The Vanishing (George Sluizer, France/Holland, 1988) August 13, 2006
Posted by Daniel Stephens in : Horror, 1980s, Drama, Film reviews, Crime, Foreign Language , trackbackDir. George Sluizer; screenplay by George Sluizer; starring Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, Gene Bervoets, Johanna ter Steege
George Sluizer’s 1988 film is a subtle thriller set in France, where a man loses his girlfriend after being separated at a petrol station. Three years later he is obsessed with finding out what happened to her as no trace was ever found. This destroys his new relationship and threatens to break the very fabric of his reality. Yet, Sluizer casually breaks convention, discarding the obvious point of suspense by telling us who did it, and making us privy to this psychotic character’s lifestyle and habits. The film isn’t bothered about usual narrative logic, choosing to focus on the victim’s psyche and the kidnapper’s disturbing motive. It is the boyfriend’s obsession with finding out what happened to his girlfriend three years ago that drives the film, and with it the audience, to its devastating climax.
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