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TRAVELLER
THE DWARF IN THE
red raincoat raises the meat
cleaver and brings it down upon John Baxter’s neck.
As the blood flows into the freezing waters, against
the backdrop of a beautiful but deserted palazzo, this
scene of near unrivalled celluloid menace comes to a
close in grisly fashion. And anyone who ever thought
that Venice was solely a city of romance and history
will have had that notion entirely shredded by the time
the credits roll.
The film is, of course,
Don’t Look Now
. One of the
greatest psychological thrillers of all time, Nicolas
Roeg’s masterpiece reveals the city of canals as the
ideal setting for a gothic horror story, with the maze
of alleyways and cul de sacs taking on a nightmarish
hue. Filmed 40 years ago, its long shadows, locked
doors and dead ends set the stage as grieving Laura
and John Baxter (played by Julie Christie and Donald
Sutherland) attempt to deal with the death of their
young daughter, while John carries out restoration
work on a gothic church. The freezing fog and deserted
streets set the scene superbly, culminating in
one of the most grisly murders in movie
history. But if you think this film was the
first to imagine Venice’s sinister undertones,
you’d be wrong. In fact, locals have been
aware of for city’s dark side for centuries.
“Venice may seem too beautiful at first for
visitors to ever think that it could be a place
for horror,” says Alberto Toso Fei, a native
Venetian and author of three books on the
subject. “The backstreets here can get very quiet
and it’s actually very easy to be alone. Many
locals, including myself, have had the sensation of
the walls and windows talking to us, and there’s a real
sense of the city taking you on an internal journey that
can be uncomfortable at times.
“The buildings here have seen more over the
centuries than we ever could. If you have the right
disposition, there is a lot of suggestion in these streets
that can play with the mind.”
Italy is the home of the very first Gothic novel,
FEATURES
|
VENICE
SPOOKY
LOCATION
FINDER
Five frighteningly good spots
for brave souls to seek out
SAN NICOLÒ DEI MENDICOLI
The church in
Don’t Look Now
, where
Donald Sutherland is doing some
restoration work. You’ll find it in Campo San
Nicolo, in the Dorsoduro area of the city.
CAMPIELLO DEI CALEGHERI
Very near the famed La Fenice opera house
in the San Marco district, this is the eerie
bijou courtyard that Dirk Bogarde visits in
1971’s
Death in Venice
.
Clockwise from right,
Dirk
Bogarde as Gustave
Aschenbach in the filmof
Death inVenice
; it’s easy to
see how the fog rising off
the canals evokes a certain
eerie atmosphere;
Massimo Serato as Bishop
Barbarrigo and Donald
Sutherland as John Baxter
in
Don’t Look Now
, which
also starred Julie Christie