Review of Don't Look Now (1973) by Peter F — 18 Oct 2016

In the 40 years since the release of Don't Look Now, the film has grown a legacy that few other films can claim. It has been called one of the most influential British films of its generation, and a brilliantly psychological subversion of the thriller format, as well as carrying a controversial theory that it had an un-simulated sex scene.

It's a film that lives up to its lofty reputation though, as Nicholas Roeg did indeed construct a film both unsettling and cerebral here, exploring a couple's grief, and using the city of Venice as the most Freudian playground.

Rich with recurring themes of precognition and gender communication, Roeg applied a fragmented editing style to the film that was almost unheard of for the day, but now has become familirized by filmmakers like Danny Boyle and Daron Aronofsky.

It's an elegant film too, even at its most shocking and violent, and despite it's supernatural elements Don't Look Now feels closer to arthouse than horror. The aforementioned love scene (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie were indeed rumored to be having an affair) is still graphic by today's standards, but it's cut and scored in a way that makes it both beautiful and thematically necessary, and it's easily on the short list for best movie sex scenes of all time.

A masterpiece that has only grown more potent with age, as it surpasses all its imitators.