Synopsis:
Don’t Look Now (1973)
Still grieving over the accidental death of their daughter, Christine (Sharon Williams), John (Donald Sutherland) and Laura Baxter (Julie Christie) head to Venice, Italy, where John’s been commissioned to restore a church. There Laura meets two sisters (Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania) who claim to be in touch with the spirit of the Baxters’ daughter. Laura takes them seriously, but John scoffs until he himself catches a glimpse of what looks like Christine running through the streets of Venice.
Directed by: Nicolas Roeg – an incredible director whose other notable works include the Bowie-vehicle The Man Who Fell to Earth, The Witches, Doctor Zhivago, etc.
Cinematographer: Anthony B. Richmond – whose impressive body of work includes The Man Who Fell to Earth, Tales from the Hood, and Candyman, among many others.
Story by: Daphne du Maurier – whose name you might recognize as being one of the most important names in 20th century literature – she wrote many highly regarded novels and plays, and many of her works were adapted into screenplays including this one.
Screenplay by: Allan Scott, Chris Bryant
My Thoughts:
Don’t Look Now is one of my favorite movies ever. Period. I cannot overstate how incredible it is. It’s raw, emotional, and almost impossibly artful.
Did you know I have a bit of a Donald Sutherland…thing? Yeah, I definitely do. He has the most incredible cinematic output – it’s insane. He currently holds 194 acting credits (as of this moment – although he is still consistently working ) to his name, the man is an 85 year old beautiful Canadian legend. He’s been in a whole host of my favorite films and television shows dating all the way back to the mid-1960s. I think I might love him.
I’m not going to tell you much about the movie, because seriously, if you haven’t seen it you really should – it’s one of the most beautiful, atmospheric pieces of supernatural horror I’ve ever seen. The scoring is incredible. It’s beautifully shot, amazingly acted. It’s heartbreaking and spooky in equal measures. And it’s a damn near perfect movie. You can even watch it for free currently on Crackle, Popcornflix, or using the Kanopy or Criterion apps, if you have those. Seriously, just watch it.
Special Features included in the Criterion Edition:
- New 4K digital restoration, approved by director Nicolas Roeg, with uncompressed monaural soundtrack on the Blu-ray
- New conversation between editor Graeme Clifford and film writer and historian Bobbie O’Steen
- “Don’t Look Now,” Looking Back, a short 2002 documentary featuring Roeg, Clifford, and cinematographer Anthony Richmond
- Death in Venice, a 2006 interview with composer Pino Donaggio
- Something Interesting, a new piece on the writing and making of the film, featuring recent interviews with Richmond, actors Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, and coscreenwriter Allan Scott
- Nicolas Roeg: The Enigma of Film, a new piece on Roeg’s style, featuring recent interviews with filmmakers Danny Boyle and Steven Soderbergh
- Q&A with Roeg from 2003 at London’s Ciné Lumière
- Trailer
- PLUS: An essay by film critic David Thompson
New cover by Fred Davis
The 4k restoration was done SO WELL. The picture is absolutely incredible throughout. This is one of those movies that prior to purchasing the Criterion edition, I had only ever seen on a smallish tube TV back in the days where if any cleanup happened, it was done by hand. I’ve always loved this movie, but it looked like a movie filmed in the early 70s. I’m sure you know what I mean.
This cleaned up version of Don’t Look Now is absolutely pristine. It’s gorgeous. The colors pop, the lines are sharp, and everything is so, so clean.
All of the added conversations, interviews, and featurettes were very cool. I highly recommend watching them all. And that essay. Omg, the essay. Go ahead, David Thompson. Preach.
My Rating:
I’m sure this comes as no surprise. Don’t Look Now is a movie I never tire of watching, and that I’ll never stop recommending.
Don't Look Now Directed by: Nicolas Roeg Originally Released: December 9, 1973 Criterion Release Date: February 10, 2015 The Criterion Collection Supernatural Horror Editions: Blu ray 1 disc (my edition) DVD 2 disc Not Rated 110 Minutes Criterion Collection Website
