Don’t Look Now
1973, directed by Nicolas Roeg, released by Paramount

Movie
I consider Don’t Look Now to be another excellent adaptation of the writing of Daphne Du Maurier. You may have previously seen her work as adapted by Alfred Hitchcock in the classic films Rebecca and The Birds. This time, however, it is Nicolas Roeg who faces the task of translating those words to a feature film. And Roeg is certainly up to the task, with a solid, if not perfect screenplay to work from, penned by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant. This film comes from what I consider to be the zenith of Roeg’s work – and it is book-ended by 1971’s Walkabout and 1976’s The Man Who Fell to Earth.

The story: The film opens at the home of John and Laura Baxter (played by Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie), in the English countryside. Inter-cut with John and Laura working inside, we see the Baxter children playing outside. Quite suddenly, John has an ominous premonition of something bad: a bloodstain appears on the slide of a church he plans to renovate. As quickly as he responds to it, however, it is not fast enough. As he rushes outside, he finds his daughter Christine submerged in a small creek. He pulls her body, cloaked in a bright red raincoat out of the water. Efforts to resuscitate here are in vain.

At this point, the story picks up a couple years later, as John and Laura have taken up residence in Venice Italy, as they work to restore a local church. Both have taken a different tact to cope with the death of their daughter – John has immersed himself in the details of meticulously recreating the church – Laura has primarily relied on therapy and medication.

Their daily routine is broken up one afternoon, by a Laura’s chance encounter with an odd pair of British sisters, Wendy and Heather (Clelia Matania and Hilary Mason). One of which is blind and purports to be a psychic, who has information regarding daughter Christine’s place in the afterlife.

This “news” has substantial therapeutic value for Laura – yet John scoffs at the notion of these psychic abilities – even though he had a prescient vision at the time of his daughter’s death. And the fleeting glimpses that John has caught of a red-raincoat clad child does nothing to convince him otherwise.

While Laura continues her pursuit of contacting Christine with the sisters, she learns from Heather that John also possess the psychic power of prescience. But on an ominous note, the psychic also warns that John is in danger, and must leave Venice. Shortly after that, the Baxter’s receive bad news from their home in England – their son has been in an accident. John sees Laura off on a ferry to catch an early morning flight, to see their Son.

Yet that same day, while riding the canals of Venice, John sees Laura on another boat, accompanied by the sisters. John can not find Laura, and further, his attempts to find the sisters fail as well – they have left the hotel that they had previously occupied.

It is known that a serial killer is on the loose in Venice, and John fears that somehow Laura may be a victim, and that perhaps the sisters are involved. John seeks out help from the police, and delves deeper into the back alleys of Venice.

John will find the answers, to much more than just the whereabouts of his wife, in the chilling final act of the movie.

Video
The video presented here is competent. I have very little in the way of complaints, some source material defects that carry over to this anamorphic 1.85:1 transfer. But by far, the good outweighs the bad.

Finally seeing this film in its intended widescreen aspect ratio is a treat. The movie carries the sense of gloom quite fittingly with an overall color palette heavy on grays. The color red is a symbolic fixture throughout the movie, and stands out quite starkly. I can only compare this top previous VHS and TV viewing – and this DVD treatment is far improved.

Audio
The options are either English or French language - both of which are Dolby Digital mono. Certainly nothing extravagant, but more than adequate. Recognition must be made of Pino Donaggio’s haunting score. It is a perfect complement to the visuals presented by Roeg.

Trash Factor
Well, we can start of this section with the legendary sex scene between Sutherland and Christie – a sequence that was initially edited for US release. The scene itself is not particularly explicit – but is extremely passionate, and beautifully filmed and edited. The “legendary” status is attained not just for the content, but by the belief that what was captured on celluloid was not just acting. There are plenty of topless Julie Christie shots to admire.

As far as gore and violence, it is minimal in the film. There is a near constant feeling of dread, as the film is quite unsettling. But there is really no more than one bloody scene.

Note, that the blood in the film is not very realistic looking, but it is consistent with the thematic element that the color red holds throughout the movie.

Extras
Minimal extras here. There is a US theatrical trailer, and that is it.

Packaging
With such a hard movie to categorize, I can see the difficulty in providing a solid image to both sell the DVD, and be true to the movie. I think the cover image is quite good in that regard. A framed photo of the Baxters, with a pool of blood – and the words “A Psychic Thriller.”

Overall
Bottom-line, this is a movie that I would recommend to any fan of the horror / suspense / thriller / supernatural genres. It features twists that are rather trendy in recent films, like The Sixth Sense. Those that see this because it is in the horror section may be a bit disappointed - what we have here is far more cerebral than visceral. I do think the film stands up to repeated viewings, as events which seemed to do nothing more than pad the running time on the first viewing, become more relevant.

Nicolas Roeg does his finest work here with Don’t Look Now. The city of Venice has never looked more dismal and ominous, as this film explores the dark, less trafficked areas of the city. The cinematography and editing are incredible. The recurring contrast of the color red with the gray surroundings of England and Italy is both striking and unsettling. And pay particular attention to the effective editing in the opening sequence, the love-making scene, and the conclusion.

Solid performances by Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are the highlights of an altogether strong cast.

The only real downside here is the rather plain treatment given to the movie by Paramount. With just a trailer to list as an “extra,” you’ll have to look elsewhere to find out about the production and back-story of this film. However, I still highly recommend this DVD for rental or purchase!

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD