Don't Look Now

Italy, United Kingdom

1973

110 Min

Color

1.85:1

Italian, English

Currently 4.0/5 Stars.
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SCR Daphne Du Maurier, Allan Scott, Chris Bryant

CAST Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason, Clelia Mantania, Massimo Serato, Renato Scarpa, Giorgio Trestini, Leopoldo Trieste

Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t Look Now once seemed radically new with its kaleidoscopic imagery, dreamlike editing, and willingness to let mystery be mysterious on several levels of reality/illusion—plus art-house darling Julie Christie in a long, nude love scene! Nowadays, this 1974 adaptation of a Daphne du Maurier ghost story looks almost classical. Following the drowning of their child in England, Laura (Christie) and John Baxter (Donald Sutherland) have come to dank, eternally dying Venice, where he is supervising the restoration of a moldering church and she is either slipping into or climbing out of madness with the help of a pair of creepy spinster sisters, one of whom can “see” even though blind. John may share this psychic power, though he resists accepting it as the canals fill with murder victims, surface realities turn shimmery as water, and a red-coated figure—the daughter’s ghost?—keeps flickering in the corner of our vision. Though surrealand perplexing, the film does eventually add up, and the ending remains a real throat-grabber. —Richard T. Jameson, Amazon

Director

Nicolas Roeg

London-born Nicolas Roeg served in the military as a projectionist, and entered the movie industry immediately after World War II as a gofer and apprentice editor. He joined MGM’s British studios in 1950, and eventually became a cinematographer in 1959, working on a multitude of films of all types, from second unit work on Lawrence of Arabia (1962) to primary photography on the rock & roll exploitation films Just for Fun (1963), Every Day’s a Holiday (1965), and The System (1966). He moved into the director’s chair with Performance (1970), which he co-directed with Donald Cammell, and made a major impression with the low-keyed, eerily compelling drama Walkabout (1971). By the mid-‘70s, Roeg was one of England’s most respected filmmakers, responsible for the unsettling thriller Don’t Look Now (1973), and the sci-fi drama The Man Who Fell to Earth (1976). With the possible exception Insignificance (1985) and the compellingly obscure Track 29 (1988) Roeg’s output throughout the 1980s unfortunately failed to maintain the inspired creativity of his output in the previous decade.
In 1990 Roeg showed promise for the new decade with what was perhaps his most successful film to date, the visually lavish family fantasy The Witches. A wonderfully creative take on acclaimed author Roald Dahl’s beloved children’s book, the film showcased Roeg’s remarkable visual flair in a format suitable for the whole family. Unfortunately the film wasn’t a true indicator for his output in the remainder of the decade. Despite the fact that his pace lagged somewhat after The Witches, 1994’s Heart of Darkness did offer an interesting take on Joseph Conrad’s novel, and those who suspected Full Body Massage was nothing more than made-for-cable softcore were actually treated to a thoughtful meditation on intimacy and human relations. In 2004 Roeg was set to make a return to the horror genre with the philosophical chiller Adina. Nicolas Roeg’s son has gained fame in the film industry in his own right as the producer of such efforts as The Matchmaker (1997) and Spider (2002).—allmovie guide

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Paolo Simeone

28Apr13

Mbah. Viene per una volta voglia di fare la beghina del Giallo nostrano e difenderlo a spada tratta, se solo non sapessi che il pubblico adulante è lo stesso. Un film con enormi falle logiche. E non parlo del finale incomprensibile che ci sta pure, ma dell'intero svolgimento. Un film invecchiato malissimo. Un film noioso come l'estenuante scena di sesso che ti fa rivalutare i più alimentari Pink Eiga.

rosa

27Apr13

stupid. oversexed. overrated

Arm1tage

11Jan13

A depiction of the deceptive way grief takes hold of our subconscious and through our inability to move on overcomes us, even as we think ourselves healed.

Kazdyn Nicholson

8Jan13

I was captivated until the end. I felt like I was starting to tie all the pieces together and then it all came to a sudden end - making me question if anything was happening at all. That being said I still really enjoyed the ride.