The Criterion Collection: Don’t Look Now

Don’t Look Now is one of the rarest types of films. Not only is it an unnerving thriller saturated with supernatural themes concerning grief, deceptive appearances, ESP, and acceptance of death, but it is also one of the few films to improve on its excellent source material, the 1971 short story of the same title by Daphne du Maurier.

The film is a pretty faithful, if slightly fleshed out, adaptation of du Maurier’s short story about a British couple staying in Venice after the death of their young daughter, Christine (Sharon Williams). While there, the wife Laura (Julie Christie) befriends two sisters (Hilary Mason and Clelia Matania), the first of whom is blind and claims to have second sight. She informs Laura that Christine is with them and warns them to leave Venice, much to the skepticism of Laura’s husband, John (Donald Sutherland). Both the film and the story are infused with an aura of dread and mystery, but the film heightens that aura through its masterful use of color schemes, cinematography, and editing.