Don't Look Now (1973)

User Rating:

7.6/10   

Director:

Nicolas Roeg

Writers:

Daphne Du Maurier (story)
Allan Scott (screenplay) ...

Release Date:

January 1974 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Mystery | Thriller

Tagline:

A psychic thriller.

Plot:

John and Laura Baxter are living in Venice when they meet a pair of elderly sisters, one of whom claims to be psychic...

Plot Keywords:

Psychic | Venice Italy | Premonition | Italy | Drowning

Awards:

Won BAFTA Film Award. Another 8 nominations

Cast

Julie Christie	...	Laura Baxter
Donald Sutherland	...	John Baxter
Hilary Mason	...	Heather
Clelia Matania	...	Wendy
Massimo Serato	...	Bishop Barbarrigo
Renato Scarpa	...	Inspector Longhi
Giorgio Trestini	...	Workman
Leopoldo Trieste	...	Hotel Manager
David Tree	...	Anthony Babbage
Ann Rye	...	Mandy Babbage
Nicholas Salter	...	Johnny Baxter
Sharon Williams	...	Christine Baxter
Bruno Cattaneo	...	Detective Sabbione
Adelina Poerio	...	The Dwarf

Also Known As:

A Venezia... un dicembre rosso shocking (Italy)
Amenaza en la sombra (Spain) [es]
Aquele Inverno em Veneza (Portugal) [pt]
Inverno de Sangue em Veneza (Brazil) [pt]
Karanligin gölgesi (Turkey: Turkish title) [tr]
Kauhun kierre (Finland) (DVD title) [fi]
Kauhunkierre (Finland) [fi]
Meta ta mesanyhta (Greece) [el]
Ne vous retournez pas (France) [fr]
Nie ogladaj sie teraz (Poland) [pl]
Rösten från andra sidan (Sweden) [sv]
Rødt chok (Denmark) [da]
Varning i rött (Finland: Swedish title) [sv]
Venecia rojo shocking (Argentina) [es]
Wenn die Gondeln Trauer tragen (West Germany) [de]

Runtime:

110 min

Country:

Italy | UK

Language:

English | Italian

Color:

Color (Technicolor)

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Portugal:M/16 | Singapore:R21 | Argentina:16 | Australia:M | Finland:K-16 | Norway:16 (original rating) | Norway:18 (re-rating) | Sweden:15 | UK:15 (video re-rating) (2002) | UK:18 (video rating) (1988) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | West Germany:16 | Netherlands:16

Filming Locations:

"The Canals", Venice, Veneto, Italy

Company:

Eldorado Films

Trivia:

Writer Allan Scott was pleased to see a bottle of The Macallan (of which company he was the deputy chairman) beside the bed in the big sex scene.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: The dead woman that is hauled up from the river blinks.

Quotes:

Heather: Fetch him back! Let him not go!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Communion (1976)

Shocking Red December

The Italian title of this Nicolas Roeg's classic is "A Venetian Shocking Red December" yep. I had seen this film dubbed into Italian, years ago. I was taken by the look and the atmosphere I remember being unnerved but I was appalled by the acting, specially Julie Christie's - one of my favorites of all time. Yesterday I saw the film again in its original English version. My goodness, what a difference! The film is even more frightening that I remembered. The atmosphere is asphyxiating. You can actually smell the rotting stench of the most beautiful city in the world. The ending leaves you breathless and the acting, well, listening to the actors real voices is another experience altogether. The pain and sudden burst of hope in Julie Christie is moving, very moving and very unsettling. Sutherland, as usual, is magnificent. The film, other than a solid cult status, remains virtually unknown by the public at large. "Don't Look Now" is a buried treasure that is bound to be re discovered and to all my countrymen, a piece of advise: avoid dubbed movies at all cost.