THE VANISHING
A film review by Paultje Bakker
Copyright 1991 Paultje Bakker
Have you ever gone to a public place, like a shopping centre, or a pool, or a petrol station, and lost track of your friend/ sibling/wife/husband/child? Have they then inexplicably failed to show up at a pre-arranged meeting place, leaving you to torture yourself with horrible thoughts about what might have happened to them?
This is the topic of the newly released Dutch film, THE VANISHING. This is no horror movie, and yet it can be very scary; it evokes that mildly terrifying experience of loss and panic that most of us have had.
Although it's a Dutch movie, most of the dialogue is in French and almost all of the action is set in France. It's about a young Dutch couple who drive to France for their summer holiday, as young Dutch couples tend to do. They stop at a petrol station, and red-headed Saskia goes inside to buy a Coke and a Beer. She never returns. Her husband (Rolf?) freaks out, but is unable to locate her and eventually has to return to Holland. For three years he runs a desperate poster campaign to locate her. Then, .... well, I don't want to spoil it for you! Suffice to say that the plot takes a devious turn, and the movie climaxes in one of the most surprising and emotional endings I have ever seen.
And most distressing of all, it's 100% believable. SEE THIS MOVIE! and if anyone tries to tell you the ending, KILL THEM!
It's currently showing in Brisbane; I don't know about any other cities.
-- paultje bakker@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au --Paul Bakker email: bakker@batserver.cs.uq.oz.au .
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