Vanishing

UPC: 037429161623

Studio: Criterion

MPAA Rating: NR   Contains:[Adult Situations, Not For Children]

Summary: 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. ~ Linda Rasmussen, Rovi

Category: Thriller

Awards: Best Supporting Actress – European Film Academy Best Foreign Film – National Board of Review

Features: New widescreen digital transfer, enhanced for 16x9 televisions
Original theatrical trailer
New and improved English subtitle translation
Optimal image quality: RSDL dual-layer edition

Vanishing

Format: Digital Video Disc (DVD)

Release Date: 09/18/2001

Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1 Vistavision

Audio: 1 USA & territories, Canada, 5.1 Dolby Digital 5.1

Runtime: 106 Minutes

Sides: 1

Number of Discs: 1

Language(s) French

Subtitles: English

Chapters: Side #1 --
0. Chapters
1. On the road [:10]
2. "The golden egg" [:05]
3. The gas station [:07]
4. A promise sworn [:05]
5. Missing [3:16]
6. Questions [4:15]
7. The professor & the house [:29]
8. Preparation [4:14]
9. Trial & error [2:56]
10. Rex's obsession [1:01]
11. Bois Vieux [2:56]
12. "I need to know" [2:41]
13. "An homage to the vanished" [2:12]
14. First meeting [3:36]
15. "Lemorne,Raymond" [2:09]
16. A sociopath's self-discovery [4:11]
17. Language barriers [4:07]
18. Refining his methods [1:36]
19. Spotting his target [6:11]
20. Saskia [1:42]
21. Back to the station [3:34]
22. Rex's decision [1:05]
23. The promise fulfilled [1:59]
24. Color bars [5:03]

Lucia Bozzola

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 Krabb? from Krabb?'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. ~ Lucia Bozzola, Rovi

Cast and Crew: Faustine Wunsche  Actor 
Caroline Apperre  Actor 
Ghislaine Gazaix  Actor 
Ian Magilton  Actor 
Mieke de Groote  Actor 
Jean Grandeau  Actor 
Didier Rousset  Actor 
Eric Jacquet  Actor 
David Bayle  Actor 
Lucille Glenn  Actor 
Raphaeline  Actor 
Pierre Forget  Actor 
Robert Lucibello  Actor 
Doumee  Actor 
Linda Wise  Actor 
Aziz Djahnit  Actor 
François Guizerix  Actor 
Roger Souza  Actor 
Tim Krabbe  Screenwriter 
Anne Lordon  Producer 
George Sluizer  Director 
George Sluizer  Producer 
George Sluizer  Screenwriter 
Hennie Vrienten  Composer (Music Score) 
Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu  Actor 
Gene Bervoets  Actor 
Johanna ter Steege  Actor 
Gwen Eckhaus  Actor 
Bernadette Lesache  Actor 
Tania Latarjet  Actor 

Country: France,Netherlands