Don't Look Now (1973)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Nicolas Roeg

Writers:

Daphne Du Maurier (story)
Allan Scott (screenplay) ...
(more)

Release Date:

January 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A psychic thriller.

Plot:

John and Laura Baxter are living in Venice when they meet a pair of elderly sisters, one of whom claims to be psychic...

Plot Keywords:

Psychic | Italy | Venice Italy | Red | Premonition

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 nominations

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	...	Workman
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Hotel Manager
David Tree	...	Anthony Babbage
Ann Rye	...	Mandy Babbage
Nicholas Salter	...	Johnny Baxter
Sharon Williams	...	Christine Baxter
Bruno Cattaneo	...	Detective Sabbione
Adelina Poerio	...	The Dwarf

Directed by
Nicolas Roeg

Writing credits
Daphne Du Maurier		(story)
Allan Scott		(screenplay) (as Alan Scott) and
Chris Bryant		(screenplay)

Produced by
Peter Katz	....	producer
Frederick Muller	....	associate producer (as Frederico Mueller)
Anthony B. Unger	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Pino Donaggio		(as Pino Donnagio)

Cinematography by
Anthony B. Richmond		(director of photography) (as Anthony Richmond)

Film Editing by
Graeme Clifford

Casting by
Miriam Brickman
Ugo Mariotti

Art Direction by
Giovanni Soccol

Makeup Department
Giancarlo Del Brocco	....	makeup artist
Maria Luisa Garbini	....	hair stylist
Barry Richardson	....	hair stylist

Production Management
Franco Coduti	....	unit manager
Tim Hampton	....	production supervisor (uncredited)

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Francesco Cinieri	....	assistant director

Art Department
Francesco Chianese	....	set dresser (as Francesco Chinanese)

Sound Department
Peter Davies	....	sound recordist
Rodney Holland	....	sound editor
Bob Jones	....	dubbing mixer
Peter Maxwell	....	adr mixer (uncredited)

Stunts
Richard Grayden	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Luciano Marrocchi	....	gaffer
Spartaco Pizzi	....	key grip
Simon Ransley	....	assistant camera
Luciano Tonti	....	camera operator

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Marit Allen	....	wardrobe: Miss Christie (as Marit Lieberson)
Anna Maria Feo	....	wardrobe mistress (as Annamaria Fea)
Andrea Galer	....	wardrobe: Miss Christie

Editorial Department
Peter Holt	....	assistant editor
Tony Lawson	....	assistant editor
Alfreda Benge	....	assistant editor (uncredited)

Music Department
Giampiero Boneschi	....	conductor
Giampiero Boneschi	....	music arranger

Other crew
Rita Agostini	....	continuity
Hubert Doyle	....	publicist
Terence O'Connor	....	production accountant
Steve Previn	....	production executive

Production Companies

• Casey Productions Ltd.
• D.L.N. Ventures Partnership
• Eldorado Films, s.r.l.

Distributors

• British Film Institute (BFI) (2001) (UK) (theatrical) (re-release)
• British Lion Film Corporation (1973) (UK) (theatrical)
• Europa (1973) (Sweden) (theatrical)
• Gloria Filmverleih AG (1974) (West Germany) (theatrical)
• Indipendenti Regionali (1973) (Italy) (theatrical)
• Paramount Pictures (1973) (USA) (theatrical)
• Arcade Movie Company (1999) (Netherlands) (VHS)
• Atlantic Film (2004) (Sweden) (DVD)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1979) (USA) (TV) (original airing)
• Kinowelt Home Entertainment (2001) (Germany) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (2002) (USA) (DVD)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (VHS)
• Paramount Home Video (USA) (laserdisc)
• Thorn EMI Video Australia (Australia) (VHS) (1980s)
• Universal Pictures Benelux (2005) (Netherlands) (DVD)
• Warner Home Video (1988) (UK) (VHS)
• Warner Home Video (2002) (UK) (DVD)

Other Companies

• Shepperton Studios  sound re-recording

Also Known As:

A Venezia... un dicembre rosso shocking (Italy)

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Italy | UK

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Norway:18 (re-rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2002) | UK:18 (video rating) (1988) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

"The Canals", Venice, Veneto, Italy

Company:

Casey Productions Ltd.

Trivia:

The book on John's desk in the opening sequence is entitled "Beyond the Fragile Geometry of Space" - yet another ominous foreshadowing.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The dead woman that is hauled up from the river blinks.

Quotes:

Laura Baxter: This one who's blind. She's the one that can see.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Silent Hill (2006)

The zenith of movie-making

People want and expect different things from movies. What engages and captivates one person can just as easily displease and repulse another (see Titanic). Sometimes, a film simply doesn't register beyond the viewer's walk/drive home (this criminal offense is not exclusively a phenomenon of the 1990s in spite of the last decade's distinct dearth of memorable films). Don't Look Now, however, is a film which cannot fail to last long in the mind.

It is easy to love the film for its rare depth of character, its beautiful yet disturbing plot, the stunning Venice setting, the tender and original love scene or just for Donald Sutherland's never-rivalled wig! I am sure, however, that people find it easy to fault the film because it doesn't neatly tie up loose ends, because it is dark and depressing (the film's extensive reach encompasses death, loss, murder, blindness, religion and dwarfism) and because film-making conventions are abandoned.

The source material of Du Maurier's short story provides only a meagre framework onto which screenwriters Scott and Bryant have fleshed a stunning adaptation. Roeg's visual and emotional style of directing has never been so perfectly showcased as in Don't Look Now. How many more times can film-makers and advertisers steal (or "pay homage to") Roeg's ingenious work? Julie Christie is luminous and pulls the viewer with her through Laura's painful journey after the film's shocking opening. Sutherland's performance is stellar as well. His character, John, is like a Hitchcockian fall-guy with real personality and depth. You are swept along through the canals and narrow avenues with him as Pino Donaggio's stirring music both chills and lulls.

Films made in the tone of Don't Look Now are so rare these days. I am not an old fuddy-duddy who complains that "they don't make 'em like they used to" but am simply a slightly disillusioned film fan who wishes there were just a few more film-makers willing to take chances and not follow the dull formulaic line. What was the last film that stayed with you long after you saw it? It always sounds like a cliche when some obsessed fan tells you a film haunted them for days but Don't Look Now has a curious effect on the viewer. Its intensity grows. Different parts of the film mull around in your mind. You don't think about individual 'scenes' from the film either, you think about the situations, the people, the feelings. All of which is testament to the roundly drawn characterisation and elegant (yet not contrived) structure of the film.

If you haven't seen Don't Look Now before then you have a treat awaiting you. If you have seen it - see it again and marvel at a profound, eery, haunting, moving and beautiful film. If it disappoints you that films of such indelible and recurring substance like this are thin on the ground (Apocalypse Now, Taxi Driver and The Conversation had similar effects on me) then do not hesitate to picket the next showing of....(OUT OF RESPECT TO IMDB'S CONTENT GUIDELINES I WON'T NAME TITLE OF MORONIC HOLLYWOOD BLOCKBUSTERS AND THE LIKE)!