Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3456 in DVD
• Released on: 2006-11-13
• Rating: Suitable for 15 years and over
• Format: PAL
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 110 minutes

Synopsis
Nicolas Roeg's third film - after the brash PERFORMANCE (1970) and meditative WALKABOUT (1971) - is a haunting thriller that confirmed the director's status as a true visionary. Based on a story by Daphne Du Maurier, DON'T LOOK NOW follows a grieving English couple to Venice, where the past continues to plague them. John Baxter (Donald Sutherland) and his wife Laura (Julie Christie) are in mourning for their young daughter, who drowned tragically near their home. John takes a job in Venice so that the couple can leave the past behind, but, unfortunately, the past is not easily forgotten. While John begins to see unsettling visions of a young girl in a red coat running through the Venice streets, Laura learns from an elderly psychic that her husband is in grave danger. What follows is an eerie, erotic mystery that builds to a shockingly horrific climax. DON'T LOOK NOW is one of the most daring and influential motion pictures of the 1970s. From Pino Donaggio's atmospheric score to Graeme Clifford's elliptical editing (exemplified in the film's notorious sex scene), Roeg's film is a stylistic achievement. Sutherland and Christie are their typical phenomenal selves playing the bereaved, devastated couple.

Customer Reviews

Completely ruined by the soundtrack
Well this classic thriller certainly looks good, the editing is crisp and the mood sombre and threatening BUT, and it's a huge but, the film is completely ruined by the appalling soundtrack: only one word in ten is clear. The actors' words swoop, boom and drop to an inaudible whisper. It sounds as if it was recorded on a faulty dictaphone in a public lavatory. No reputable company would release this and expect people to pay good money to buy it. I cannot imagine what Nicholas Roeg's reaction would be if he knew his film was being treated like this.

Atmospheric and Brilliant, With a Chilling Twist Ending.....
Set against a dreary Venice backdrop (strange, as Venice is usually portrayed as a rather idyllic and peaceful place), this bleak horror film is overflowing with an eerie atmosphere which builds and builds to a raging climax. While featuring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie as a husband and wife who's young daughter Christine drowns, leaving them depressed and detached from each other. However, on this trip to Venice, Christie's character meets two elderly sisters (one of them blind) who claim to have powers and tell her they can see Christine. Christie's character then becomes adamant that Christine is still with her parents. Sutherland's character John is unconvinced, until he sees a small figure in the same sort of red mackintosh his daughter used to wear. Yet, there is a serial killer on the loose, and is John playing into their hands? There are many different confusing plot points which keep your mind thinking all the way through, and you are not guaranteed to 'get' this film the first time you watch it. However it should be watched just because of that shocker ending. Even if you know what is going to happen, it still packs one Hell of a punch. Five stars, indefinitely.

what the hell happened to the soundtrack?
A classic film, doubtless. But as for this DVD - well, the picture quality is lovely, but the sound is AWFUL - harsh, trebly, distorted! Is that really the best available audio track for this film?! What went wrong? It really is poor enough to make the dialogue hard to understand at times - and to make things worse, the DVD has no subtitle option.