Blu-ray Review The Vanishing (1988) Blu-ray Review (1 Viewer)

[Matt Hough]

The Vanishing (1988) Blu-ray Review

George Sluizer’s original 1988 version of The Vanishing is a thinking man’s suspense picture. It has the kind of creeping-up-behind-you dread that keeps you watching even when things on the screen are rather mundane (on the surface; this is a movie with tons of subtext), and its moments of tension are prolonged very satisfactorily. If the director’s own English language remake in 1993 took this golden source material and cheapened it somewhat, the original is still the real deal: a masterful examination of cunning evil masked by innocuousness.

Studio: Criterion

Distributed By: N/A

Video Resolution and Encode: 1080P/AVC

Aspect Ratio: 1.66:1

Audio: French 1.0 PCM (Mono)

Subtitles: English

Rating: Not Rated

Run Time: 1 Hr. 46 Min.

Package Includes: Blu-ray

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Disc Type: BD50 (dual layer)

Region: A

Release Date: 10/28/2014

MSRP: $39.95

The Production Rating: 4.5/5

After a rather serious quarrel that threatens the fabric of their relationship, Rex Hofman (Gene Bervoets) and his girl friend Saskia (Johanna ter Steege) pull into a gas station/mini-mart for a bathroom break and some refreshments. When he turns around, Saskia is gone with no trace of what’s happened while Rex becomes more and more agitated by her abduction. Saskia has been taken by chemistry instructor Raymond Lemorne (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), a rather innocuous looking husband and father of two daughters as an experiment to see if he’s capable of pure evil. Rex spends three years searching for Saskia even sacrificing a potentially loving relationship with Lieneke (Gwen Eckhaus) due to his obsession, but years of search posters and television appearances goad Lemorne into toying with Rex in a series of missives informing him that he knows of Saskia’s whereabouts.Tim Krabbe’s book The Golden Egg provided the foundation for the script which he began writing with director George Sluizer before he was forced out of the collaboration. Sluizer gives equal focus to his two main male characters: Rex and Raymond, leaving one or the other for lengthy portions of narrative while we catch up with their stories. Raymond’s side of the narrative is told in multiple flashbacks jumping around in continuity but all of his various bits and pieces of story adding to our final understanding of his psychopathic tendencies (an early scene with spiders shows us his total lack of conscience and that he’s truly capable of anything macabre). Rex’s guilty conscience which leads to his overpowering obsession might have done with a bit more development, and his ultimate decision at the film’s climax seems just a trifle obtuse for someone who hasn’t heretofore exhibited a death wish, but these are quibbles. Sluizer directs the early scene in the tunnel with a really frantic kind of potential menace, and that same kind of impending trepidation invests all of the scenes with Raymond and Rex together in the film’s final third as Raymond twists the knife of knowledge tightly into his adversary’s obvious curiosity.Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu’s performance throughout makes his character’s quiet sense of menace and potential for violence something of true nightmare potential, his slightly smiling death mask of a face the kind of forgettable visage that the most successful serial killers use to their benefit. Gene Bervoets carefully modulates his Rex character from slightly caddish to genuinely remorseful through the course of the film, and he ages convincingly during the movie’s three-year interval with the stress and fixation of his search. In her first film, Johanna ter Steege has effervescence to spare making her abduction (which we’re finally allowed to witness horrifyingly with the director using irony brilliantly to watch her skirt potential danger only to then get swept back into its path) one of the high points of the movie. Gwen Eckhaus is fine if less memorable as the girl friend who concedes defeat to her predecessor’s continuing hold on her boy friend.

Video Rating: 4.5/5 3D Rating: NA

The film has been framed at 1.66:1 for this release and is presented in 1080p using the AVC codec. Sharpness is excellent throughout with fine detail in facial features, hair, and clothing seen in close-ups. Color is well modulated, too, with natural and believable skin tones. Contrast has been consistently applied. Black levels are very good if not quite always at their deepest. Subtitles are printed in white and are very easy to read. The film has been divided into 23 chapters.

Audio Rating: 4/5

The disc offers the mono soundtrack in PCM 1.0 (1.1 Mbps). It’s a fine, solid track, perhaps a bit light on the low end of the sound spectrum, but with dialogue firm and strong and mixed well with Henny Vrienten’s versatile music score and the natural sound effects for the picture.

Special Features Rating: 3/5

George Sluizer Interview (19:05, HD): conducted in 2014, the director discusses his work on the script, his casting process for the movie for the specific characters which he describes, his early clashes with star Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, and the film’s early reception and initial lack of a distributor.Johanna ter Steege Interview (14:24, HD): the actress talks about the audition for this, her first film role, her four weeks of training and rehearsals, her initial difficulty in working with Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu, and her thrill at being awarded the first European Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress for the movie.Theatrical Trailer (1:32, HD)Enclosed Pamphlet: contains a cast and crew list, information of the audio and video transfer, and film critic Scott Foundas’ celebratory essay on the movie.Timeline: can be pulled up from the menu or by pushing the red button on the remote. It shows you your progress on the disc and the title of the chapter you’re now in. Additionally, two other buttons on the remote can place or remove bookmarks if you decide to stop viewing before reaching the end of the film or want to mark specific places for later reference.

Overall Rating: 4.5/5

One of the great albeit subtle psychological thrillers of the past thirty years, the first version of The Vanishing is the one to see. Criterion offers a wonderful video and audio transfer of the low budget film even if the bonus feature package is somewhat skimpier than usual. Highly recommended!

Reviewed By: Matt Hough

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[Mike Frezon]

This is another Criterion title I am quite enthusiastic about this year, Matt. Glad to hear they did their usual fine job.

It has been added to my already long list that I'll be bringing with me to this year's November sale at Barnes & Noble (assuming it happens).