Feature film
The Vanishing
Spoorloos
George Sluizer · 1988
Synopsis
Rex and Saskia, two young Dutch people, are driving south through France on holiday. They stop at a service station; she goes in to buy something to drink and does not come back. Nobody has seen anything, the investigation turns up nothing, and Rex spends the following years looking for her, to the point of giving up the rest of his life. His obstinacy eventually attracts the attention of the man who knows what happened, and who makes him a proposal.
Context
The film is drawn from a short novel by Tim Krabbé published in 1984, whose author wrote the adaptation himself. Gene Bervoets plays Rex, the Frenchman Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu the other man, and Johanna ter Steege, who was making her debut, received a European film prize for her role. Henny Vrienten composed the music, never released and not to be found even in the cinematheque's archives. The Dutch distributor wanted to release the film in only two prints; the reception of the world premiere in Montreal made him change his mind.
Who it is for
A little over an hour and a half, in Dutch and French, with very little music. It is worth knowing that the most frightening moments take place in silence and that nothing is ever explained.
Prizes and reception
Golden Calf for best feature film and the Dutch critics' prize in 1988; Stanley Kubrick considered it the most frightening film he had ever seen.