Venice Views

Comfort of Strangers in Venice

Our group leader in Venice gave us a list of things to do that included one final item: Get lost. Yeah, but I watch movies like The Comfort of Strangers which offers opposite advice when Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson find that seeking help from Christopher Walken and Helen Mirren has its drawbacks.  Even so, we imitated the movie’s visiting couple by heading in the dark for food—they wanted dessert, we sought a Michelin starred restaurant that required a Google map to get there. And then we got lost....

Venetian Views

The Comfort of Strangers, 1990 with Rupert Everett and Natasha Richardson discovering why you should question people’s motives, especially if they look like Christopher Walken in Venice. Travelers often find the best part of vacation comes from meeting people, but it doesn’t work that way for a couple hoping to recharge their relationship in a city renowned for its beauty. Dark alleys and strange passages make it easy to get lost, a metaphor that works for Harold Pinter’s adaptation of Ian McEwan’s novella. Sadomasochistic elements mean the story suits director Paul Schrader’s penchant for exploring twisted minds, a skill he showed in his Taxi Driver script. Cinematography by Dante Spinotti (an Oscar winner for L.A. Confidential) adds richness and complexity to the mix, though the film never proves pleasant to watch—except of course for the setting’s splendor and the cast’s talent. Upon learning that I watched the movie in preparation for my city visit, cast member Helen Mirren’s husband Taylor Hackford described it as “pretty damn perverse” and suggested that my husband Fred might “freak out and cancel the trip” after seeing it.  No worries, we know to exercise caution around anyone who looks and talks like Christopher Walken.

Don’t Look Now, 1973 with Donald Sutherland and Julie Christie finding no respite from grief in Venice. Other titles from the city suit director Nicolas Roeg’s sad tale: A Death in Venice, A Haunting in Venice, and even A Little Romance. Well, romance that includes sex: Don’t Look Now drew part of its reputation from an intense lovemaking interlude that initially earned an X-rating in Great Britan. Beautifully shot and edited using unusual choices, the scene shows sex as a healing connection between a committed couple that at least briefly offers a chance to move through the heartache caused by their young daughter’s drowning. After hearing from a psychic about her daughter’s afterlife happiness, the mother finds room for intimacy and starts beaming with Christie’s luminous smile. Still, Mom frets about the psychic’s ominous visions surrounding her husband John’s coping mechanisms, allowing Sutherland as John to showcase emotional range. Refusing to acknowledge any sixth sense, restoration expert John ignores the irony of remaining in Venice, surrounded by the substance that so drastically changed his life--water. A sense of ruin, dread, and impending doom surrounds low-key plotting, adapted by Allan Scott and Chris Bryant from a Daphne du Maurier short story.  Some action defies logic, but director Roeg purposefully ignores procedural accuracy, instead celebrating the unexplained in a work that needs no monsters or special effects to stand as a masterpiece of nightmarish horror--just try to forget the climactic scene featuring a little figure in a red raincoat.  Don’t Look Now has or now sits on several GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) lists, including the Internet Movie Data Base’s ranking for horror pictures, the British Film Institute’s (BFI) for the country’s top productions (rating it #1), and the Venice Insider Guide’s for movies set in the city. The BFI also provides set jetters with a guide to Don’t Look Now filming locations such as Chiasa de San Nicolò dei Mendicoli and surrounding streets, a number of bridges including Ponte dei Conzafelzi where police discover a murder victim, the striking looking Pallazzo Tetto, and interiors of Basilica dei Santi Giovanni y Paolo. The film incudes brief backgrounds of usual tourist spots like Piazza San Marco but Roeg emphasizes a more isolated and eerie sense of the city featuring less traveled side streets guaranteed to make any first-time visitor feel lost and unnerved.

 Italian for Beginners, 2000, with a group of Danes using their language studies in Venice. Following the country’s Dogme 95 school of bare-bones filmmaking, director Lone Sherfig presents a sweet love story about a small group of lonely people connected by a language class. That Dogme 95 (tʌwmə in Danish) movement emphasizes story and acting over artificiality like special effects or studio sets. Using places the way they appear naturally without enhanced lighting or after-the-fact sound provides a simple look, though one that allows for complex interactions as distinct characters interact in ways that seem torn from life. Dogme 95 projects can get pretty heavy, but Italian’s lighter, rom-com style proves approachable and appealing. Most action takes place in bland Copenhagen locations, but a memorable finale moves to Venice, where no one needs to dress up or alter city sites.

The Italian Job, 2003 with Mark Wahlberg and Charlize Theron heisting money stolen in Venice. When my Las Vegas Film Critics Society colleague Derek Sante asked me to join him in a podcast to talk about great heist films, he probably thought I would choose something from our state like Five Against the House or either fun version of Ocean’s Eleven. But I selected The Italian Job remake, not as an absolute favorite but because of three things that appeal to me: a woman who contributes more than looks to the job, Mini Cooper cars, and Venice. As a result, I rank it above the 1969 original (a cult favorite) which also featured Mini Coopers but used Turin instead of Venice. Even worse, it lacked a strong woman.  With my revelation about heist film preferences, the podcast guys seemed underwhelmed despite the remake’s respectable 73% fresh rating on Rotten Tomatoes. While I accept that other heist films offer more innovative, clever, and even believable schemes, I stand behind The Italian Job remake as an enjoyable riff, with Theron, Minis, and Venice providing fun components for an entertaining actioner. Predating the flair he showed for The Fast and the Furious, director F. Gary Gray took care with cars, including a 1997 Cooper MK VII. As driver, Theron shows off her car’s maneuverability in a 180 degree turn she handled in real life. The story’s three main cars add a funky visual flair since they seem too small for a big job.  In contrast to low-key Minis, Venice looks like a giant of fabulous design, contributing a sense of elegance and challenge. Most of the movie filmed in Los Angeles but set jetters in Venice easily find the movie’s opening locations at St. Mark’s Square, the Basilica of Santa Maria della Salute, Campo San Barnaba, and the Grand Canal, passing through the Accademia and Freedom bridges for a high-speed boat ride.

 The Merchant of Venice, 2004 with Al Pacino seeking a pound of flesh in Italy. Cancel culturists face problems with William Shakespeare’s famous story featuring a Jewish loan shark who shows no mercy when a client fails to pay. Pacino adds nuance and understanding to a difficult character while Jeremy Irons offers a complex take as a “good guy” businessman who holds himself superior to Jews. Shakespeare makes points for feminism by including a cross-dressing trick, allowing Lynn Collins to shine as Portia. Director Michael Radford presents action clearly, adding cinematic qualities to the classic stage play by filming in the title city, whose setting came because of its historic status as a port and business center. Specific locations include the San Giorgio Maggiore (across from Piazza San Marco) as Portia’s home. Organized tours of the Ghetto provide an excellent overview on the city’s Jewish history, which goes back centuries. Our guide, no big Shakespeare fan, disliked the way many Merchant productions show loan shark Shylock as key villain, saying the real problem came from the city-state of Venice that enacted ridiculous laws.