Watched this last night on BBC2. Donald Sutherland plays John Baxter, a man refusing to accept that he might have psychic abilities but saying yes to a great Afro hairstyle. John and his wife Laura are in Venice sometime after the accidental death of their daughter by drowning.
I don’t think this is Roegs best film but it’s no The Sound of Claudia Schiffereither. It’s probably his most coherent work since it’s subject matter is non-linear time/storytelling, the narrative and the camerawork both constructing disjunctions of time and space. The colour and texture of the film are fantastic – predominantly very 1970s high definition browns.
There are some great characters in the film - Bishop Barbarrigo (Massimo Serato) and Inspector Longhi (Renato Scarpa) are amazing, they manage to seem equally, and simultaneously, sincere and completely untrustworthy. Roeg could have done so much more with his creepy English characters. & The ending is hilarious.
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