The Vanishing is hard to talk about without giving too much away and uncovering a dreaded spoiler. It revolves around the simple premise of a young Dutch couple who go on holiday in France, only for the woman to mysteriously disappear. Cut to three years later - the woman’s disappearance remains unexplained and the man is still trying desperately to find out what happened to her. He (and we the audience) duly find out over the course of this riveting and disturbing thriller.
A Dutch/French co-production released in 1988, the movie’s main themes are the nature of obsession and the everyday mundanity of evil. These themes are expertly explored here by the late director, George Sluizer, who unwisely remade the film five years later for the American market – this US remake should be avoided at all costs, as the original release is by far the better film in every department (but especially so in the writing and acting on offer).
The version of the film I watched was the recent Studio Canal Vintage World Cinema blu-ray release. The image quality and sound on this blu-ray release are definitely an improvement on previous versions of the film available on DVD in the UK. Disappointingly, however, no extras are included.
To conclude, Stanley Kubrick was reportedly a huge fan of The Vanishing, so recommendations don’t come much higher in my opinion.
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The Vanishing
Donnadieu, Bernard-Pierre
(Actor),
Bervoets, Gene
(Actor),
Sluizer, Professor George
(Director)
&
0
more Format: Blu-ray
$50.57$50.57
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Format | Blu-ray, Widescreen, Dubbed, Multiple Formats |
Contributor | Sache, Bernadette Le, Latarjet, Tania, Steege, Johanna Ter, Bervoets, Gene, Donnadieu, Bernard-Pierre, Eckhaus, Gwen, Sluizer, Professor George See more |
Language | Dutch |
Runtime | 1 hour and 46 minutes |
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Product description
A Dutchman goes with his girlfriend's French kidnapper to learn her horrible fate.
Product details
- Language : Dutch
- Product dimensions : 1.52 x 13.46 x 17.02 cm; 68.04 Grams
- Item Model Number : CRRN2405BR
- Director : Sluizer, Professor George
- Media Format : Dubbed, Multiple Formats, Widescreen, Blu-ray
- Run time : 1 hour and 46 minutes
- Release date : 28 October 2014
- Actors : Donnadieu, Bernard-Pierre, Bervoets, Gene, Steege, Johanna Ter, Eckhaus, Gwen, Sache, Bernadette Le
- Dubbed: : French
- Studio : Criterion Collections
- ASIN : B00LUSUU38
- Number of discs : 1
- Best Sellers Rank: 13,707 in Movies & TV (See Top 100 in Movies & TV)
- 10,525 in Movies (Movies & TV)
- Customer Reviews:
Customer reviews
4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
224 global ratings
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Top reviews from other countries

Monty Marwood
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Vanishing (Spoorloos) - the original and the best (by far)
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 24 June 2020Verified Purchase
18 people found this helpful
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Tee Double You Bee Esq
3.0 out of 5 stars
Five star film, one star package...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 27 June 2020Verified Purchase
Spoorloos is a great film. Like an autoroute Wicker Man directed by Michael Haneke. The characterisation is nuanced and complex, the atmosphere can swing from comical to intensely creepy in the blink of an eye. Even the dated fretless bass and sax soundtrack can't mar the overall feel. However, the vanilla presentation of the film is criminal - no extras whatsoever, cheap-looking packaging and you'd be hard pushed to notice any discernable restoration that has gone on - some of the darker scenes are very grainy, almost like a knock-off dvd. It's a massive shame as it's great to have this superb film available again but this feels beyond rushed and opportunistic.
8 people found this helpful
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Niko
1.0 out of 5 stars
The box info is wrong
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 25 June 2020Verified Purchase
This is a UK version. The box specifically mentions the options for the audio: english, german, dutch. Except there’s no english track on the blu ray. How to spectacularly drop the ball.
Also: restored version?! Really? The ilage quality is terrible with noise and artifacts, particularly of course in the dark scenes. The tunnel scene during the opening is painful to watch, and the whole thing is a botched job. A semi-old movie having grain is fine, but this goes beyond that. Whatever the source for this « restoration » was... it didn’t do the job
Also: restored version?! Really? The ilage quality is terrible with noise and artifacts, particularly of course in the dark scenes. The tunnel scene during the opening is painful to watch, and the whole thing is a botched job. A semi-old movie having grain is fine, but this goes beyond that. Whatever the source for this « restoration » was... it didn’t do the job
6 people found this helpful
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Sebastian Rolfe
3.0 out of 5 stars
The ending?
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 1 November 2020Verified Purchase
This is a reasonably intriguing film which looks like it came from the early 70s or late 60s. Simple story of woman being abducted and kidnapper goading the victim's partner. It's quite intriguing but the emphasis on the ending is over blown. It's hardly earth shattering and given it's reputation it creates a sense of disappointment which casts a shadow over the rest of the film. It's an okay film - just don't expect too much. I also have to say that the soundtrack is astonishingly bad - some sort of avant garde screeching. And the fretless bass that only Jaco Pastorius could make bearable.
One person found this helpful
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Matilda
3.0 out of 5 stars
Great film, shoddy release.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 April 2021Verified Purchase
No questioning what a masterpiece this is, however this supposed upgrade in picture quality seems non existent. I've watched this on VHS, DVD and blu-ray now over the years and this has more in common with the VHS version. The tunnel scene at the beginning is almost unwatchable. I understand grain happens in movies but it was absurd. Definitely try and find a better edition that truly showcases this movie at it's best.


Matilda
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on 18 April 2021
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2 people found this helpful
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