Don't Look Now
dir. Nicolas Roeg · 1973
Feature
Psychological Horror
Mood
Melancholic / Tense
Look
richly textured, with a dreamlike quality and striking contrasts of light and shadow
Structure
fragmented and impressionistic, weaving between past and present
Plot
John and Laura Baxter are in Venice when they meet a pair of elderly sisters, one of whom claims to be psychic. She insists that she sees the spirit of the Baxters' daughter, who recently drowned. Laura is intrigued, but John resists the idea. He, however, seems to have his own psychic flashes, seeing their daughter walk the streets in her red cloak, as well as Laura and the sisters on a funeral gondola.
Why watch
"Don't Look Now" is a haunting exploration of grief and the supernatural, set against the labyrinthine backdrop of Venice. With its dreamlike visuals and a narrative that blurs the lines between memory and reality, this film invites viewers into a deeply emotional and psychologically charged experience.
Cultural context
1970s European art cinemathe exploration of grief in postmodern narrativesthe intersection of spirituality and skepticismthe allure and danger of foreign locales