Review of Don't Look Now (1936) by Ryan C — 01 Mar 2011
A supernatural thriller like no other, "Don't Look Now" drowns itself in dread from the very start, opening with shots revealing a little girl drowning in a pond outside of her parents' home.
The father, sensing something is wrong, runs out right after the fact to pull his deceased daughter from the pool. From here the movie begins its descent into suffocating madness; John and Laura (the parents) relocate to Venice to remove themselves from this tragedy and move on with their lives.
However they cannot so easily escape the visions and memory of their daughter. Laura meets a blind psychic who claims to see and channel their daughter; John keeps envisioning her running through the dark alleys of Venice.
As ambiguity about the fate of their daughter builds, director Roeg builds a subtle paranoia that someone is working against these characters - the camera pans to random strangers walking the streets, staring at John and Laura.
Every phone call shakes a chill that something wrong is about to happen. The city of Venice itself acts as a protagonist with its twisted, shallow alleys and decayed stone hovering over, ready to envelop us.
The movie contrasts this supernatural suspense with the surprisingly authentic relationship between John and Laura, played by Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. Despite their loss, there is a natural force that holds them together, keeping their own uncertainties from tearing each other apart (probably helped with one of the most infamous, intimate drawn-out sex scenes between actors in cinematic history).
The movie's real achievement is that it never breaks or goes over the top - it sits in the shadows and begs us to find out the truth, as every great mystery should.
This review of Don't Look Now (1936) was written by Ryan C on 01 Mar 2011.
Don't Look Now has generally received positive reviews.
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