Spoorloos (1988)
AKA: The Vanishing; L’Homme Qui Voulait Savoir
Directed by: George Sluizer
Starring: Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu (Raymond), Gene Bervoets (Rex), Johanna ter Steege (Saskia)
Country: Netherlands, France European Cinema
Language: Dutch, French (English Subs)
Runtime: 01:46:20
Genres: Kidnapping, Mystery
Plot – Spoilers:
Rex and Saskia are a Dutch couple driving on holiday into France. Saskia is playful and Rex seems smitten – everything looks perfect. Until Rex leaves a terrified Saskia alone in a dark tunnel and heads to fetch petrol after their car runs out of gas.
But they soon make up and are all set to continue on with their trip. Saskia steps into a store to pick up a couple of drinks but doesn’t return, which puzzles Rex who’s parked just a little away. As the hours roll by he gets panicky and is convinced she’s been kidnapped. In a way the tunnel incident serves as a guilt-driven pivot for Rex’s obsession in finding out what became of Saskia.
Meanwhile, Raymond is a Frenchman with a regular family. We see him watching Rex and Saskia as they pull up into a gas station. Raymond recently bought a remote cabin and has been running mock-tests on chloroforming women and the audibility of screams from the cabin…
If a list of the greatest relatively unknown movies were drawn up, Spoorloos would surely make the Top 10.
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This site has some of the best movies I’ve ever seen.
A really good movie. The ending was not what I was expecting.
There’s also an American remake called The Vanishing that stars Jeff Bridges and Sandra Bullock. I thought this plot sounded familiar. Like this one better. 🙂
The best part of the movie was that detail of the photograph of teenage Raymond after he mutilated himself in the fall. So so creepy.
Rex is not a Dutchman, but Belgian, I can hear it in his accent …. small detail =)
The eternal question, relativize the burden eternally, death seems easier…
A slow burn of a film, focusing on ‘not knowing / self-blame’ and how it can eat away at you. It also shows how fate / chance and the most trivial of things (a sneeze, the first letter of your surname) can seal your fate. The ending is unexpected though on second viewing you realize Raymond says there are worse things than killing and *spoiler* his reply to the traffic cop reveals what his is. An entertaining mystery of a film and a strong 3.5/5 key rings
Oops, meant given first name not surname