Don’t Look Now is a 1973 psychic thriller directed by Nicolas Roeg. It is based on a novella by Daphne du Maurier which required the director to enhance the story in images. Roeg uses several motifs throughout most notably water, breaking glass and falling. Red is used as a spot colour as in a lot of thrillers. Although this is regarded as part of the horror genre the main themes are psychology of grief and the paranormal.
The early scenes show the disturbing drowning of John and Laura’s daughter at their family home. John has a premonition and begins running to the pond even before their son raises the alarm. The psychic theme continues when Laura meets two sisters, one of whom is blind but can see her dead daughter who is trying to pass on a message to her parents. John believes it to be nonsense but Laura is comforted and continues to meet up with the sisters.
The message coming through from the dead daughter is that John is in danger. He nearly dies in a fall at work and he begins to see things in the tight dark streets of Venice. Laura has to rush home for a family emergency but John believes he sees Laura on a boat with the psychic sisters. He chases around Venice in search of his wife and then a person in red who he finds and who kills him.
The sinister message is provided throughout with orchestral music playing over scenes of bodies being dragged from the water. It is suggested that there is a serial killer at large.
Roeg uses a time shift narrative form to emphasise the concept of premonition. It was used subtly in the opening and more heavy handed for the love making scene which was added late on in the production and not part of the original script. Roeg felt that John and Laura were continually arguing and so needed to show that there was still affection between the couple. The shots alternate between the bedroom action and the dressing room, where they are getting ready for a dinner party. The sequence at John’s death contains flash backs of events akin to his life flashing before him. The most notable flash forward is John’s sighting of Laura with the sisters on board a boat which we find is John’s premonition of his funeral.
Venice is the main setting for Du Mauriers short story and Roeg uses water as the cause of death although this was not the cause in the book. He has made a creative choice which he can use as a motif throughout.
This was an interesting study film and a genre that I would not normally  choose but the course is having a an impact on how I watch films.
Don’t Look Now Gallery
Martyn Rainbird 
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