The Vanishing [Criterion Collection] [Blu-ray]

Overview

Based on Time Krabbe's The Golden Egg, The Vanishing is a deeply disturbing psychological thriller about a young man's search for his girlfriend after she disappears at a rest stop during a short trip. Over the course of three years, the man obsessively searches for her, using his spare time to put up posters and leave handbills, hoping that someone will give him a clue to the mystery surrounding her disappearance. The kidnapper, having watched the man for some time, is intrigued by his increasing obsession and finally contacts him. He then gives the man the opportunity to learn firsthand of his girlfriend's fate. The film, frightening and moving with a chilling conclusion, is a small masterpiece as director George Sluizer confronts and examines the true nature of evil and obsession. Sluizer remade The Vanishing in an American version four years after the release of the original Dutch film, inexplicably changing the shocking ending which gave the original film such power.

Product Details

Release Date:	08/05/2014
UPC:	0715515128711
Original Release:	1988
Rating:	NR
Source:	Criterion Collection
Region Code:	A
Language:	English
Time:	1:46:00
Sales rank:	3,696

Special Features

New interview with Director George Sluizer; New interview with actor Johanna ter Steege; Trailer; Plus: An essay by critic Scott Foundas

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Gene Bervoets	Rex Hofman
Johanna ter Steege	Saskia Wagter
Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu	Raymond Lemorne
Gwen Eckhaus	Lieneke
Bernadette Le Saché	Simone Lemorne
Tania Latarjet	Denise
Lucille Glenn	Gabrielle
Roger Souza	Manager
Caroline Apperre	Cashier
Pierre Forget	Farmer Laurent
Didier Rousset	TV Journalist
Raphaeline	Gisele Marzin
David Bayle	Lemorne (Age 16)
Robert Lucibello	Teacher
Eric Jacquet	Pump Attendant
Aziz Djahnit	Pump Attendant
Doumee	Lady `Prisunic'
Linda Wise	English Tourist
Ian Magilton	English Tourist
Mieke DeGroote	Belgian Tourist
Jean Grandeau	German Tourist
Faustine Wunsche	Little Girl
Ghislaine Gazaix	Hitchhiker
M. Martinez	Cafe Owner
Francois Guizerix	Cop/Sports Presenter
Bernadette Lesache	Simone Lemorne
Hennie Vrienten	Composer

Technical Credits

George Sluizer

Tim Krabbé

George Sluizer	Director,Producer,Screenwriter
Anne Lordon	Producer
Tim Krabbé	Screenwriter
Francois Guizerix	Casting
Jeannette Snik	Casting
Piotr Van Dijk	Sound/Sound Designer

Editorial Reviews

A thriller free of onscreen violence, George Sluizer's original Dutch-French version of The Vanishing (1988) reveals the capacity for evil lurking beneath the most banal surfaces and the dangers of wanting to know too much. Adapted by Sluizer and Tim Krabbé from Krabbé's novel The Golden Egg and set in brightly bland every day locations like a highway rest stop and a country home, the story of a woman's sudden disappearance becomes a creepily deliberate examination of both the psychologically crippling impact of her vanishing on her lover, and the criminal's unfathomable motives. Shifting point of view midway through the film with an extended flashback, the viewer seems to learn everything there is to know about the crime yet what remains unseen, and the unspoken implications of what is known, deepen the disturbing effect as well as enhance the suspense. With an ending that offers chillingly inevitable closure devoid of any uplift, The Vanishing was not released in the U.S. until 1991; critics and art house audiences, though, embraced The Vanishing's resolutely dark vision. Sluizer's 1993 American remake of The Vanishing, however, became a star vehicle for Kiefer Sutherland and Jeff Bridges executed with far less subtlety.

All Movie Guide - Lucia Bozzola