Don't Look Now

A film review by Christopher Null - Copyright © 2000 Filmcritic.com

This extremely creepy mystery from the early 1970s makes your skin crawl with its look into the aftermath of the death of a couple's daughter. Set in the winter of Venice, the fog, darkness, and solitude are apt metaphors for the mindsets of Christie and Sutherland, both of whom shine in this underseen pic. Of note is the early-on love scene, reputedly so steamy because the two stars got so carried away they actually did the deed.

Sex scene aside, Don't Look Now recalls recent fare as diverse as The Sixth Sense, The Blair Witch Project, and Frantic -- with Christie communing with two elderly psychics and Sutherland haunted by visions of his dead daughter's red raincoat. Sutherland and Christie are phenomenal, leaving the Roegian metaphysical mumbo jumbo in their wake as they show us how some real acting gets done.

Now available on DVD, Don't Look Now should earn the audience it deserves. Alas, the DVD is a straight affair -- no extras here aside from the original trailer, and no answers as to what really went on in that infamous love scene...



Big bag o' bones.

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Rating

4.0 out of 5 Stars

Cast and Crew

  • Director: Nicolas Roeg
  • Producer: Peter Katz, Frederick Muller, Steve Previn
  • Screenwriter: Chris Bryant, Allan Scott
  • Stars: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason, Clelia Matania, Massimo Serato, Renato Scarpa
  • MPAA Rating: R