Review of Don't Look Now (1973) by Drew S — 25 Feb 2008

Obviously informed by giallo films, in combination with Nicolas Roeg's dreamlike and disoriented editing, Don't Look Now is a very unique horror movie. I think it's a fucking neat one, too.

The movie is not particularly scary, not at least until its incredibly intense final sequence. It's instead very ominous. Watching Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland prowl the back alleys of Venice makes for not only some really inspired camera work, but a lot of eerie little moments as well. The kind of stuff that makes you squint your eyes and say "oh, weird" to yourself.

It's a miracle that Don't Look Now gets away with all of this, because to be honest, not much actually happens in the movie. I was enjoying just basking in it so much that I never really noticed its bare-bones plot until the third act. There's a scene where Julie Christie has to leave for some time and Donald Sutherland freaks out and wanders through Venice for what seems like twenty minutes; it's a huge weak point in a movie that generally makes good with its material.

Julie Christie is awesome in everything she does, but I really don't like Donald Sutherland. Objectively there's nothing wrong with his acting, but he seems so detached from the material. Whenever his character is in danger or under emotional duress, he just kind of makes these choked sobs. Hanging from a rope seventy feet off the air? "Guh. Grack." Plus, I get the sensation that he's a real tool.

I know that everyone's familiar with this movie for the sex scene, which is admittedly a real triumph of editing and...well, realism. It's quite tricky to make such mundane things seem so interesting. But as an actual movie and not a five-minute erotic clip, it's a damn fine effort.