Gothic Architecture and Don't Look Now

Don't Look Now (Dir. Nicholas Roeg, 1973) is one of the most terrifying films I have ever seen.  The ending- the horrible face of knife wielding dwarf- still gives me nightmares.  It is one of the few cases where I find the film adaptation stronger than the story, even though Daphne Du Maurier is one of my very favorite authors.  As John (Donald Sutherland) faces the end of his life, visions of his daughter's death and all the gargoyles he has encountered in his work repairing Gothic cathedrals in Venice flash through his mind, and ultimately connect to the dwarf who murders him.

Given my passion for Gothic literature,  it only makes sense to learn something about the architecture, which is a major motif in both the short story "Don't Look Now" and especially its film adaptation.  I found out that Gothic architecture first surfaced in France around the middle of the twelfth century, especially in the construction of great churches and cathedrals around Paris.  "Key features include the pointed arch, the rib vault, buttresses (especially arched flying buttresses) and window tracery. Edd Morris on his website, Exploring Castles, cites seven characteristics of Gothic architecture: "grand, tall designs, which swept upwards with height and grace," "the flying buttress," "the pointed arch," "the vaulted ceiling," "light, airy interiors," the gargoyles that were designed to terrify medieval peasants into going to church, and finally, "the emphasis upon the decorative style and the ornate."

Over time and across Europe, Gothic developed into a family of related styles" (Victoria and Albert Museum).  While it became less popular in the fifteenth century, Gothic constructions continued to be built in forms of churches, cathedrals, castles and even family homes (Victoria and Albert Museum).  I see elements of Gothic architecture even in modern churches.  Detroit has some wonderful Gothic cathedrals, though they might be a hundred years old or more.  Even St. Jude Catholic Church in Mansfield, while quite modern, has Gothic features, especially use of the pointed arch.

www.pinterest.com/ereaume4274/architecture/

Works Cited

Du Maurier, Daphne. Don't Look Now: Selected Stories of Daphne Du Maurier. New York Review 

     Books Classics, 2008.

Morris, Edd. “The Seven Key Characteristics of Gothic Architecture (Cont).” Exploring Castles, 

     2018, www.exploring-castles.com/castle_designs/characteristics_gothic_architecture_2/.

Roeg, Nicholas, director. Don't Look Now. D.L.N. Ventures Partnership, 1973.

Victoria and Albert Museum, “Gothic Architecture.” Victoria and Albert Museum, 10 Sept. 2013,

     www.vam.ac.uk/content/articles/g/gothic-architecture/.