Tag: Donald Sutherland

Dramas

Don’t Look Now

LizLockeLeave a comment
Image credit: Don’t Look Now, 1973

I thought I was through with being scared by Nicolas Roeg after watching Anjelica Huston peel her face off in The Witches, but it turns out, there was one more bit of nightmare fodder waiting for me. Don’t Look Now (Disc/Download) is a gorgeous, moody thriller based on the story by Daphne du Maurier, and perfect for those times when you want a dash of sexy sophistication with your horror.

Although I love the Venice of David Lean’s Summertime, Roeg’s Venice in Don’t Look Now feels much more authentic to the Venice I’ve personally encountered. This is a decaying city, full of narrow dark alleys, crumbling mosaics, and murky water. It’s also the perfect place to stage a horror film because one never knows what’s hiding in the shadows, or what you’ll find around the next corner. Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie are fantastic together, playing a married couple still grieving the death of their young daughter, living in Venice while Sutherland works to restore a church. During a lunch break, they encounter a blind clairvoyant who informs them their dead daughter’s spirit is still with them. Also… danger is imminent. Roeg plays with time in a really interesting way, flashing backwards and forwards to knock the viewer off balance. You aren’t really sure where you are until the thrilling climax makes everything clear. In one second, this ghost story becomes something much more sinister.

Don’t Look Now is filled with flashes of red, usually in the form of a little girl’s raincoat. Let’s make an appropriately macabre Italian cocktail with a splash of Campari and a few grapefruit bitters. While watching Don’t Look Now, I recommend drinking this Death in Venice cocktail.

Death in Venice

½ oz Campari

3-4 dashes Grapefruit Bitters

5 oz Prosecco

Pour Campari and grapefruit bitters into a chilled flute and top with Prosecco.

This film caused a lot of controversy at the time of its release because of its very “aerobic” sex scene, a scene I actually thought was well-constructed. Roeg cuts back and forth from wild passion to the mundane task of getting dressed for a night on the town, from biting and clawing to putting on socks. This scene represents a lot of what I like about this movie—it mixes the terror of death with the everyday business of living. Maybe that makes it even scarier, for that flash of red can appear on even the most ordinary of days. Cheers!

Dramas

Klute

LizLockeLeave a comment

Klute
Image credit: Klute, 1971

Cinema Sips is exploring a set of films over the coming weeks which feature some incredible female performances.  The subject of sex workers is a complex one, but for the purposes of this blog, we’ll just be talking about the movie portrayals (while enjoying copious cocktails of course).  Kicking things off is Klute (Disc/Download), a 1970s thriller starring Jane Fonda and Donald Sutherland.

Something I’ll never understand is the popularity of Fonda’s 70s haircut.  It’s almost as though her character Bree thinks this unflattering shag can protect her from even further mistreatment by the men in her life.  There’s the pimp, played by Roy Scheider, plying her with drugs and lies.  There’s the cop, played by Sutherland, who could maybe be a love interest, if he had any kind of personality or charm whatsoever. There’s the stalker, who likes to play tape recordings of their “session” and creep on her throughout the film. Honestly the only decent guy in this is the little old man who wants her to dress in a sparkly evening gown and drink wine.  Klute is an interesting time capsule of Manhattan in the 1970s, and you really feel Bree’s struggle as an actress and model, professions where success seems largely arbitrary.  At least with her other job, she has some control.

But let’s go back for a second to that scene with the sparkly evening gown.  In sequins poured over her body like a second glove, Jane Fonda looks fierce, formidable, and sexy as hell.  This is a woman of power.  Let’s celebrate her with this Ruby Manhattan.

Ruby Manhattan

2 oz Bourbon

3/4 oz Ruby Port

1 bar spoon Maple Syrup

Dash of Angostura Bitters

Luxardo Maraschino cherry

Combine first four ingredients in a mixing shaker with ice.  Stir until chilled and combined, then strain into a glass. Garnish with Luxardo Maraschino cherry.

Ruby Manhattan

Jane Fonda’s research with actual sex workers comes through in this Academy Award-winning performance, one full of both vulnerability and strength.  I’m still not sure why the film was called Klute; clearly it should have been Bree.  After all, it’s her world– the rest of us are just lucky to visit. Cheers!