[10][89] The film's imagery and stylistic techniques have served as an inspiration to films such as Schindler's List directed by Steven Spielberg,[90] Memento by Christopher Nolan,[91][92][93] The Dark by John Fawcett,[94] Frozen by Juliet McKoen,[95] Submarine by Richard Ayoade,[96] and Snow White and the Huntsman by Rupert Sanders. Free delivery for many products. In 2019 Dont Look Now was restored and re-released in cinemas and on a special collectors edition DVD and to celebrate this resurgence of interest in the film, Dr Laura Varnam has written this in-depth essay for the Daphne du Maurier website which explores the relationship between the film and short story, Roegs approach to the adaptation, and du Mauriers own response to the film. The piano pieces are usually associated with Christine in the film, and Roeg wanted them to have an innocent sound reminiscent of a little girl learning to play the piano. In this way the opening sequence resembles a mosaic, just like those that John is restoring. It was first published in Britain by Gollancz (with a cover by Daphne du Maurier's daughter Flavia Tower), and in America by Doubleday under the title Don't Look Now. Roeg commented in an interview that hed have hated [the film] to end in the triumph of bad things but the strength of du Mauriers writing is that she refuses to look away when faced with tragedy. [64][65], Don't Look Now is also very well regarded by other industry professionals. [7], The plot of the film is preoccupied with misinterpretation and mistaken identity: when John sees Laura on the barge with the sisters, he fails to realise it is a premonition and believes Laura is in Venice with them. Standing at only 4'2" tall, she had a career as a singer. John and Laura Bennett are on holiday in Venice, trying to get over the tragic death of their daughter. But in fact, as the John of Roegs adaptation wryly comments, nothing is as it seems and by the end of the story Johns understanding of not only the sisters identity but even his own will have been completely overturned. [15], Communication is a theme that runs through much of Nicolas Roeg's work, and figures heavily in Don't Look Now. When she returns to the hotel, Laura informs John that Christine said he is in danger and must leave Venice. He said that as a writer she wasnt possessive over her ideas the ideas are all around us; life, stories, plots are all here and where her story had been inspired by the couple in Torcello, his version of that same story had been inspired by her work. After speaking to her to confirm she really is in England, a bewildered John returns to the police station to inform the police he has found his wife. Daphne Du Maurier Don't Look Now: Selected Stories of Daphne du Maurier (New York Review Books Classics) Paperback October 28, 2008 by Daphne du Maurier (Author), Patrick McGrath (Introduction) 144 ratings See all formats and editions Hardcover $9.19 42 Used from $7.94 3 Collectible from $19.00 Paperback Later that day, assuming that Laura is in England, John is shocked when he spots her on a passing boat in a funeral cortege, accompanied by the sisters. WebDon't Look Now is a short story by Daphne Du Maurier that was made into the 1973 classic horror movie by Nicolas Roeg. [68] It has also featured in Sight & Sound's directors pollrun in tandem with their critics pollplacing in the top 100 in 2012 and the top 50 in 2022.[64][65]. We as the viewer we are being invited to make connections but to be wary of what those connections might mean. There is no comfort to be found in these images. [13] The film's setting and production status has also drawn comparisons with giallo films, due to its structure, cinematic language and focus on the psychological makeup of its protagonists sharing many characteristics with the Italian subgenre, although Anya Stanley has noted that it lacks the exploitational portrayal of violence and sexuality typically associated with the form. As well as composing the score, Donaggio performed a substantial portion of it himself. Daphne Du Maurier, Don't Look Now, Radio Drama Classic Serial: Don't Look Now Sun 9th Dec 2001, 15:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM Daphne Du Maurier's chilling tale, dramatised in one episode by Ronald Frame. Details bersetzungstitel: Dont Look Now Autor: Daphne Du Maurier, Allan Scott und Chris Bryant Fotograph: Anthony B. Richmond und Nicolas Roeg Komponist: Pino Donaggio Regisseur: Peter Katz Schauspieler: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason, Filming began in England in December 1972, breaking off for Christmas, and resuming in January 1973 for seven more weeks in Italy. Roegs introduction of the colour red as a leitmotif that recurs throughout the film is another major addition to Du Mauriers story. Often cited as one of the best horror movies of modern times, the film is based on Daphne du Mauriers 1971 short story of the same name (from the collection originally published as Not After Midnight) and the adaptation ranks as one of the most successful interpretations of du Mauriers work on the big screen to date. One or two people hurried by under umbrellas. In an interview in 1996, Roeg commented: I dont