- Film Review
- Reviewed By Tom Hutchinson
-
5 out of 5
A fiercely erotic scene of love-making between Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie forms the sensual core of this supernatural chiller, which offers a time-distorted vision of terror set in wintertime Venice, portrayed here as a hostile city of brooding silences and fog-shrouded canals. After the death of their young daughter, church restorer Sutherland and wife Christie take their grief with them to Italy, where the spectral presence of their child draws them into a labyrinth of cryptic signs and doom-laden portents. Adapted from a Daphne du Maurier short story, this is director Nicolas Roeg's masterpiece - the fear-drenched mood of alienation is sustained right up until the unforgettable climax.
Plot Summary
Nicolas Roeg's supernatural thriller, adapted from Daphne du Maurier's short story, starring Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie. Following the tragic drowning of their young daughter, John and Laura Baxter go to Venice - he to work, she to recuperate. There they meet two sisters, one of whom claims to be able to communicate with the dead child. Caught up in the bizarre events that follow, the Baxters are drawn inexorably toward a mysterious and forbidding fate.
Cast and crew
Cast
- John Baxter
- Donald Sutherland
- Laura Baxter
- Julie Christie
- Heather
- Hilary Mason
- Wendy
- Clelia Matania
- Bishop Barbarrigo
- Massimo Serato
- Inspector Longhi
- Renato Scarpa
- Anthony Babbage
- David Tree
- Mandy Babbage
- Ann Rye
- Johnny Baxter
- Nicholas Salter
- Christine Baxter
- Sharon Williams
- Detective Sabbione
- Bruno Cattaneo
- Dwarf
- Adelina Poerio
Crew
- Director
- Nicolas Roeg
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