Spoorloos (The Vanishing) directed by George Sluizer

The Vanishing [1988], directed by George Sluizer (originally entitled Spoorloos), was a Dutch-French film adaption based on the novel The Golden Egg by Tim Krabbé. After its release, it was well received and achieved critical acclaim. In 1990, the film reached American shores only as an art house release (tcm.com). Becoming more popular in America, The Washington Post said in a review that it was "refreshingly free of manipulative scenes involving running bath water, jagged-edge cutlery and bunnies in the saucepan" (Howe). Thrilled by its success, Hollywood decided to remake the film in an English version. The Vanishing was remade and released in 1993, directed again by George Sluizer and starring Jeff Bridges, Kiefer Sutherland, Sandra Bullock, and Nancy Travis hit theatres nationwide. Unfortunately it did not receive the same accolades as the original.

After watching both films, The Vanishing (1988) version completely captivated me and was more enjoyable to watch due to the actors and the story being more authentic and refreshing then the 1993 version. I felt the actor and actress playing Rex and Saskia interpreted their emotions and terror more genuinely. The original film allowed the audience to draw conclusions through imagery and symbolism as opposed to the cliché American horror films that rely on music and words to guide the viewers. Watching the 1993 version, it felt as if the actors and actresses emotions were robotic and nonetheless I felt it was poor casting overall.

The two scenes I analyzed were chosen because I felt they were the most influential scenes capturing my sentiments about the 1988 version and comparing and contrasting the 1993 version. The first scene is where the audience is being introduced to Rex and Saskia or Jeff and Diane. The second scene is at the end where Rex dies and Jeff is saved.

In the introduction of Rex and Saskia, you could feel the love and passion between them.. The opening scene, where Rex and Saskia are driving down the road and talking to one another, being playful, helped the audience understand their relationship. When Saskia shares her dream with Rex about the golden egg, the audience comprehends how vulnerable she is and how intimate that moment is for them. It is something that brings them closer together.

After the conversation, a truck heads towards them and the headlights get brighter. After panicking because the truck just missed them, Rex insists Saskia gets out fo the car to be safer. Saskia is crying and is trying to convince Rex to wait while she looks for a flashlight. Rex abandons Saskia to get gas. The audiences witnesses how scared Saskia is by her screaming don't leave me. The audience is upset because we don't understand why after their playful and intimate moment, why Rex is walking away. The viewers feel a little disgust when Rex leaves her. Finally, Rex comes back with gas and discovers Saskia is not in the car. He is nervous and curious what has happened to her. He feels guilty that he left her and now she is gone. He drives the car out of the dark tunnel and Saskia appears in the bright light. A foreshadowing of what is about to come, a light at the end of the tunnel—symbolic of death. This scene was darker and relied very little on music, and more so on feelings, to set the mood.

Now comparing it to the 1993 version. In this version, the audience gets less time getting to know Jeff and Diane. We see Jeff and Diane interacting very briefly before they reach the tunnel. During this time, their dialogue is filled with Diane being anxious and Jeff feeling frustrated.

Now they enter the tunnel, and the car immediately starts making noises and stalls. Now Diane starts really getting upset and starts yells at Jeff. In return, Jeff is upset that Diane is yelling at him. Jeff tells Diane not to calm down and not get so upset.  Next the truck appears and Diane is really scared. Thankfully the truck whips around their car and misses them. Diane starts to panic again and looks for a flashlight. Jeff tells her they need to get out. She tells him to leave while she continues to look for the flashlight. After he walks away (because she tells him too) and he is at the end of the tunnel, she then yells for him not to leave her. It is difficult for the audience to feel much of anything when they start their introduction with bickering, and then it carries through the tunnel scene. The audience wasn't given enough time to develop feelings for the situation. Up until now, the only dynamic you see between the two of them is one of frustration. I found it difficult to connect with them compared to Rex and Saskia.

Finally, Jeff comes back with gas. Diane is not in the car and Jeff screams out her name. Jeff drives out of the tunnel looking for her. The sky is brighter and there is music in the background that lets the audience know he is concerned. Jeff drives for a short bit and then sees Diane sitting on the side of the road on a rock. He pulls over and open the door for her to get in. She gets into the car sulking and nothing is said.

The difference with this version is the lack of symbolism. There were no discussion of dreams or fears that occur between Jeff and Diane. Also, I have never viewed either Kiefer Sutherland or Sandra Bullock as romantic characters. It is part of why I thought the casting was poorly chosen. At this point, it was hard for me to move on and feel pain for Jeff when Diane comes up missing. It never felt that deep to begin with. It also made it hard for me to understand why Jeff became so obsessed with Diane when what little emotion they had with one another and how little time they had together.

The second scene I compared and analyzed was the ending of The Vanishing. In the 1988 version, Rex was buried alive. He is able to finally join Saskia just like her dream predicted.

The scene begins in terrifying fashion because we see Rex in a dark box, a flicker from the flame of his lighter, his hands and face, and we hear him screaming. As time passes, we see Rex fade into the tunnel where there is light at the end of it and Saskia waiting. We hear Rex call out Saskia name and then Saskia appears differently with a light illuminated around her smiling by the tree. The film ends with Raymond sitting at a table at his country home watching his family do yard work. You see a newspaper in the back of Raymonds car with the headlines of Saskia and Rex both missing and their picture. The ending is more terrifying to me because it continues to show what a sociopath Raymond is and it is hard to fathom how anybody could be that cold and heartless and yet appear so normal.

The ending of The Vanishing (1993) version was far more cliché American horror, typical ending of back and forth fighting to save a life, and good overrides evil, predictable and disappointing.

The ending is far longer in the 1993 version. We see Jeff in the dark box struggling to get out. We see a little bit of light flickering from his lighter. The audience hears Jeff breathing louder and it is more panicked sounding.

This part of the scene is long and it is where it mimics the typical American cliché ending in horror film. Rita and Barney go back and forth chasing one another through the woods, its dark, raining, and nobody knows where the other person is. The suspense of where somebody might pop up is evident. Eventually, Rita sees the shovel and dirt that Barney used to burry Jeff. In order to understand what happened to Jeff, Rita decides to turn the table on Barney and use his daughter to her advantage. Rita understands Barneys weakness and tells him he will have to go through everything she did to find out where his daughter is. So, Barney drinks the coffee that has chloroform in it and falls asleep.

After Barney falls asleep, Rita grabs the shovel and runs outside to find where Jeff has been buried. She digs Jeff up and opens up the box to find him laying there not knowing if he is dead or alive. Barney comes up behind her and they struggle in a fight again. Jeff starts waking up and then punches Barney to protect Rita. Jeff takes the shovel and kills Barney. Rita and Jeff hug as they realize their nightmare is over.The next scene Jeff and Rita are at dinner at a restaurant with a publisher (who is trying to get them to write a book). Coffee is placed down on the table and Jeff and Rita both say to the waiter that they don't drink coffee anymore, and the look at each other and giggle. Happy ending.

That is why the second version received such poor reviews. The audience fell in love with the original version because it didn't follow all of the typical clichés. It used feelings, emotions, and symbolism to tell the story. It was far more terrifying then using clichés and music like the 1993 version did.

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