Don't Look Now 4K Blu-ray Movie

Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		5.0
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Don't Look Now 4K Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov September 18, 2023

Nic Roeg's "Don't Look Now" (1973) arrives on 4K Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the release include archival interview with composer Pino Donaggio; archival interviews with actors Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, cinematographer Anthony Richmond, and coscreenwriter Allan Scott; archival Q&A session with the British director; and more. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-Free.

After the tragic death of their daughter, John (Donald Sutherland, Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Laura Baxter (Julie Christie, Doctor Zhivago) arrive in Venice where he is going to assist a group of specialists restoring an old church. The two try not to talk about the tragedy but it is clear that they are constantly thinking about it.

While having lunch in a local restaurant, John and Laura encounter two elderly sisters. One of them is a blind psychic (Hilary Mason, TV's Nicholas Nickleby), who tells Laura that she has seen her daughter -- on the other side. Initially, Laura ignores the psychic, but later on, intrigued by the woman’s accurate description of her late daughter, she decides to meet her again.

Meanwhile, John begins working inside the church, and nearly gets killed after a scaffold collapses. Later on, while wandering around Venice, he sees a little girl wearing a red raincoat that reminds him of his daughter. When he tries to approach her, she disappears.

Based on Daphne Du Maurier’s short story, Nic Roeg’s Don’t Look Now shares the same suffocating atmosphere Sidney J. Furie’s The Entity has -- the feeling of uncertainty gradually takes over and becomes a lot more important than the narrative. In other words, the film is not so much about what the main protagonists go through but how they manage to do it.

The disconnect from reality that they experience occurs in cycles -- first, they reject what they cannot comprehend, then they begin to question it, and finally, they confront it. John’s experience, however, is a lot more intense than Laura’s.

The film is very effective because it links the real with the surreal and never favors one over the other. Instead, it offers different points of view that force one into a guessing mode literally until the final credits roll. Even then, after all of the scattered pieces have been properly aligned, the film remains a fascinating enigma that could be successfully deconstructed in a variety of different ways.

The majority of the film takes place in Venice, Italy. This is one of a handful of films, however, where this enormously beautiful city looks incredibly unattractive, unfriendly, and depressing. The long shots with the dirty canals (the scene with the rats truly sticks out), the old buildings, and especially the dark streets where the girl with the red coat appears to give the film that unique Gothic flavor many of the classic films about Jack the Ripper are known for.

Sutherland and Christie are outstanding. There are a couple of scenes where Sutherland looks straight into the camera that are very unsettling. He has the appearance of a man who has been possessed by something, something very powerful. Christie’s nervous breakdowns are also very effective. The famous explicit sex scene still looks incredibly real but inoffensive.

The film is complimented by a strong soundtrack courtesy of Pino Donaggio. After winning Best Soundtrack of the Year Award from the British Films and Filming magazine, Donaggio went on to score some of Brian de Palma’s best films, including Carrie, Dressed to Kill, Blow Out, and Body Double, amongst others.

*In a recent Time Out magazine poll conducted amongst 150 industry experts, including directors Sam Mendes, Mike Leigh, Ken Loach, and Wes Anderson, actors David Morrissey, Sally Hawkins, and Thandie Newton, newspaper and magazine critics, Don't Look Now was named the Best British Film of all time.

Don't Look Now 4K Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Criterion's release of Don't Look Now is a 4K Blu-ray/Blu-ray combo pack. The 4K Blu-ray is Region-Free. However, the Blu-ray is Region-A "locked". At the moment, I have only a copy of the 4K Blu-ray.

The following text appears inside the leaflet that is provided with this release:

"Undertaken by StudioCanal at Silver Salt Restoration in London and approved by director of photography Anthony Richmond, this digital master was created from the 35mm original camera negative and scanned in 4K resolution. The original monaural soundtrack was remastered from the 35mm magnetic track."

Please note that all screencaptures that appear with this article are taken from the 4K Blu-ray and downscaled to 1080p. Therefore, they do not accurately reflect the quality of the 4K content on the 4K Blu-ray disc, including the actual color values of this content.

The release introduces StudioCanal's 4K restoration of Don't Look Now, which was supervised and approved by cinematographer Anthony Richmond. In native 4K, the restoration can be viewed with HDR and Dolby Vision. I viewed it with Dolby Vision.

