Hair and Moustache

Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie's kid daughter drowns at the country home they are staying at. Depression, of course, follows. They've tried to put things behind them and Sutherland is working at Venice, restoring a church. The macabre follows them to Venice though. Soon, there are unsolved murders, someone with a red shiny mac just like their daughter, and two Scottish ladies. Also, accidents and freak happenings.

I think people who study film will appreciate it more than I did. The jump-cut editing and the pervading use of symbolism certainly holds some attractiveness. It may have been the dated-ness of the film, but I think these effects would be more effective if they're reworked in a remastering or even a remake. Blasphemy, maybe.

But it felt as if the limits stopped the film from communicating the dread, the whole point of the movie. In a way, this wanted us to sense the alone-ness of the two leads. They're in this labyrinth of a city where we see few people, and those few people are rather odd or seem to be hiding something. In a sense, the city is the villain. The villain is part of the city. The only way to save yourself is to get out as soon as you can, but it's not as simple as that with the city ensnaring you, trapping you within its old stone walls. Some sequences cleared this up for me, but not most of the movie. It was, admittedly, too deep for me most of the time.

As it is, it's too subtle and it's hard to take it very seriously because of the dated-ness to be an effective horror movie that will spook you and disturb you and rob you of sleep. Maybe it's because of Sutherland's hair and moustache?

(Don't Look Now - Nicholas Roeg)