Friday, August 23, 2013

Don't Look Now

An architect (Donald Sutherland) accepts a restoration job in Venice and travels with his wife (Julie Christie), mostly to recover emotionally following the drowning death of their daughter. Amidst the presence of a serial killer stalking the ancient city, the couple witnesses several strange occurrences including an encounter with two creepy old psychic women who bear ominous signs of their doom. Based on a story by Daphne du Maurier, whose works inspired several well known Hitchcock films (Rebecca, The Birds), Don't Look Now is a fairly standard horror movie crafted at the highest level by director Nicolas Roeg. His film is impeccably photographed and edited, including a notorious, kinetic sex scene between Christie and Sutherland, who are also both excellent in their roles. I think I was expecting something more from this movie. I had been looking forward to seeing this highly acclaimed film as a hopeful departure from the dreck that passes as horror material in today's cinema, but its story (and I want to reemphasize that that's all I'm referring too) does not really elevate it at all. That being said, I can't imagine the picture being done any better and I suspect I would enjoy it more upon a  subsequent viewing.