A woman disappears from a gas station while on vacation. But rather than a single event, 1988's The Vanishing (Spoorloos) presents the incident as kaleidoscoping layers of suspense. It's a brilliant work, very much in the tradition of Hitchcock. It's kind of a mix of The Man Who Knew Too Much and Rope.
From the title of the film and the picture of lead actress Johanna ter Steege in Criterion's thumbnail, I knew it was going to be about the woman she plays, Saskia, disappearing. I liked how the movie plays with this expectation, providing a series of preliminary events that could result in that titular vanishing. There's a brilliant scene when she and her boyfriend, Rex (Gene Bervoets), run out of gas in the middle of a long, dark tunnel. They both panic, get into an argument, and separate. Already, the film is loaded with issues related to character guilt and emotional need.
Given how brilliantly the movie builds from the point of view of Rex as he experiences Saskia's vanishing, I was surprised that the film shifted to the villain's point of view. Saskia's kidnapper is a chemistry professor called Raymond (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu) who, despite having a loving wife and children, is a sociopath interested in exploring the extremes of evil he's capable of perpetrating. He reminds one of Crime and Punishment and the aforementioned Rope.
The manipulations of Raymond and the filmmaker make The Vanishing a brilliantly harrowing experience. It's available on The Criterion Channel.
X Sonnet #1878
The dearly purchased picture turns itself.
To straighten frames, the fella buys a hearse.
As man would die to line a rotten shelf,
The sinking sun was rendered something worse.
Returning rodents foul the phones for weeks.
Exalted mice disturb the dreams of God.
At night, the timely mouse of fortune squeaks.
At parties, none would know the spot was odd.
Intruding sleep, too eager, caught a cold.
Distortion layered words across the box.
In younger cars, the chicken fries the old.
Beyond the boots, you might discover socks.
The empty kitchen fried the ghosts some eggs.
Befuddled beetles wiggle helpless legs.
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