Don't Look Now Reaction

Throughout the clip there is an overwhelming feeling of suspense and anticipation. It starts off with the random shot of a horse galloping through a field, creating mystery and setting a mysterious mood. The little girl is wearing a right red coat, so the viewer's attention is right away directed towards her. The mystery continues when one is able to see the little doll she’s carrying. It is a soldier with a gas mask on, which also gives the sense that something is off, perhaps even foreshadowing death. The feeling of suspense is heightened by the constant matching back and forth between shots. Such as when the little girl looks down at her feet, and then the little boy’s bike wheels are shown. The matching creates a sort of discontinuity that makes the viewer stay tense and on the edge of their seat, because you don’t really feel like you know what’s going to happen. When the little boy is riding his bike and all of a sudden breaks the glass, the tension is suddenly snapped, but this is only temporary.The little boy riding his bike creates the sort of atmosphere in where you think everything will be fine. But as soon as something goes wrong with him the whole thing starts to fall apart. With the shots going back and forth the parents are introduced, sheltered from the outside.The photograph is the most important thing in the clip, and its first shown right after one of the shots of the girl in her red coat. All the actions in the clip seem meaningful in this way, because of the connection between the red in the photograph and in the girl’s coat. Suddenly when the water spills the action finally unfolds. The ominous red runs in the photograph, disappearing before his eyes. Then he looks up and something inside him makes him realize what had been happening all along. This is done very dramatically and could only be this way because of the careful editing. It also makes the viewer feel as if they knew what was going on and feel compelled to warn the man of the danger lurking outside. Once the photograph is destroyed there is really no hope for the little girl, because it is felt that something bad needed to happen. Even as the man runs out in a feeble attempt to save the girl, it is just over-dramatic and there is a defeated mood to the whole scene. If there had been a continuous shot of just the girl playing and eventually drowning it wouldn’t have been as powerful because there was no build-up to it.