Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland in chilly, wintry Venice, encounter a premonition. A brilliant mosaic of a film (actually suggested by the bits of glass Sutherland assembles on the church wall), crammed with symbolism (water, sight, religious iconography) and full of bits that have a greater significance when pieced together, planned by Roeg and cameraman Anthony Richmond and knitted together by Graeme Clifford. The red isn't just in the mac(s), Sutherland's scarf for example, suggests the flow of blood later.
From a short story by Daphne du Maurier, written for the screen by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant. BAFTA nominated it for Film, Director, Editor and Christie and Sutherland, but Richmond was the only winner. Though it's now reached a more elevated position, being in the BFI's Top 10. It's still an exceptional exercise in 'film grammar', as Roeg described it to Clifford. Future Roeg editor Tony Lawson is an assistant.
The few flashes of humour (the disappointment in the hotel manager when trying to get them to dine in) are welcome.
The women are Hilary Mason and Clelia Matania, Massimo Serrato the Bishop and Renato Scarpa the detective.
Roeg refers to the ad libbed conversation between the couple in the church ('I don't like this church' etc) as the 'moment the film starts to make itself', which is perhaps somewhat pretentious. There is much evidence of his distinctive zoom lens style of filming. But I still love his little moments, the parallel reactions of Christie and her daughter cut together, the way someone in another scene seems to react to something in a different scene, the way the beginning is all in the ending.
I first saw it at the cinema on 19th August 1979, aged 16, and was absolutely blown away.
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