care for rehearsing and Ive never used storyboards: if you have set things in mind youre immediately imposing yourself on the essence of the story and the characters. I'm going to keep this short. Roeg decided not to use traditional tourist locations to purposefully avoid a travel documentary look. WebNot After Midnight, and other stories is a 1971 collection of five long stories by Daphne du Maurier. When it came to casting John and Laura Baxter in Dont Look Now, Roeg was determined that the roles should be taken by Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie and it seemed fated that this should be so. [12] Glass is frequently used as an omen that something bad is about to occur: just before Christine drowns, John knocks a glass of water over, and Johnny breaks a pane of glass; as Laura faints in the restaurant she knocks glassware off the table, and when John almost falls to his death in the church, a plank of wood shatters a pane of glass; finally, shortly before confronting the mysterious red clad figure, John asks the sisters for a glass of water, a piece of symbolism that prefigured Christine's death. [59], Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland also received praise for their performances. Leslie Flint, a direct voice medium based in Notting Hill, invited them to attend a session which he was holding for some American parapsychologists, who were coming over to observe him. We cannot stop ourselves from looking now at the bright colour popping out against the muted background of the city with its grey canals and washed out buildings. a.) She described the photography as glorious in a letter to Oriel Malet and in a letter to the actor Alec Guinness (who had starred in the 1957 adaptation of du Mauriers The Scapegoat), she said that Julie Christie was enchanting, the two old sisters terrifying, and despite the alterations, the whole effect is pretty grim, one reaches for ones whiskey afterwards.. This sight turns out to be a prophetic vision of the future. "[5] The presence of Christine, the Baxters' deceased daughter, weighs heavily on the mood of the film, as she and the nature of her death are constantly recalled through the film's imagery: there are regular flashbacks to Christine playing in her red coat as well as the sightings of the mysterious childlike figure also wearing a red coat which bears a likeness to her; the constant association of water with death is maintained via a serial-killer sub-plot, which sees victims periodically dragged from the canals; there is also a poignant moment when John fishes a child's doll out of a canal just as he did with his daughter's body at the beginning of the film. Two new documentaries are also included: the first documentary, "Something Interesting", features interviews with Anthony Richmond, Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie and Allan Scott about the making of the film; the second, "Nicolas Roeg: The Enigma of Film", features interviews with Danny Boyle and fellow film-maker Steven Soderbergh discussing Roeg's cinematic style. Jay Cocks regarded Don't Look Now to be Roeg's best work by far and that Roeg was one of "those rare talents that can effect a new way of seeing". [47][48] Michael Deeley, who was managing director of British Lion Films at the time of the film's release, said the film's US reception was hurt by Paramount Pictures rushing the film into cinemas too early, due to the unexpected failure of Jonathan Livingston Seagull;[49] despite its mismanaged distribution, Peter Bartfrom his time at Paramountrecalls it performing "fairly well" at the box office. WebWhen Daphne du Maurier wrote the short story "Don't Look Now," sometimes referred to as a novella for its length, she was firmly established as a popular writer. The character actress Hilary Mason played the blind, psychic sister Heather and the popular Italian actress Clelia Matania played Wendy. In the original story, du Mauriers psychic sister describes Christine wearing the little blue-and-white dress with the puff sleeves that she wore at her birthday party and du Maurier reserves the shock of the colour red for Johns vision of Laura with the sisters on the ferry: Then he saw her. [12], Much has been made of the fragmented editing of Don't Look Now, and Nicolas Roeg's work in general. [23] Roeg's use of colourespecially redcan be traced back to earlier work: both Performance and Walkabout feature scenes where the whole screen turns red, similar in nature to the scene during Christine's drowning when the spilt water on the church slide causes a reaction that makes italong with the whole screenturn completely red. The meaning of the opening sequence gradually unfolds and becomes recognisable as the film progresses. Her novel Rebecca, her short stories 'The Birds,' 'Don't Look Now,' 'The Blue Lenses' and dozens more have an effectiveness that make them seem almost traditional, belonging not to any one author but to the imagination of the world. When John and Laura enter the church to light candles for Christine, after Laura has met the sisters for the first time, John casually comments that he doesnt like the church at all and Laura retorts, well I do. Laura, in her scarlet