Boz
Published writer
Posts: 1,451
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Post by Boz on Jan 21, 2007 21:43:09 GMT
Don't Look Now (1973/Roeg)Some interesting cross-cutting techniques and a fantastic ending can't quite save an otherwise frustratingly mediocre film.
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Capo
Administrator
Posts: 7,847
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Post by Capo on Jul 23, 2007 1:12:47 GMT
Don't Look Now Nicolas Roeg 1973 UK In Venice, an American architect and his wife, who lost their daughter in a drowning accident, encounter two psychic sisters who claim to to have seen the dead child. Arresting, fascinating, and never resolved. It's filmed in claustrophobic handheld, but edited with such teasing flexibility that reveals its characters in a sort of time-loop: "Isn't that where you - ?" Julie Christie asks her husband Donald Sutherland as they pass the scene of a murder, but he cuts her off; and later in the film, he thinks he sees his wife on a boat hearse; two pivotal moments which find resonance at the finale. Themes of alienation, death, grief and remorse find the perfect mise-en-scene in the maze of Venice alleyways and canals. It really must be seen to be appreciated.
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Post by quentincompson on Jan 17, 2010 13:53:33 GMT
The first and last scenes were really precise and chilling ,they come to mind first. I like how we are left waiting for something to happen while the tone was set with the shots of Venice and the creepiness of churches and Christianity, carrying the themes of grief and isolation.
I didn't really like the sex scene, found the crosscutting too dissimilar from the technique used in the two more critical scenes. I also had a problem with most of the scenes with the psychics, there inclusion didn't really seem necessary, just a way of getting cheap thrills and explaining what was going on plotwise.
The two lead performances were really strong, as was their male/female, rational/spiritual charecterization. I'm still puzzled by the characters of the bishop and the chief of police, not sure what they represent.
Overall great, glad I saw it on the big screen.
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