Don’t Look Now (1973)

Directed by Nicolas Roeg. Starring Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania, Massimo Serato, Renato Scarpa. [R]

Startlingly effective psychological horror film based off a Daphne du Maurier short story, packed with symbols and motifs, focusing on the grief-stricken parents (Sutherland, Christie) of an accidentally drowned girl who are in Venice when they meet a strange pair of sisters (one of whom is apparently psychic) and the father starts seeing flashes of what appears to be a girl wearing the same red coat that belonged to his daughter. Eerie and atmospheric, shot on locations that make Venice seem like a dilapidated labyrinth of clammy-skinned tunnels, bridges, alleys and dungeons, with two solid lead performances almost victimized by the sinuous direction that exploits foreboding threats in the corners of almost every scene. Best known for its haunting opening, shocking finale, and a notoriously explicit sex scene, none of which would work half as well without Graeme Clifford’s sensational editing techniques, as suggestive as they are visceral. The storytelling can seem almost apathetic at times—too preoccupied with mood and texture—but the filmmaking strategy casts such an unshakable spell that plot almost seems beside the point anyway.

87/100