coat, the twin sisters by her side, the active sister with her hand on Lauras arm, talking earnestly, and Laura herself, her hair blowing in the wind, gesticulating, on her face a look of distress. She grew up in London and Cornwall, where she would settle as an adult. Finding an appropriate church proved difficult: after visiting most of the churches in Venice, the Italian location manager suggested constructing one in a warehouse. Johns profession also enables Roeg to expand upon the Christian imagery in the story. [28][3] It was released nationwide a few weeks later as the main feature of a double bill;[3] The Wicker Man was its accompanying B feature andlike Don't Look Nowwent on to achieve great acclaim. It felt very brave to me, and I think it still holds up. Bart reiterated Warren Beatty's discontent, noting that Beatty had contacted him to complain about what he perceived to be Roeg's exploitation of Christie, and insisting that he be allowed to help edit the film. The film encourages us to think about the extent to which things that look alike are in fact alike in meaning, or whether such deceptive similarities are designed to lead us astray, just like a little red dwarf As Mark Sanderson puts it, the opening sequence serves as a warning, blink and youll miss it (Sanderson, p. 31). The red triangular shape in Johns photographic slide, the red streak that suddenly smears into a curve, the shape of Christines limp body in Johns arms, her red shiny raincoat slick with water all coalesce in the figure of pixie-hooded dwarf who draws John to his untimely (and yet ironically predictable) death at the close of the film. I know I make the adaptors work more difficult by too often writing a story as a narrator or through a single characters mind, which necessitates further invention on the part of the adaptor, and director, to enable a story and its people to come alive, and here you have succeeded admirably, indeed added more depth to unconscious thoughts that might have been my own. (Shallcross, p.151). The little figure in red does not need protecting from the Big Bad Wolf, however, because she is the real menace that will destroy the would-be male protector in the form of John. I wanted to get a reality to it of two human beings (DVD notes). The colour red in du Mauriers work often features as a sign of danger, frequently related to female power, as we see in the case of Rebecca de Winter and her blood-red rhododendrons. Concerned about his wife's mental state and with reports of a serial killer at large in Venice, John reports Laura's seeming disappearance to the police. Initially engaged by other projects, both actors unexpectedly became available. Daphne Du Maurier Don't Look Now: Selected Stories of Daphne du Maurier (New York Review Books Classics) Paperback October 28, 2008 by Daphne du Maurier (Author), Patrick McGrath (Introduction) 144 ratings See all formats and editions Hardcover $9.19 42 Used from $7.94 3 Collectible from $19.00 Paperback This story rolls out like an inescapable nightmare. [87][88], Its influence is less obvious but still apparent in Out of Sight, a 1998 film directed by Steven Soderbergh. The film is renowned for its innovative editing style, recurring motifs and themes, and for a controversial sex scene that was explicit by the standards of contemporary mainstream cinema. The critic Neil Sinyard describes its crucial importance to the film because the sense of pain established in the opening will carry through to the end, making it difficult to imagine that anything but tragedy could await after such a scene (Sinyard, p.48). John sees the ghost of Christine in the figure of the dwarf and pursues her in the misplaced hope that by protecting the little figure he can somehow assuage his guilt for being unable to save his daughter. [57] Canby considered the "sincerity of the actors" to be one of the better aspects of the film,[59] while Kael found Christie especially suited to the part, observing she has the "anxious face of a modern tragic muse". [24] The mysterious red-coated figure and its association with death has a direct parallel with an earlier film Roeg worked on as cinematographer, The Masque of the Red Death, which depicted a red clad Grim Reaper character. [15][39] The intimacy of the scene led to rumours that Christie and Sutherland had unsimulated sex which have persisted for years and that outtakes from the scene were doing the rounds in screening rooms. I just thought that it was a beautifully shot, really adult look at real-life horror stories, and there was a great degree of sexuality in it that, as a young kid, when I saw it, I remember I was very startled by. It was first published in Britain by Gollancz (with a cover by Daphne du Maurier's daughter Flavia Tower), and in America by Doubleday under the title Don't Look Now. Daphnes assessment that the film adds more depth to unconscious thoughts that might have been my own is praise indeed and a close comparison of the film and short story bears out the manifold ways in which Roeg has responded sensitively and imaginatively to du Mauriers work. John is sceptical but pleasantly surprised by the positive change in Laura's demeanour. 