If you want horror
movies that are psychologically disturbing and scratch the surface of the human
psyche, go back to the 1970s when you had filmmakers who explored what made
people tick. Although Nicolas Roeg’s Don’t
Look Now (1973) does feature a serial killer and an explicit sex scene (for
the time) it deals with themes of grief, the otherworldly, and the impact the
death of a loved one can have on a relationship.
This is one of
those thrillers with a twist that make you rethink everything you have seen
before, and because it is so famous it was spoiled for me before I got to see
it. I saw the ending as part of those 100 Scariest Movie Moments list, so it
wasn’t as scary or powerful when I saw the film in its entirety last year on
Netflix, but I was still impressed by the technical achievement. Also given the
story deals with premonitions, you could say it is slightly appropriate to know
the fate of one character as the big moment approaches.
Right from the
beginning you see Don’t Look Now will
definitely not be a comedy. Some movies save a major death for later or even
the end, this one kicks things off with a little girl drowning outside her
home. The parents, John (Donald Sutherland), and Laura Baxter (Julie Christie)
each deal with the loss of young Christine in their own way, with John eager to
move on, but Laura is having trouble letting go. The two go on a trip to Venice
where John has been commissioned to oversee the restoration of a church, a
building that could be somewhat symbolic of death.
At a restaurant
they encounter two sisters, Heather (Hillary Mason) and Wendy (Clelia Matana)
who give them an unexpected jolt from the past. Heather claims to be psychic
and tells the Baxters she can see their deceased daughter, despite the fact she
is blind (of course). John, like most people in this situation, is very
sceptical. You meet a complete stranger in a foreign land where you don’t speak
the language, your first assumption is going to be that they are either crazy
or after your money. Laura on the other hand is open to the idea of
reconnecting with her daughter through whatever means and assists in a séance
with the two sisters after which she becomes convinced her husband could be in
danger.
Although there is
a killer roaming the streets, the film works best as a thriller thanks to its
imagery and editing that indicates something terrible might soon be happening.
When the Baxters’ daughter dies she is wearing a red coat, and throughout the
film John keeps seeing a red-coated figure running in the back alleys of Venice,
never quite able to get a good look at the figure’s face. The daughter died from
drowning and dead bodies are dragged out of the dirty waters of the city.
The fragmented
editing purposefully adds to the confusion and the sense that something is
amiss. At one point John sees his wife on a boat when she is supposed to be
away in England tending to their injured son, so he goes to the police to
report her as missing. Much to his surprise it is later confirmed she is in
England. But he did see her; in fact the audience did as well. Was it a
hallucination or something else? Things are not what they seem.
Don’t Look Now shows how movies in the right hand can be used to
manipulate perception and highlight important motifs through imagery. It is
brilliantly constructed, has strong performances by both Sutherland and
Christie as the grief-stricken parents, and a twist that remains gut-punching
even if you know it’s coming.
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