This document analyzes how Italy is portrayed in two British crime films set in Venice: Don't Look Now (1973) and The Tourist (2010). It discusses how Venice is initially presented as a beautiful tourist destination but takes on darker, more mysterious qualities as the plots develop. Both films depict Italian characters in a stereotypical way, showing them gesturing, breaking laws, and being corrupt or subordinate to foreigners. The document also discusses how Don't Look Now influenced depictions of Italy in other films, like Quantum of Solace, showing the country as an obscure place where reality intermingles with fiction, love with death, and the sacred with profane. While crime films highlight Italy's ambiguous nature, this may contribute

1. Nicola Valentini
matr. 1042534
IMAGES OF ITALY IN FOREIGN CRIME FILMS: ATTRACTIVE
SHADOWS
“My sister hates it. She says it is like a city in aspic, left
over from a dinner party, and all the guests are dead and gone.
It frightens her. Too many shadows.”
Heather on Venice – Don’t Look Now (1973)
Don’t Look Now (1973), the independent British-Italian film directed by Nicolas Roeg, has inspired
and influenced all the other films we have analyzed in class. It is clear that many mise-en-scène
techniques and narrative patterns have been taken up by the directors of more recent crime films. It
is probable that this process has favoured the fostering of positive and negative heterostereotypes
(standardized images of others), confirming the presence of specific attributes characterizing the
image of Italy abroad. The opening scene of the 1973 film introduces interesting aspects. It takes
place in the English countryside, where the Baxter family lives, but the references to Venice are
many. John is working on a window’s slide of the church he is restoring and accidentally knocks a
glass over and spills the water on that slide. The water seen through the lens turns red and partially
cover the Italian religious piece of art. This event anticipates how Venice will be presented during
the film: a masterpiece covered with blood. “Nothing is what it seems” and Venice makes no
exception. At first, the city is presented as the colourful tourist destination we all know. In order to
transmit this impression, extreme long shots are used. Some of these shots would perfectly fit in the
typical postcards sold in the city. However, the further the plot develops, the more dangerous and
darker Venice becomes. The sensation is fostered by an acceleration of the action and the climax of
terrible events that occur to John and his family.
Another film set in Venice is The Tourist (2010). It is interesting to notice as the “personality” of
Venice has changed since 1973. The city is depicted as luxurious, glamour and sophisticated. The
sober elegance of the hotel that hosts John and Laura in Don’t Look Now is substituted by the
outstanding splendour of the suite of Frank and Elise. The couple also takes part to a ball where the
wealth and exclusiveness of the city are reaffirmed. A high angle of the room introduces the viewer
into this fascinating world, in order to show it in all its splendid beauty. Nowadays, Venice (with its
Region) is the most important Italian tourist destination and the film confirms how the city has been

2. able to offer to potential visitors a updated and fashionable image of itself. At the same time, it is
still a mysterious double-faced place. Not only people have a good and a bad side but also Venice
has. Janus perfectly symbolizes the character of the city and its nature is embodied in Alexander
Pearce’s unintelligible identity.
Nevertheless, both John and Frank do not leave the city when they are advised to do so. John does
not want to “see” beyond “normal reality” meanwhile Frank cannot depart because he has fallen in
love with Elise (but then we discover that the real reason is hidden behind its identity).
In both films Italians are presented in a strongly stereotyped way. The clearest example are the two
receptionists of the already mentioned hotels. We hear them speak both in English and Italian. Also
other Italian characters speak in the two languages and it enhances the authenticity and exoticism of
the place. The two receptionists are kind with their hosts but it is shown to the spectator that they
behave in such a way just for an economic interest. In fact, when a conversation between the
receptionist and the guest ends, the former often complains about the problems caused by the latter
(“Americani...”). These inconveniences are often the result of misunderstandings caused by the
language and the differences between cultures. Many of the Italian actors “perform” stereotypes.
They gesticulate (Don’t Look Now, 47:00), they don’t respect the law (Don’t Look Now, 21:00),
and they are corrupted. The latter aspect clearly emerges in The Tourist when the policeman
interpreted by De Sica “sells” Alexander Pearce to Reginald Shaw’s men. Moreover, Italian
characters are often in a subordinated position in relation to the foreigner visitors. The culture of the
country is presented as decaying. Italy is old and in decline (“tutto è marcio”), even if it is still able
to present itself as one of the most beautiful places in the world.
Love is another theme present in the films. Venice (and Italy) is known for its romanticism but a
question seems to be asked to the spectator. Is love in Venice real? Or is it just a dream? What does
Frank’s dream symbolize? Passions are strong in Italy but they are also mysterious, misleading, and
macabre. Love can turn into death. Once again the ambivalent nature of the country is stressed.
We have seen that even in films focusing on other cities, concepts and notions introduced in the
depiction of Venice in Don’t Look Now are taken up and used to characterize the place. It happens
in Quantum of Solace (2008), the 22nd James Bond film directed by Marc Forster. To understand it
we have to focus our attention on the scene of the Palio horce race, which obviously takes place in
Siena. The references to the Roeg’s work are many. First of all, different actions on different
locations are matched. In this case this choice is particularly important because it allows to
simultaneously present the two faces of Italy. The race, one of the most spectacular tourist event
offered by the country, takes place in the worldwide famous Piazza del Campo, while criminals and
agents fight each other in the underground tunnels. Italy hides its mysterious secrets beneath the

3. surface but the spectator is allowed to see what is going on. The warm sun that shines on the Tuscan
city contrasts with the humid darkness in which the shooting occurs. The two realities seem far
away but they represent the two souls of the same place, the same country.
In the analyzed films Italy appears as an obscure place. Here reality and fiction, love and death, the
sacred and the profane are intertwined contributing to the emerging of a frightful but fascinating
atmosphere. Italy is not only art and culture. Crime films have contributed to show its ambivalent
character, usually hidden behind staged authenticity by tourism industry. And is it this controversial
nature the real country’s treasure? Are the money hidden by Alexander Pearce behind Janus’
medallion symbolizing it? Could Italy be so fascinating without its negative aspects? In my opinion,
the images communicated to the foreign audience do not spoil the expectations it has on the
destination but contribute to arousing curiosity. The foreigner would love to depart to visit the
places seen on the screen and discover the off-the-beaten-track mysterious realities. “We never
really know anyone”, but we are more and more looking for the attractive shadows behind the
reality of first impressions.