Don't Look Now analysis

Cast:

Julie Christie
Donald Sutherland
Hilary Mason
Clelia Matania
Massimo Serato
Renato Scarpa

The film opens up as the bells of Venice in the beginning, and a man humming, then the scene fades to black.

The scene then opens to an outdoor setting, which is quite adyllic and picturesque and soft music is playing. A shot of the girl is shown of her throwing a ball into shallow water which could represent what's about to come. There are a lot of water shots and reflected image of the girl in water.

The man in the house, the girl's father, is looking at images and there is an image of a church with a red hooded girl sitting in a pew. His daughter outside is wearing a red hood, then the man begins to panic linking the two things. Then the camera shots link togther beause there is a shot of their boy on a bike then he falls off which begins the danger feeling of the movie. The sound effects stay inside the house, but the camera stays outside which links the scene together. The shot outside is the boy running after he see's his sister drowning. Inside the house water leaks onto the image the man is looking at which also links water and the little girl together again. The colours in the image begin to run, and blend together which could represent the little girl drowning outside, like the image of the redhooded figure drowning in the water the man has spilled. The man then jumps up in panic, and runs outside.

Effective tension music is playing then the man's scream breaks through the music and the little boy shouting, 'Daddy'. The man rushes into the water, desperately searching for the little girl who has gone under, and the camera stays on him and the little boy overlooking his father. When the man finds her, he comes to the surface and his desperate screams are the only sounds made. The camera shows the Dad trying to ressusitate his daughter, and his son overlooking his Dad and his attempts. The Mum remains in the house for the whole ordeal, then the camera shows her through the glass of her house when her life is perfectly normal and everyone is safe. Then she looks up and the camera captures her life being ruined and her loud scream links to the next shot of loud drilling.

I like the opening of this thriller because the sound and camera shots all smoothly link together. When the scene opens everything is beautiful and the little girl shows innocence but then there is the devasting shift in mood and camera angles, but everything is done smoothly and everything flows together nicely.