Before there was Kiefer, there was Donald . . . Sutherland,
that is, Kiefer’s father. In 1973, Donald Sutherland starred with Julie
Christie in an old favorite movie of mine, called Don’t Look Now. I don’t
know of another movie with a similar brew of mystery, haunting beauty, and general
creepiness.
Sutherland and Christie play John and Laura Baxter, a British
couple who has suffered a terrible tragedy: their young daughter has drowned in
a creek by their home. To escape the scene of the tragedy, they go to Venice,
where John has been hired to restore an ancient church. This is a not a pretty,
sunny Venice, but rather a wintry Venice that is rotting, with its statues and
mosaics disintegrating, and its plaster crumbling. Worse, the city is being
terrorized by a serial killer, and bodies are being fished from the river. While
the Baxters are at a restaurant, two eccentric English ladies (are there any
other kind?) at a nearby table seem to be staring at them. One lady is a
psychic, and tells them that she sees their daughter, who is trying to warn
them of something. Part of the power of this movie is that you suspect that
nothing is as it seems . . . or is it? Are the ladies con artists, or are they
really psychic?
There are a number of reasons to watch this movie: one is
the plot that crisply twists and turns, first revealing, then concealing, and another
reason is the wonderful acting of Sutherland and Christie. They are Stars with
a capital “S,” and are totally believable as a happy young couple hit by an
unfathomable tragedy, leaving them still loving each other, but reeling and
grieving and almost unhinged. There is an adult quality to these actors that seems missing in our current crop of stars who often play “cute.” But it is the
magnificent, dripping wreck of a city that is Venice that holds center stage.
Director Nicholas Roeg shows us a city of masks, mist-shrouded canals,
and dank alleys, a labyrinth whose very picturesqueness seems unreal, a city
whose dark aura beautifully parallels the emotional state of the young couple,
struggling to come to terms with their loss.
Note: Don’t Look Now is for adults and is rated “R” for one scene with
nudity and another scene with some gore–this is not a movie for kids or teens
under 18.