If you have seen our review of StudioCanal's British 4K Blu-ray release here, you already know that I like the makeover a lot. I also liked a lot how the film looked in 1080p on this out-of-print Blu-ray release that Criterion produced in 2015. However, viewing StudioCanal's makeover in native 4K definitely offers a more satisfying experience. Why? In 4K, a lot of the very atmospheric darker footage looks better -- depth is improved, there is a superior range of shadow nuances, and some darker supporting nuances are expended. In other words, 4K does what 4K is supposed to do, which is produce visuals with a superior dynamic range. On my system, the move from 1080p to 4K is quite obvious, and I think that the larger your screen is, the more of the superiority of 4K you will notice and appreciate. Something else that you will notice as well. This film has quite a bit of diverse content with unique density fluctuations. In 4K, some of these fluctuations become more prominent than the rest, or so it appears. The more prominent ones are in areas with abundant light. The less prominent ones are in darker areas, where the higher resolution effectively tightens up the visuals. What about color reproduction? It is excellent. Saturation levels are outstanding, and you will see expanded, richer nuances. The entire film is spotless as well. All in all, I think that 4K Blu-ray clearly offers the most impressive presentation of this classic film.

Don't Look Now 4K Blu-ray Movie, Audio Quality 

There is only one standard audio track on this release: English LPCM 1.0. Optional English SDH subtitles are provided for the main feature.

I do not have anything new to add about the quality of the restored audio. I think that it reproduces the qualities of the original soundtrack incredibly well. There are several sequences in the film with some outstanding effects as well. I did not encounter any encoding anomalies to report in our review.

Don't Look Now 4K Blu-ray Movie, Special Features and Extras 

4K BLU-RAY DISC

• Bonus Features - there are no bonus features on the 4K Blu-ray disc.

BLU-RAY DISC

• Trailer - official Paramount Pictures trailer for Don't Look Now. In English, not subtitled. (4 min, 1080p).

• Don't Look Now, Looking Back - in this featurette, director Nic Roeg discusses the production history of the film and the unique qualities of Daphne Du Maurier's story that inspired it, while director of photography Anthony B. Richmond explains the significance of specific scenes, including the notorious sex scene, and how they were shot. Editor Graeme Clifford also discusses his contribution to the film. The featurette was produced by Blue Underground in 2002 and also appears on StudioCanal's release of Don't Look Now. In English, not subtitled. (10 min, 1080i).

• Death in Venice - in this archival video interview, composer Pino Donaggio recalls his initial encounter with director Nic Roeg and explains how the soundtrack of Don't Look Now came to exist. The interview was conducted for Blue Underground and Optimum Releasing in Venice in 2006. In Italian, with printed yellow English subtitles. The same interview also appears on StudioCanal's release (18 min, 1080i).

• Something Interesting - in this video piece, actors Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland, cinematographer Anthony Richmond, and coscreenwriter Allan Scott discuss their contribution to Don't Look Now, the film's success and its qualities, and Nic Roeg's working methods. In English, not subtitled. (30 min, 1080i).

• Nicolas Roeg: The Enigma of Film - in this video piece, filmmakers Danny Boyle (Trainspotting) and Steven Soderbergh (Che) discuss Nic Roeg's directing style (the use of zoom lenses, the editing of his films, the management of time in them, etc.) and analyze Don't Look Now. The content from the piece is also available on StudioCanal's release. In English, not subtitled. (15 min, 1080i).

• Graeme Clifford and Bobbie O'Steen - in this filmed video conversation, writer and historian Bobbie O'Steen discusses the pacing, framing, and cutting of Don't Look Now with its editor, Graeme Clifford. The conversation was recorded by Criterion in November 2014. In English, not subtitled. (44 min, 1080p).

• Nicolas Roeg at Cine Lumiere - presented here is an archival Q&A session with director Nic Roeg, hosted by film writer Paul Ryan, which was filmed after a screening of Don't Look Now at the Institut francais' Cine Lumiere in London in 2003. In English, not subtitled. In English, not subtitled. (48 min, 1080i).

• Leaflet - an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by film critic David Thompson.

Don't Look Now 4K Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Nic Roeg's Don't Look Now sparkles on 4K Blu-ray. I think that StudioCanal's 4K restoration was done very well and now the film has an outstanding, accurate, and very, very attractive organic appearance. If it is one of your favorite films, you should give yourself a special Halloween or Christmas present with this upcoming release from Criterion. VERY HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.