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[10][89] The film's imagery and stylistic techniques have served as an inspiration to films such as Schindler's List directed by Steven Spielberg,[90] Memento by Christopher Nolan,[91][92][93] The Dark by John Fawcett,[94] Frozen by Juliet McKoen,[95] Submarine by Richard Ayoade,[96] and Snow White and the Huntsman by Rupert Sanders. Free delivery for many products. In 2019 Dont Look Now was restored and re-released in cinemas and on a special collectors edition DVD and to celebrate this resurgence of interest in the film, Dr Laura Varnam has written this in-depth essay for the Daphne du Maurier website which explores the relationship between the film and short story, Roegs approach to the adaptation, and du Mauriers own response to the film. The piano pieces are usually associated with Christine in the film, and Roeg wanted them to have an innocent sound reminiscent of a little girl learning to play the piano. In this way the opening sequence resembles a mosaic, just like those that John is restoring. It was first published in Britain by Gollancz (with a cover by Daphne du Maurier's daughter Flavia Tower), and in America by Doubleday under the title Don't Look Now. Roeg commented in an interview that hed have hated [the film] to end in the triumph of bad things but the strength of du Mauriers writing is that she refuses to look away when faced with tragedy. [64][65], Don't Look Now is also very well regarded by other industry professionals. [7], The plot of the film is preoccupied with misinterpretation and mistaken identity: when John sees Laura on the barge with the sisters, he fails to realise it is a premonition and believes Laura is in Venice with them. Standing at only 4'2" tall, she had a career as a singer. John and Laura Bennett are on holiday in Venice, trying to get over the tragic death of their daughter. But in fact, as the John of Roegs adaptation wryly comments, nothing is as it seems and by the end of the story Johns understanding of not only the sisters identity but even his own will have been completely overturned. [15], Communication is a theme that runs through much of Nicolas Roeg's work, and figures heavily in Don't Look Now. When she returns to the hotel, Laura informs John that Christine said he is in danger and must leave Venice. He said that as a writer she wasnt possessive over her ideas the ideas are all around us; life, stories, plots are all here and where her story had been inspired by the couple in Torcello, his version of that same story had been inspired by her work. After speaking to her to confirm she really is in England, a bewildered John returns to the police station to inform the police he has found his wife. Daphne Du Maurier Don't Look Now: Selected Stories of Daphne du Maurier (New York Review Books Classics) Paperback October 28, 2008 by Daphne du Maurier (Author), Patrick McGrath (Introduction) 144 ratings See all formats and editions Hardcover $9.19 42 Used from $7.94 3 Collectible from $19.00 Paperback Later that day, assuming that Laura is in England, John is shocked when he spots her on a passing boat in a funeral cortege, accompanied by the sisters. WebDon't Look Now is a short story by Daphne Du Maurier that was made into the 1973 classic horror movie by Nicolas Roeg. [68] It has also featured in Sight & Sound's directors pollrun in tandem with their critics pollplacing in the top 100 in 2012 and the top 50 in 2022.[64][65]. We as the viewer we are being invited to make connections but to be wary of what those connections might mean. There is no comfort to be found in these images. 
[13] The film's setting and production status has also drawn comparisons with giallo films, due to its structure, cinematic language and focus on the psychological makeup of its protagonists sharing many characteristics with the Italian subgenre, although Anya Stanley has noted that it lacks the exploitational portrayal of violence and sexuality typically associated with the form. As well as composing the score, Donaggio performed a substantial portion of it himself. Daphne Du Maurier, Don't Look Now, Radio Drama Classic Serial: Don't Look Now Sun 9th Dec 2001, 15:00 on BBC Radio 4 FM Daphne Du Maurier's chilling tale, dramatised in one episode by Ronald Frame. Details bersetzungstitel: Dont Look Now Autor: Daphne Du Maurier, Allan Scott und Chris Bryant Fotograph: Anthony B. Richmond und Nicolas Roeg Komponist: Pino Donaggio Regisseur: Peter Katz Schauspieler: Julie Christie, Donald Sutherland, Hilary Mason, 
