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Based on the short story by Daphne du Maurier,
Directed by Nicolas Roeg,
Screenplay by Chris Bryant and Allan Scott,
Music by Pino Donnagio,
Starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie
Benz, Ernst. “Color in Christian Visionary Experience.” Color Symbolism: The Eranos Lectures. Ed. Klaus Ottmann. Putnam: Spring Publications, 2005. 155-214.
Color plays an important part in Don’t Look Now, especially the color red. Roeg weaves red throughout the film, from Christine’s plastic raincoat to the Band-Aid on Johnnie’s finger, from the lettering of the “Venice in Peril” sign to the bathrobe of the sisters’ neighbor. In Du Maurier’s story, the color red is not mentioned, so the use of the color is all Roeg’s doing. Beyond merely linking Christine to the murderer, the color red also serves a more symbolic purpose. Roeg ties the color red to the blind sister, Heather, and her psychic visions. The fact that Heather can see Christine’s red jacket is not as mysterious as the fact that she knows what the color red is. If she has been blind since childbirth, which her sister, Wendy, intimates to Laura and John, there is no way she would know what red looked like. Heather is already semi-divine in her ability to see the future, but the presence of color in her prophetic visions ties her into the tradition of Christian visions.
Benz’s text was part of a 1972 conference in Switzerland call the Eranos conference. Famous psychologists, theologists, phenomenologists, and other types of scholars from around the globe met to discuss “The Realms of Colour” (ix). Benz, a well-known protestant theologian and church historian, focused his lecture on color and its relation to Christian visions, such as the prophecies of Revelations (170-171). At times hard to follow, Benz basically explores the connection between the vivid colors and physical descriptions in Christian visions and their relation to God and mortality.
Benz explains that, “As a rule the eyes are closed in the visionary ecstatic state; the physical capacity for sight through the eye is eliminated” (159). Heather’s visions definitely follow in this tradition, because, as a blind person, she does not have the capacity for sight. The “ecstatic state,” which Benz references, is ambiguous, but could be interpreted as the epileptic-like trance that Heather falls into when experiencing her visions...
Color plays an important part in Don’t Look Now, especially the color red. Roeg weaves red throughout the film, from Christine’s plastic raincoat to the Band-Aid on Johnnie’s finger, from the lettering of the “Venice in Peril” sign to the bathrobe of the sisters’ neighbor. In Du Maurier’s story, the color red is not mentioned, so the use of the color is all Roeg’s doing. Beyond merely linking Christine to the murderer, the color red also serves a more symbolic purpose. Roeg ties the color red to the blind sister, Heather, and her psychic visions. The fact that Heather can see Christine’s red jacket is not as mysterious as the fact that she knows what the color red is. If she has been blind since childbirth, which her sister, Wendy, intimates to Laura and John, there is no way she would know what red looked like. Heather is already semi-divine in her ability to see the future, but the presence of color in her prophetic visions ties her into the tradition of Christian visions.
Benz’s text was part of a 1972 conference in Switzerland call the Eranos conference. Famous psychologists, theologists, phenomenologists, and other types of scholars from around the globe met to discuss “The Realms of Colour” (ix). Benz, a well-known protestant theologian and church historian, focused his lecture on color and its relation to Christian visions, such as the prophecies of Revelations (170-171). At times hard to follow, Benz basically explores the connection between the vivid colors and physical descriptions in Christian visions and their relation to God and mortality.
Benz explains that, “As a rule the eyes are closed in the visionary ecstatic state; the physical capacity for sight through the eye is eliminated” (159). Heather’s visions definitely follow in this tradition, because, as a blind person, she does not have the capacity for sight. The “ecstatic state,” which Benz references, is ambiguous, but could be interpreted as the epileptic-like trance that Heather falls into when experiencing her visions...
tagged Bible Christian_theology Christian_visions Christianity Eranos Ernst_Benz God Jacob Revelations color color_symbolism communication_with_God dreams prophecy signs theology visions
by dhm
...on 05-APR-06
Du Maurier, Daphne. Don’t Look Now. New York: Doubleday & Co., 1971: 1-57.
Daphne du Maurier’s short story deeply influences not only the events in Nicolas Roeg’s film of the same name, but also the themes Roeg explores in the film. The plots of the story and the film are basically the same, although (obviously) there are scenes in the film, which do not come from du Maurier’s story. The opening sequence of the film (which shows Christine’s death), for instance, is an invention of the director, Nicolas Roeg. Du Maurier’s story begins at the café, relegating Christine’s death to the memories of John and Laura. Surprisingly, the film stays very true to the short story and the added scenes do not deviate from the overall direction of the plot. The sisters, in the story, are identical twins (although the ‘seeing’ sister is grayer than the other) and remain mysterious characters throughout. In the film, their paths cross many times with the Baxters (John and Laura) and Laura has many conversations with them. The female characters, Laura and the sisters, have a much larger role in the film than the short story, which focuses almost entirely on John and his struggles.
The main differences between the film and the short story are the addition of a character, Bishop Barbarrigo, and John’s job restoring the church. In du Maurier’s story, John and Laura are on vacation in Venice and John’s job is never discussed. A tertiary result of this is that there is no need for the Bishop character, whose job is to oversee John’s renovation of the church (in the film). The central role of churches and church figures in the film bring a religious element to the film that is absent in the short story. The theme of faith (and lack of faith) is therefore also absent. The film creates a sense of dread using ever-present murders and strange coincidences (such as John’s near death experience on the church scaffolding). The short story explores the themes of prophecy and ‘second sight,’ but there is not the same eerie sense of uneasiness. The fact that the film leaves Johnnie’s illness ambiguous (instead of saying it is appendicitis as the short story does) plays into the theme of the supernatural and the occult...
Daphne du Maurier’s short story deeply influences not only the events in Nicolas Roeg’s film of the same name, but also the themes Roeg explores in the film. The plots of the story and the film are basically the same, although (obviously) there are scenes in the film, which do not come from du Maurier’s story. The opening sequence of the film (which shows Christine’s death), for instance, is an invention of the director, Nicolas Roeg. Du Maurier’s story begins at the café, relegating Christine’s death to the memories of John and Laura. Surprisingly, the film stays very true to the short story and the added scenes do not deviate from the overall direction of the plot. The sisters, in the story, are identical twins (although the ‘seeing’ sister is grayer than the other) and remain mysterious characters throughout. In the film, their paths cross many times with the Baxters (John and Laura) and Laura has many conversations with them. The female characters, Laura and the sisters, have a much larger role in the film than the short story, which focuses almost entirely on John and his struggles.
The main differences between the film and the short story are the addition of a character, Bishop Barbarrigo, and John’s job restoring the church. In du Maurier’s story, John and Laura are on vacation in Venice and John’s job is never discussed. A tertiary result of this is that there is no need for the Bishop character, whose job is to oversee John’s renovation of the church (in the film). The central role of churches and church figures in the film bring a religious element to the film that is absent in the short story. The theme of faith (and lack of faith) is therefore also absent. The film creates a sense of dread using ever-present murders and strange coincidences (such as John’s near death experience on the church scaffolding). The short story explores the themes of prophecy and ‘second sight,’ but there is not the same eerie sense of uneasiness. The fact that the film leaves Johnnie’s illness ambiguous (instead of saying it is appendicitis as the short story does) plays into the theme of the supernatural and the occult...
tagged Daphne_du_Maurier Don't_Look_Now Venice collection coping_with_death death dwarf ghost ghost_stories killer murder omens prophecy psychic short_story
by dhm
...on 05-APR-06