How is this a good movie exactly?

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SPOILERS: I can only tell why I love the film…what others call loose threads, I would call ambiguity, and this fills our real lives daily. People die for no good reason, children too, and murders go unsolved every day. Random things happen to us and this story illustrates that to pulse-beating effect. When the police inspector doesn’t really listen to John and lets his gaze wander out the window—don’t many of us lose focus when we hear a story that just isn’t making sense? Another poster commented on the presence of an intense looking man present in the washroom when Laura is with the sisters—wondering what purpose that individual served? But life is FULL of just such moments and people DO stare when they witness drama. Moments like this inject truthfulness into this fictional story. When I watched the film, I thought there was something sinister about everyone, especially the two sisters and yet it turned out they wanted to help, just as they claimed all along. How often in life do we judge people by appearances, those who act oddly, when they’re actually harmless, in fact, possibly full of good intentions? Realising the women wanted to help made me feel an intense helplessness and fearful of the impending doom. And just as life is full of coincidences and irony, so too does this film foreshadow its inevitable conclusion. The shiny red of the dead girl’s raincoat is referenced in her mother’s tall red boots, her father’s scarf, the bright red of Venetian street signs and of course, the most obvious analogy, the colour of blood. And although other posters commented on the beauty of Venice as a location, I thought it took on a completely menacing aspect, underscored by dreary hotel rooms, multiple staircases, murky canals and the constant chatter of foreign tongues made me feel I was a stranger in a strange land. Although John knows the language well enough to get by, the average viewer doesn’t and this just increased my sense of isolation and worry. I’m glad there were no subtitles because this effect would have been spoiled with them. I suppose the greatest triumph is John’s inability to read the signs pointing to his death because we all make mistakes based on our inability to heed what our gut instinct is telling us. This culminates in his death. Why did she kill him? He had cornered her and she probably felt threatened by him; I don’t know about others perception, but to me Donald Sutherland looked frankly creepy throughout this movie. I wouldn’t have approached him if he’d beckoned to me. The dwarf woman likely didn’t understand his language and fearing for her safety, defended herself with her weapon. The ending made me so sad but I can’t imagine it ending any other way. I understand if you prefer movies where things are less random, where there is some resolution when it concludes, questions answered. But I enjoy when films imitate life to some extent. Life rarely has a happy ending since it ends with death for all of us. Yes, to me this was perfect storytelling.

I thought about the same as You after watching the movie, not really understanding it but then I went on to read what this movie was supposed to be about and when I realized..then it got a bit creepy.

So, the one simple premise about this movie is that there is something off with the Donald's character. Throughout the movie, it seems that he is a bit of seer - it is as if he can anticipate things to come. He saw the death of his daughter before it happened for example. It seems he has this talent but he either doesn't recognize it or he doesn't want to accept it.

But then it gets a little weird when this "talent" of his seriously changed the course of his actions. He was going home, but then he saw his wife on gondola and he came back to see what is she doing here. This undertaking led directly to his death. She looked as though she was griefing and wearing black and we might say he saw his death in the future. But, if he didn't have seen that, he wouldn't go back, he would go home. The look in his eyes when he dies and all those flashbacks show us that he realized something in the very moment of his death? But, what was that?

Did he really see his death in the future or was that just an evil force that lured him into his death?Were all those moments that happened before just setting a trap
to him, a random, unsuspecting person, who was powerless to prevent it?

This ambiguity is what makes this movie a good movie. It is maybe not scariest horror you'll see and it doesn't even use scares. But I certainly do find it creepy.

Some of the others make great points about the film. But, also, I thought it was a great suspense thriller. Every scene gave me a feeling like something bad was going to happen and the director did a great job of making people jump out of their seats several times by making us THINK something was going to happen - and then it didn't. All a great set-up for the final scene.

I remember seeing this around 1976 in our college movie series. The week before they showed the trailer which was very suspenseful. I figured that the actual movie couldn't live up to that but I thought it really did.

"Smokey, this is not 'Nam, this is bowling. There are rules. "
-Walter Sobchak

What i mostly don't understand is how Sutherland manages to get killed so easily. All he'd have to do is stand up, and the dwarf wouldn't even be Able to reach a vital organ. he could just stamp on him or something. Sit on him. chuck him in the canal. Anything.