Filming began in England in December 1972, breaking off for Christmas, and resuming in January 1973 for seven more weeks in Italy. Roegs introduction of the colour red as a leitmotif that recurs throughout the film is another major addition to Du Mauriers story. Often cited as one of the best horror movies of modern times, the film is based on Daphne du Mauriers 1971 short story of the same name (from the collection originally published as Not After Midnight) and the adaptation ranks as one of the most successful interpretations of du Mauriers work on the big screen to date. One or two people hurried by under umbrellas. In an interview in 1996, Roeg commented: I dont care for rehearsing and Ive never used storyboards: if you have set things in mind youre immediately imposing yourself on the essence of the story and the characters. I'm going to keep this short. Roeg decided not to use traditional tourist locations to purposefully avoid a travel documentary look. WebNot After Midnight, and other stories is a 1971 collection of five long stories by Daphne du Maurier. When it came to casting John and Laura Baxter in Dont Look Now, Roeg was determined that the roles should be taken by Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie and it seemed fated that this should be so. [12] Glass is frequently used as an omen that something bad is about to occur: just before Christine drowns, John knocks a glass of water over, and Johnny breaks a pane of glass; as Laura faints in the restaurant she knocks glassware off the table, and when John almost falls to his death in the church, a plank of wood shatters a pane of glass; finally, shortly before confronting the mysterious red clad figure, John asks the sisters for a glass of water, a piece of symbolism that prefigured Christine's death. [59], Julie Christie and Donald Sutherland also received praise for their performances. Leslie Flint, a direct voice medium based in Notting Hill, invited them to attend a session which he was holding for some American parapsychologists, who were coming over to observe him. We cannot stop ourselves from looking now at the bright colour popping out against the muted background of the city with its grey canals and washed out buildings. a.) She described the photography as glorious in a letter to Oriel Malet and in a letter to the actor Alec Guinness (who had starred in the 1957 adaptation of du Mauriers The Scapegoat), she said that Julie Christie was enchanting, the two old sisters terrifying, and despite the alterations, the whole effect is pretty grim, one reaches for ones whiskey afterwards.. This sight turns out to be a prophetic vision of the future. "[5] The presence of Christine, the Baxters' deceased daughter, weighs heavily on the mood of the film, as she and the nature of her death are constantly recalled through the film's imagery: there are regular flashbacks to Christine playing in her red coat as well as the sightings of the mysterious childlike figure also wearing a red coat which bears a likeness to her; the constant association of water with death is maintained via a serial-killer sub-plot, which sees victims periodically dragged from the canals; there is also a poignant moment when John fishes a child's doll out of a canal just as he did with his daughter's body at the beginning of the film. Two new documentaries are also included: the first documentary, "Something Interesting", features interviews with Anthony Richmond, Donald Sutherland, Julie Christie and Allan Scott about the making of the film; the second, "Nicolas Roeg: The Enigma of Film", features interviews with Danny Boyle and fellow film-maker Steven Soderbergh discussing Roeg's cinematic style. Jay Cocks regarded Don't Look Now to be Roeg's best work by far and that Roeg was one of "those rare talents that can effect a new way of seeing". [47][48] Michael Deeley, who was managing director of British Lion Films at the time of the film's release, said the film's US reception was hurt by Paramount Pictures rushing the film into cinemas too early, due to the unexpected failure of Jonathan Livingston Seagull;[49] despite its mismanaged distribution, Peter Bartfrom his time at Paramountrecalls it performing "fairly well" at the box office. WebWhen Daphne du Maurier wrote the short story "Don't Look Now," sometimes referred to as a novella for its length, she was firmly established as a popular writer. The character actress Hilary Mason played the blind, psychic sister Heather and the popular Italian actress Clelia Matania played Wendy. In the original story, du Mauriers psychic sister describes Christine wearing the little blue-and-white dress with the puff sleeves that she wore at her birthday party and du Maurier reserves the shock of the colour red for Johns vision of Laura with the sisters on the ferry: Then he saw her. [12], Much has been made of the fragmented editing of Don't Look Now, and Nicolas Roeg's work in general. [23] Roeg's use of colourespecially redcan be traced back to earlier work: both Performance and Walkabout feature scenes where the whole screen turns red, similar in nature to the scene during Christine's drowning when the spilt water on the church slide causes a reaction that makes italong with the whole screenturn completely red. The meaning of the opening sequence gradually unfolds and becomes recognisable as the film progresses. Her novel Rebecca, her short stories 'The Birds,' 'Don't Look Now,' 'The Blue Lenses' and dozens more have an effectiveness that make them seem almost traditional, belonging not to any one author but to the imagination of the world. When John and Laura enter the church to light candles for Christine, after Laura has met the sisters for the first time, John casually comments that he doesnt like the church at all and Laura retorts, well I do. 
