British director Nicolas Roeg cemented his reputation as an innovator with psychological horror Dont Look Now (1973). Based on a short story by Daphne Du Maurier, its the "genuinely unsettling" story of a couple (Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie) haunted by the death of their daughter. Beyond that, it offers a deeper contemplation of life's mysteries that has endured through the decades.

Now And Then

Although seemingly a modest package, this Special Edition DVD benefits greatly from Roeg's willingness to probe deep into the subtext of the story. Horror buff Alan Jones touches on all the themes and motifs in a lengthy introduction before Roeg expands on these points in the retrospective documentary Looking Back and his commentary for the film.

"Its about that sense of randomness that has a place in the pattern of our lives," says Roeg in Looking Back. He goes on to explain how this concept is reflected in the "puzzle" of imagery that recurs throughout the film, eg breaking glass, flowing water, dancing light and the colour red. Cinematographer Anthony B Richmond offers his take and also reflects on the experience of shooting in Venice where Roeg wanted to capture "a sense of doom" about the city as opposed to its traditional aura of romance.

Later on, the focus turns to assembling the puzzle in the cutting room and editor Graeme Clifford lends his insights. Naturally this includes in-depth discussion of the love scene between John (Sutherland) and Laura (Christie). Roeg's candid approach caused a bit of a stink in 1973, but the bold decision to cut back and forth in time means the sequence is still talked about now for very different reasons. Note: it was a technique ripped off by Steven Soderbergh in Clooney-Lopez thriller Out Of Sight (1998).

Look Between The Lines

While its clear that Roeg is a man of vision, at the same time he insists on a degree of spontaneity on the set. He talks about this briefly in Look Back, but goes into more specific detail in his audio commentary; Apparently it made American studio execs "very nervous", especially when they saw the first rushes of the film which he shot on the fly ie images of falling rain and close-ups of window shutters. Even the iconic scene of Sutherland lifting his daughter from the pond was "tremendously improvised" and his decision to hire composer Pino Donnagio was "a fate thing" that came after a chance meeting in Venice.

Donnagio gives his side of the story in a 20 minute interview, and confesses that he also felt "sceptical" about his ability to score a film – something he'd never done before. It was a steep learning curve and he picks on specific scenes to show the lateral thinking that Roeg insisted on. For example, in a sequence where John chases someone he believes is his daughter, Donnagio draws attention to the "dissonant" and "quiet sound" of the music. He compares this with music he later composed for 1976 horror Carrie, saying, "Brian de Palma prefers to charge the music in the suspense sequences, but that is typical American..."

Disappointingly there are no interviews with Sutherland or Christie, but this DVD draws a fascinating picture of Roegs intentions and the groundbreaking methods employed to make this horror film stand out from the crowd. It's definitely worth a look for true cinephiles and anyone grown weary of standard slasher flicks.

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