Review of Don't Look Now (1973) by Sue K — 28 Dec 2007

If you were to ask someone of my generation which film would come to mind when they think of a little girl in a red coat, you are most likely to get the answer Schindlerâ??s List, however ask the same question to someone of an earlier generation and you are likely to be told the horror master class that is Donâ??t Look Now.

Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie star in this haunting tale of a couple trying to cope with the loss of their daughter. At the start of the film we see young Christineâ??s death, where, whilst playing in the garden in her favourite red raincoat, she falls into the pond and drowns. The film then shifts to some time later where Christineâ??s parents, Laura and John Baxter, are living in Venice renovating a church. Laura meets a strange pair of sisters one of whom has psychic abilities, bringing a message to the Baxters from Christine, warning them to leave Venice. As the Baxters continue to stay in Venice it appears a serial killer is on the loose, whilst visions of a small girl in a red coat haunt them. All this climaxes with one of the most shocking and terrifying twist endings in cinematic history.

The visual imagery utilised throughout is fantastic, the brightness of the red coat was made the more apparent, by the deliberate removal of all red from scenery and clothes, except where strictly necessary. When the climatic ending arrives, it seems somehow eerily familiar, even to a first time viewer, due to careful placing of symbolism and images throughout the film. The connection between events and imagery is made completely clear during one of the best edited montages I have ever seen.

At the time the film came out it was somewhat overshadowed by the explicitness of a sex scene it featured, one which would be considered relatively tame by todayâ??s standard, causing much emphasis on the brilliance of the film to be lost. I personally find this scene to be more beautiful than explicit and feel it integral to the story. It emphasises the love this married couple feel for one another, to counterpoint much of the arguments between them throughout the rest of the film.

Donâ??t Look Now, along with fellow British horror film The Wicker Man, showed the world how to make horror properly, that blood and gore are secondary factors compared tension and atmosphere, a lesson Hollywood has, sadly, since forgotten.