Laura, in her scarlet coat, the twin sisters by her side, the active sister with her hand on Lauras arm, talking earnestly, and Laura herself, her hair blowing in the wind, gesticulating, on her face a look of distress. She grew up in London and Cornwall, where she would settle as an adult. Finding an appropriate church proved difficult: after visiting most of the churches in Venice, the Italian location manager suggested constructing one in a warehouse. Johns profession also enables Roeg to expand upon the Christian imagery in the story. [28][3] It was released nationwide a few weeks later as the main feature of a double bill;[3] The Wicker Man was its accompanying B feature andlike Don't Look Nowwent on to achieve great acclaim. It felt very brave to me, and I think it still holds up. Bart reiterated Warren Beatty's discontent, noting that Beatty had contacted him to complain about what he perceived to be Roeg's exploitation of Christie, and insisting that he be allowed to help edit the film. The film encourages us to think about the extent to which things that look alike are in fact alike in meaning, or whether such deceptive similarities are designed to lead us astray, just like a little red dwarf As Mark Sanderson puts it, the opening sequence serves as a warning, blink and youll miss it (Sanderson, p. 31). The red triangular shape in Johns photographic slide, the red streak that suddenly smears into a curve, the shape of Christines limp body in Johns arms, her red shiny raincoat slick with water all coalesce in the figure of pixie-hooded dwarf who draws John to his untimely (and yet ironically predictable) death at the close of the film. I know I make the adaptors work more difficult by too often writing a story as a narrator or through a single characters mind, which necessitates further invention on the part of the adaptor, and director, to enable a story and its people to come alive, and here you have succeeded admirably, indeed added more depth to unconscious thoughts that might have been my own. (Shallcross, p.151). The little figure in red does not need protecting from the Big Bad Wolf, however, because she is the real menace that will destroy the would-be male protector in the form of John. I wanted to get a reality to it of two human beings (DVD notes). The colour red in du Mauriers work often features as a sign of danger, frequently related to female power, as we see in the case of Rebecca de Winter and her blood-red rhododendrons. Concerned about his wife's mental state and with reports of a serial killer at large in Venice, John reports Laura's seeming disappearance to the police. Initially engaged by other projects, both actors unexpectedly became available. Daphne Du Maurier Don't Look Now: Selected Stories of Daphne du Maurier (New York Review Books Classics) Paperback October 28, 2008 by Daphne du Maurier (Author), Patrick McGrath (Introduction) 144 ratings See all formats and editions Hardcover $9.19 42 Used from $7.94 3 Collectible from $19.00 Paperback This story rolls out like an inescapable nightmare. [87][88], Its influence is less obvious but still apparent in Out of Sight, a 1998 film directed by Steven Soderbergh. The film is renowned for its innovative editing style, recurring motifs and themes, and for a controversial sex scene that was explicit by the standards of contemporary mainstream cinema. The critic Neil Sinyard describes its crucial importance to the film because the sense of pain established in the opening will carry through to the end, making it difficult to imagine that anything but tragedy could await after such a scene (Sinyard, p.48). John sees the ghost of Christine in the figure of the dwarf and pursues her in the misplaced hope that by protecting the little figure he can somehow assuage his guilt for being unable to save his daughter. [57] Canby considered the "sincerity of the actors" to be one of the better aspects of the film,[59] while Kael found Christie especially suited to the part, observing she has the "anxious face of a modern tragic muse". [24] The mysterious red-coated figure and its association with death has a direct parallel with an earlier film Roeg worked on as cinematographer, The Masque of the Red Death, which depicted a red clad Grim Reaper character. [15][39] The intimacy of the scene led to rumours that Christie and Sutherland had unsimulated sex which have persisted for years and that outtakes from the scene were doing the rounds in screening rooms. I just thought that it was a beautifully shot, really adult look at real-life horror stories, and there was a great degree of sexuality in it that, as a young kid, when I saw it, I remember I was very startled by. It was first published in Britain by Gollancz (with a cover by Daphne du Maurier's daughter Flavia Tower), and in America by Doubleday under the title Don't Look Now. Daphnes assessment that the film adds more depth to unconscious thoughts that might have been my own is praise indeed and a close comparison of the film and short story bears out the manifold ways in which Roeg has responded sensitively and imaginatively to du Mauriers work. John is sceptical but pleasantly surprised by the positive change in Laura's demeanour. 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