Don't Look Now (1973): Film Notes and Scores

Director:

Cast:

Poster artwork for Don't Look Now — Original poster artwork · Great Cinema Master List

Spoiler-free premise

Grieving couple John and Laura restore a Venice church while warnings and glimpses of a red-coated figure unsettle their mourning.

Read expanded premiseLonger, still spoiler-free

After daughter Christine drowns, John and Laura Baxter move to winter Venice, where John restores an old church. A blind psychic tells Laura the child remains near them, while John repeatedly sees a small figure in Christine's red coat.

Why it belongs

Don't Look Now makes grief a system of visual echoes through red color, water, glass, fractured time, and Venice's mazelike off-season spaces.

Read expanded why it belongsThe fuller editorial case

A red raincoat, canals, broken glass, slides, church mosaics, bridges, and associative crosscutting make premonition indistinguishable from memory. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie give mourning intimate, physical credibility.

Major award record

Metadata only · zero points in 40/40/20

BAFTA1 win1974 · official BAFTA 1974 Film Awards results ↗

Plus 1 additional win

No headline-category win to name

Totals include every recorded competitive win. Only Picture or top-film honors, Direction, Screenplay, and lead or supporting performances are named.

Good for

Film Club

Descriptive guidance derived from rating, genre, runtime, mood, and GCML scores.

Institutional reference ranks

Sight & Sound114IMDb Top 250—AFI 100—

Reference metadata only · not part of the 40/40/20 score

Great Cinema Master List scores

Greatness9.4

Engagement7.4

Ease6.2

English · Not Rated
Narrative Feature
Mood: Tense & Absorbing

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