelia Matania), at a restaurant where she and John are dining. Heather claims to be psychic and—despite being blind—informs Laura she is able to “see” the Baxters’ deceased daughter. Truly Shaken, Laura barely manages to return to her table, before fainting ad collapsing to the floor.
Laura is taken to the hospital, where she later tells John what Heather told her. John is skeptical but he is surprised by the positive change in Laura’s demeanor.
That evening after returning from the hospital, John and Laura have passionate sex. (more about the sex scene later).
En route to dinner, they get lost and briefly become separated. John catches a glimpse of a small figure wearing a red coat similar to the one Christine was wearing when she died.
The next day, Laura meets with Heather and Wendy, who hold séance to try to contact Christine. When she returns to the hotel, Laura informs John that Christine said he is in danger and must leave Venice.
That night they receive a call informing them that their son (Nicholas Salter) has been injured in accident at boarding school.
Laura departs for England, while John stays on to complete the restoration.
Shortly afterward, John is nearly killed in an accident at the church when his scaffold collapses; he interprets this as a sign of the “danger” foretold by the sisters.
Assuming Laura is in England, John is shocked when he spots her on a passing boat in a funeral cortege, accompanied by the sisters. Concerned about his wife’s mental state and with reports of a serial killer at large in Venice, John reports about Laura’s disappearance to the police.
The inspector (Renato Scarpa) investigating the killings is suspicious of John and has him followed. During a search for Laura and the sisters, he again sees a childlike figure in red coat. John contacts his son’s school to enquire about his condition, only to discover that Laura is there.
John, bewildered, returns to the police station to inform that he has found his wife. In the meantime, the police have brought Heather in for questioning, and an apologetic John offers to escort her back to the hotel.
After returning to the hotel, Heather slips into a trance, and John quickly leaves. Upon coming out of the trance, Heather pleads with her sister to go after John, sensing something terrible is about to happen, but Wendy is unable to find him.
John, again observing a mysterious figure in red, decides to pursues it. He corners the figure in a deserted palazzo, who turns out to be a hideous female dwarf (Adelina Poerio). While freezing in shock, the dwarf pulls out a meat cleaver and cuts his throat.
John finally realizes that the strange sightings he had experienced were premonitions of his own murder.
Don’t Look Now is an occult-themed thriller in which the conventions of the Gothic ghost story explore the state of mind of a grief-stricken couple.
Roeg was intrigued by turning “grief into the sole thrust of the film,” noting that “Grief can separate people, and that even the closest, healthiest relationship can come undone through grief.”
The bold sex scene lasts about 4:30 minutes, and it’s crosscut with the couple’s dressing up before they go out.
Bold Sex Scene
The sexual scene includes at least four different positions, including one in which she sits on top of him, and then a scene describing her licking his pit and feet.
Cast:
Julie Christie Laura Baxter
Donald Sutherland John Baxter
Hilary Mason Heather
Clelia Matania Wendy
Massimo Serato Bishop Barbarrigo
Renato Scarpa Inspector Longhi
Giorgio Trestini [it] Workman
Leopoldo Trieste Hotel Manager
David Tree Anthony Babbage
Ann Rye Mandy Babbage
Nicholas Salter Johnny Baxter
Sharon Williams Christine Baxter
Bruno Cattaneo [it] Detective Sabbione
Adelina Poerio Dwarf
Credits:
Directed by Nicolas Roeg
Screenplay by Allan Scott, Chris Bryant, bBased on “Don’t Look Now” by Daphne du Maurier
Produced by Peter Katz
Cinematography Anthony Richmond
Edited by Graeme Clifford
Music by Pino Donaggio
Production: Casey Productions, Eldorado Films
Distributed by British Lion Films (UK)
F.A.R. International Films (Italy)
Release date 16 October 1973
Running time: 110 minutes
Budget $1.1 million
