The Vanishing
Region 1 DVD Cover
Directed by	George Sluizer
Produced by	Anne Lordon George Sluizer
Written by	Tim Krabbé George Sluizer
Starring	Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu Gene Bervoets
Release date(s)	October 27, 1988 December 20, 1989 1990
Running time	107 min.
Language	English French Dutch
All Movie Guide profile
IMDb profile

The Vanishing (Spoorloos) is a film directed by George Sluizer and produced by Anne Lordon and George Sluizer. Based on the novel The Golden Egg by Tim Krabbé it was released internationally in 1988 and is in French and Dutch. The film was later remade by Sluizer in English, but this was poorly received. Image File history File links No higher resolution available. ... George Sluizer (born June 25, 1932 in Paris, France) is a French filmmaker. ... George Sluizer (born June 25, 1932 in Paris, France) is a French filmmaker. ... Tim Krabbé (born April 13, 1943 in Amsterdam) is a distinguished Dutch journalist and novelist. ... George Sluizer (born June 25, 1932 in Paris, France) is a French filmmaker. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_Netherlands. ... October 27 is the 300th day of the year (301st in leap years) in the Gregorian Calendar, with 65 days remaining. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_France. ... December 20 is the 354th day of the year (355th in leap years) in the Gregorian calendar. ... 1989 (MCMLXXXIX) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... Image File history File links Flag_of_the_United_States. ... 1990 (MCMXC) was a common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ... Film is a term that encompasses individual motion pictures, the field of film as an art form, and the motion picture industry. ... George Sluizer (born June 25, 1932 in Paris, France) is a French filmmaker. ... The Golden Egg (Het Gouden Ei) is a Dutch psychological thriller novel written by Tim Krabbé, first published by Uitgeveriij Bert Bakker in 1984. ... Tim Krabbé (born April 13, 1943 in Amsterdam) is a distinguished Dutch journalist and novelist. ... 1988 (MCMLXXXVIII) was a leap year starting on Friday of the Gregorian calendar. ... The Vanishing is a 1993 thriller starring Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, and Sandra Bullock. ... The English language is a West Germanic language that originates in England. ...

Story

A Dutch couple, Rex Hofman (Gene Bervoets) and Saskia Wagter (Johanna ter Steege), are on a cycling holiday in France. Their car runs out of gas and they are stranded inside a tunnel. They quarrel for a while, but make up and eventually get going again.

Later they stop at a gas station. Here Saskia goes into the shop for drinks and never returns. Rex waits, getting more worried and nervous by the minute as Saskia does not emerge. He soon starts to question people if they have seen her, but no one has any idea as to where she is. The only clue he has is a blurred photo he took of the surrounding area, in which he can just barely make out her red hair in a group of people next to the gas station entrance.

Rex can not accept his loss and three years after her vanishing he still compulsively looks for her. He has a new girlfriend, but she is so fed up with his obsession to understand Saskia's ultimate fate that she leaves him. His quest even results in him explaining her story on television.

In a series of intermittent flashbacks, Raymond Lemorne (Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu), a respectable, though quirky, middle-class chemistry teacher, the kidnapper of Saskia, appears both alone and with his family, intricately plotting and planning his scheme to capture a random woman and murder her.

Eventually, Raymond, fascinated by Rex's fanatical compulsion to know what happened to Saskia, confronts Rex and admits to her kidnapping. He explains that he felt the need to test himself, to know whether he deserved others' high opinion of him, by finding out whether he could commit what for him was the ultimate act of evil. Rex's ultimate curiosity concerning Saskia keeps him from killing Raymond, which Raymond is fully aware of. Raymond finally invites Rex to the very same park and gas station where Saskia disappeared, and simply tells Rex that if he drinks a cup of coffee, supposedly spiked, he will know what happened to Saskia. After tormenting himself in indecision, Rex eventually drinks the concoction, falls unconscious, and wakes up to find that he has been buried alive, realising that Raymond has tricked him into his death. For Raymond, a claustrophobe, this is his worst nightmare come true.

Cast

The cast includes:

• Bernard-Pierre Donnadieu
• Gene Bervoets
• Johanna ter Steege
• Gwen Eckhaus
• Bernadette Le Saché
• Tania Latarjet
• Lucille Glenn

The music was produced by Henny Vrienten. It was edited by George Sluizer and Lin Friedman. The art director was Santiago Isidro Pin. Sound was managed by Piotr van Dijk. Photography was directed by Toni Kuhn. It was adapted by George Sluizer and the screenplay was written by Tim Krabbé from the novel, The Golden Egg. Johanna ter Steege (born May 10, 1961 in Wierden) is a Dutch actress. ... Henny Vrienten was the singer, songwriter and bass guitar player of the popular eighties ska pop band Doe Maar from the Netherlands. ... Tim Krabbé (born April 13, 1943 in Amsterdam) is a distinguished Dutch journalist and novelist. ... The Golden Egg (Het Gouden Ei) is a Dutch psychological thriller novel written by Tim Krabbé, first published by Uitgeveriij Bert Bakker in 1984. ...

Awards

• European Film Award, Best Supporting Actress, Johanna ter Steege (1988)
• Nederlands Film Festival, Dutch Film Critics Award, George Sluizer (1988)
• Nederlands Film Festival, Golden Calf (Best Film), George Sluizer, Anne Lordon (1988)

Johanna ter Steege (born May 10, 1961 in Wierden) is a Dutch actress. ... George Sluizer (born June 25, 1932 in Paris, France) is a French filmmaker. ... George Sluizer (born June 25, 1932 in Paris, France) is a French filmmaker. ...

Trivia

• This film was #55 on Bravo's 100 Scariest Movie Moments.

This article is about the U.S. cable network. ...

See also

• The Vanishing (1993 film)

The Vanishing is a 1993 thriller starring Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Nancy Travis, and Sandra Bullock. ...

External links

• Spoorloos at the Internet Movie Database
• Spoorloos (1988) A collection of reviews of the film.
• Repackaging Rage: The Vanishing and Nightwatch An essay comparing the film with its American remake.
• Spoorloos (The Vanishing) Review from a British magazine.
• The Vanishing Review by Roger Ebert
• The Vanishing (1988) on Rottentomatoes.
• The Vanishing (Spoorloos) Qnetwork review.
• The Vanishing (Spoorloos)
• Criterion Collection essay by Kim Newman