Rating summary

Movie		5.0
Video		4.5
Audio		5.0
Extras		5.0
Overall		5.0

Don't Look Now Blu-ray Movie Review

Reviewed by Dr. Svet Atanasov January 19, 2015

Nic Roeg's "Don't Look Now" (1973) arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion. The supplemental features on the disc include an original trailer for the film; 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. The release also arrives with an illustrated leaflet featuring an essay by film critic David Thompson. In English, with optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature. Region-A "locked".

Laura and John

After the tragic death of their daughter, John (Donald Sutherland, Threshold, Invasion of the Body Snatchers) and Laura Baxter (Julie Christie, The Go-Between, 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 Blu-ray Movie, Video Quality 

Presented in its original aspect ratio of 1.85:1, encoded with MPEG-4 AVC and granted a 1080p transfer, Nicolas Roeg's Don't Look Now arrives on Blu-ray courtesy of Criterion.

The following text appears inside the leaflet provided with this Blu-ray release:

"Approved by director Nicolas Roeg, this new digital transfer was created in 4K resolution on a ARRISCAN film scanner from the original camera negative at Deluxe Digital London. Thousands of instances of dirt, debris, scratches, splices, warps, jitter, and flicker were manually removed using MTI's DRS and Pixel Farm's PFClean, while Digital Vision's Phoenix was used for small dirt, grain, and noise management.

Transfer supervisor: Lee Kline.
Colorist: Stephen Berman/Deluxe Digital London."

The release eliminates the big issues that compromised StudioCanal's presentation of the film (you can see our review of the Region-B release here). To be perfectly clear, there are no visible traces of the electronic sharpening that affected detail and depth. Various density fluctuations remain -- in areas of the film where light is captured in specific ways and grain is over/underexposed -- but they are part of the film's original cinematography. (Examples of the type of fluctuations addressed above can be seen in screencaptures #8 and 17). Unsurprisingly, definition is better and image depth far more convincing (compare screencaptures #1 and 14 with screencaptures #3 and 5 from our review of StudioCanal's release). Minor contrast variations are present, but they are also part of the original cinematography. Colors are stable and natural, and I would specifically like to mention that here they are slightly better saturated as well (the general flatness present on the StudioCanal release is also a byproduct of the compromising digital corrections). Lastly, overall image stability is excellent, and there are no large debris, cuts, damage marks, or stains. The encoding is very good, but I did notice some extremely light shimmer trying to sneak in during a short sequence early into the film. All in all, this is a strong organic presentation of Don't Look Now that is likely to remain the definitive presentation of the film on the home video market. (Note: This is a Region-A "locked" Blu-ray release. Therefore, you must have a native Region-A or Region-Free PS3 or SA in order to access its content).

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

There is only one standard audio track on this Blu-ray release: English LPCM 1.0. For the record, Criterion have provided optional English SDH subtitles for the main feature.

The lossless track is excellent. I did some direct comparisons with the LPCM 2.0 track from the StudioCanal release and the clarity and depth are identical. Balance, which was an issue on the old R1 DVD release, is also very good. There is a good range of nuanced dynamics that allow Pino Donaggio's famous score to shine in all the right places as well (listen to the lovely strings at 01.09.19). The dialog is stable and easy to follow. There are no pops, cracks, audio dropouts, or digital distortions to report in this review.

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

• 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 Blu-ray Movie, Overall Score and Recommendation 

Criterion's upcoming Blu-ray release of director Nic Roeg's hugely atmospheric film Don't Look Now addresses the technical issues that made StudioCanal's Region-B release so frustrating, and I think that fans of the film will be quite pleased with it. As usual, Criterion have also provided an excellent selection of archival and exclusive new supplemental features. I specifically would like to encourage fans of Don't Look Now residing in Region-B territories to consider upgrading their releases as the improvements in quality are quite dramatic. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.