http://tags.library.upenn.edu/tag/merchant_fleet+islands PennTags Feed http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/voyager/4521 http://tags.library.upenn.edu/makerecord/voyager/4521 <strong>Zorzi, Alvise. <u>Venice: The Golden Age, 697-1797</u>. Trans. Nicoletta Simborowski and Simon Mackenzie. New York: Abbeville Press, 1980.</strong><br /> <br /> Zorzi gives a vivid account of the rise of the Venetian Empire and its eleven-hundred year &lsquo;Golden Age,&rsquo; using historical quotations, pictures, diagrams, etc.&nbsp; He traces the history of Venice, from its beginnings as a refuge for Romans, escaping from the barbarians that destroyed their Empire, to its own imperial dominance and mastery of overseas trade.&nbsp; Venice has an almost mythic quality to it, which it why Daphne du Maurier chose to set her short story, Don&rsquo;t Look Now, in Venice.&nbsp; Zorzi writes of Venice&rsquo;s beginnings, &ldquo;Tradition and legend [&hellip;] surrounds the founding of Venice in a mythology which is almost reminiscent of the Biblical account of the origins of the world&rdquo; (10).&nbsp; The mysterious quality of the city makes it a perfect setting for Don&rsquo;t Look Now, which toys with reality and makes us question our historical vision.&nbsp; Zorzi explains that Venice was seen as an &ldquo;overbearing entity, which aroused hatred suspicion, worry and fear&rdquo; (7).&nbsp; He describes Venice as an ominous figure, menacing those around it.&nbsp; Roeg captures this negative character of Venice in the film, making the city complicit in the death of John Baxter.<br /> Zorzi explains that the Venetians were &ldquo;descendants of the Romans that had opted for the freedom of the seas and lagoons rather than bend to the will of barbarian monarchs&rdquo; (68).&nbsp; Venice is described as a safe-haven, a place for people to escape to (from the crumbling Roman Empire).&nbsp; Don&rsquo;t Look Now captures this aspect of Venice, because John and Laura are refugees in a way.&nbsp; They are attempting to escape from their pain and sorrow over the death of their daughter by &lsquo;escaping&rsquo; to Venice.<br /> Understanding the history of Venice also illuminates certain moments of dialogue in the film.&nbsp; For example, when John says, &ldquo;The deeper I go, the more Byzantine it gets,&rdquo; he is referring both to the difficulties that arise as his renovation of the church progresses and the fact that Venice was built by Byzantines (i.e. citizens of the Roman Empire).&nbsp; The devotion of the police officers is also better understood, because, &ldquo;An extremely strong sense of justice permeates Venetian civilization right from its beginnings&rdquo; (137)...<br /> <br />