American Lobotomy: When Hollywood Happens to Great Foreign Cinema

"Now how do you feel about Glitter?"

American Lobotomy: When Hollywood Happens to Great Foreign Cinema

The Original:  Spoorloos "Traceless" (1988) Netherlands/France directed by George Sluizer 

Courtesy of Criterion

George Sluizer's eerie adaptation of Tim Krabbé's novella "The Golden Egg" was a blunt case study of obsession and psychological precision revolving around the sudden and inexplicable disappearance of a wife on vacation- and the husband who cannot stop searching for her.  The film won accolades across Europe and the US alike, including a nomination for the Best Foreign Language film of 1988 in America.


The Post-Op:  The Vanishing (1993) USA directed by George Sluizer

"So Sandra, did he make you dress up like Eva Braun?"

Add Sandra Bullock, Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Bridges and stir generously.  Separate dignity and originality from original and gently fold into pot.  Re-heat until boiling and sprinkle cliches until palpable.  Serve at local Cineplex.

WTF? Moment

In a final coup de grace, the film proceeds to the original, horrifying ending- only to continue with a rewritten, spoon-fed, anxiety assuaging Hollywood ending designed to bring a reassuring smile to the lips of the American audience- lips now freed from moving while reading the original's subtitles.
Bonus WTF- Dutch filmmaker George Sluizer, either seduced by Hollywood or chloroformed at a rest stop, comes to Hollywood and willingly participates in his own critical suicide by aborting- I mean, remaking- his own film.

Et Tu Georgie?