Stars:
Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland
Writers:
Allan Scott and Chris Bryant
Based
On The Book By: Daphne Du Maurier
Director:
Nicholas Roeg
Feature
length: 110 minutes
Extras:
Theatrical Trailer
Languages:
English and French Monaural Sound
Subtitles:
English Captions and Closed Captions
Packaging:
Amaray Keep Case
Chapter
Stops: 15
Sound:
Monaural Sound
Year
of Theatrical Release: 1973/DVD Release: 2002
Theatrical
Distributor: Paramount Pictures
Home
Video Distributor: Paramount Home Entertainment
MPAA
Rating: R
Reviewer:
Mark A. Rivera
Nicholas
Roeg’s film adaptation of Daphne Du Maurier’s “Don’t Look Now” is
without a doubt one of the most influential mixes of mystery, horror, and
paranormal thriller to ever be made. It is also very much an art film of sorts
with ambiguities that question the very fabric of one’s reasoning throughout
the picture and as a result “Don’t Look Now” yields itself to multiple
viewings. The story has Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie living together as
a married couple in Venice, Italy some time after the tragic drowning of their
daughter. Sutherland is a restorer of European Churches, who foresaw his
daughter’s death. His wife meets a blind woman with ESP and the ability to
channel the spirit of their girl. She tells her that their daughter is still
with them and then warns her that her husband’s life is in danger unless they
leave Venice soon. Then there the strange sightings of a person running about
the darkly lit and sinister back streets of Venice, wearing the same red
raincoat their daughter did on the day she died as bodies of murder victims
begin to turn up around the city.
Things
get even stranger when Christie goes to England to check in on their son and
Sutherland begins to spot her on the streets of Venice, leading to a police
investigation into the women who her wife met up with before she left. Soon not
even the viewer is sure exactly what to think as the film crosses between the
bizarre and the erotic with some scenes between Christie and Sutherland that
might have earned an NC-17 rating if the film was released today. Terrific
enigmatic entertainment for those who enjoy trying piece together a puzzle
instead of being spoon-fed the answers.
Paramount
Home Entertainment’s DVD edition features a grainy (1.85:1) anamorphic
widescreen transfer. I have never seen this film before reviewing this DVD so I
am not sure if the film was always this gritty or if this was the best source
material available for the transfer. A clear English Two-Channel Monaural
Soundtrack is included and is free of background noise and hissing. A French
Language Two-Channel Monaural Soundtrack is also provided along with English
Captions and Closed Captions for the hearing impaired are also encoded on to the
DVD as options.
The
widescreen (1.85:1) theatrical trailer is also included though it is somewhat
frayed in appearance from the passage of time. The menus are standard
interactive still frames and are easy to navigate. “Don’t Look Now” will
debut on DVD-Video on Tuesday, September 3, 2002 from Paramount Home
Entertainment.
©
Copyright 2002 By Mark A. Rivera
All Rights Reserved.