matthew d
A slow burn missing person mystery and cold crime thriller.
Stuart Cooper's paranoia thriller The Disappearance (1977) takes the romantic rising paranoia of Don't Look Now and the haunting intrigue of Klute out into the Canadian winters of Montreal for a chilling atmospheric tale. The backdrop of Canada's frost bitten sheer cold becomes surreal fear as anything can occur in that desolate icy space in The Disappearance. The cozy home's production design and Robert Farnon's romantic scoring offset the outside isolation with a striking juxtaposition.
Derek Marlowe's novel and Paul Mayersberg's screenplay is a flourish of intricate plotting, complex twists, surprising reveals, shocking kills, and haunting criminal underworlds. The main story is all marriage drama about unrequited love and tender feelings, which is flooded in a deluge of murder and mystique. The Disappearance is one of cinema's all time great scripts. Memorable lines, timeless themes, and captivating characters shroud The Disappearance with interesting aspects.
The Disappearance is directed by Stuart Cooper's keen eye for dreamy imagery and surreal visuals that force the viewer to experience fond memories and past mistakes alike in a neat haze of editing. John Alcott's cinematography is so creative as he finds the most unorthodox perspectives, angles, and locations to ensure that The Disappearance looks as isolating and frozen as possible. Down long sidewalks, inner ship corridors, endless forest surrounded roads, and winding manor halls. Every wide shot makes Donald Sutherland's leading man look like the last man alive.
The avant-garde cuts in The Disappearance are not unlike Sutherland's previous paranoia thriller Don't Look Now's influential editing style. The Disappearance is so mysterious that it was actually unknown who edited the theatrical version's spliced together style, wherein scenes jump from past to present in a fog of memory. Apparently, Eric Boyd-Perkins originally edited the film's standard in order original, but the version everyone has seen was brilliantly re-cut by "film doctor" Fima Noveck into the unforgettable masterpiece it is now.
Donald Sutherland's protagonist is a lonesome assassin named Jay Mallory, who wife goes missing. Sutherland is as cool as the contract killer Mallory as he is as the reserved private detective Klute. He is cool, calm, suave, and intimidating like you've never seen Sutherland before. He also pulls off being the romantic hero with a loving and likewise distant presence all appearing before you with Donald Sutherland's signature endearing persona. Similarly, Francine Racette plays Sutherland's wife and love interest called Celandine with her distinctly heavy Canadian accent, alluring face, intriguing presence, and sympathetic character. She perfectly matches Sutherland's tone as they exhibit genuine chemistry and realistic interactions.
I would be remiss not to mention The Disappearance's wonderful supporting cast of cinema icons. Sir John Hurt is delightful a very young middle man named Atkinson in the assassination company called "The Office." He's likable and charismatic the second you meet his youthful and inexperienced assassin courier. On the other hand, Christopher Plummer is talked about mostly by other characters until you finally meet his unsettlingly confident gentleman with a startling gravitas named Deverell. His encounter with Sutherland is awesome with unbearable suspense!
I really liked David Warner's assassin courier called Burbank. His mild mannered, paranoid, and afraid performance is really interesting, especially opposite the steadfast Sutherland. David Hemmings gets a fantastic scene with Sutherland that is laden in jealous and uncertain undertones. Michele Magny's depiction of a cold, estranged, jealous sister named Melanie is great too. Lastly, I rather enjoyed Virginia McKenna's subtle acting as a jealous unhappy wife called Catherine. Every actor and actress in The Disappearance rises to the occasion to challenge Sutherland to deliver a mighty role.
In all, The Disappearance is a forgotten magnum opus from Stuart Cooper, unfairly panned, and tragically bombed at the box office. It's dark mood, warped cinematography, stellar direction, careful nuanced acting, lovely music, all star cast, surprising twists, gripping plot, suspenseful kills, and innovative editing are all worth seeking out.
Rated 5/5 Stars •
Rated 5 out of 5 stars
03/31/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The Disappearance is an interesting romanctic thriller (no not porn... that would be a thrill of a romantic nature or with romantic gestures). Featuring Donald Sutherland as an international assassin who is grappling with the disappearance of his beloved but wandering wife as well as a new target, it is a simple tale told... rather complicatedly. Using a series of flashbacks interwoven with current happenings, the film can get a little confusing. This is of course done to produce a red herring and allow for the twist ending but the ending isn't as much a twist as you might think. In fact, it's pretty obvious the outcome of the film even if the reasoning for it isn't. And this is where the films fails. Had the flashbacks been more about clues as to what was truly going on, then they would be more relevant. As they are, the flashbacks help to develope the relationship between Sutherland and his wife (played by Francine Racette) but do little more than pad the film and delay the eventual outcome. The film does look quite nice though thanks to the work of cinematographer John Alcott (A Clockwork Orange, The Shining), and while the performances of the actors are all well done, it just doesn't live up to its potential.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A hitman wonders why or who his wife has left him for as he takes on a new assignement. Plods a bit but has enough twists at the end to make it a reasonable view. It looks chilly in Montreal.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/13/23
Full Review
Audience Member
A hitman wonders why or who his wife has left him for as he takes on a new assignement. Plods a bit but has enough twists at the end to make it a reasonable view. It looks chilly in Montreal.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
01/28/23
Full Review
Audience Member
The visual eye and fragmentary narrative style of Nicholas Roeg are the clear influences on this minor wintry thriller starring Donald Sutherland as an emotionally distant hitman searching for his wife while taking on a new contract. From a plot point of view there are no real surprises with Cooper and screenwriter Paul Mayersberg also borrowing the bittersweet and cynical endings of Robert Aldrich's 'Hustle' and Mike Hodges 'Get Carter' to bring their narrative to a close. Montreal locations give the film an other-worldly edge at times similar to that of early Cronenberg, one that it inevitably looses when the story moves to the UK.
There is some interest to be had from how the film portrays its society of hitman in the same jaded way as Le Carre portrays the British Secret Service - though any ambiguity about Sutherlands's associates is negated by them all being played by the always distrustful likes of David Warner, David Hemmings, John Hurt and Peter Bowles. Sutherland himself is icily convincing as the reptilian assassin, emotionally breaking down only, fatally so as it turns out, at the end of the film.
Rated 3/5 Stars •
Rated 3 out of 5 stars
01/21/23
Full Review
Audience Member
Passable Canadian entry with Donald Sutherland hired to carry out a hit on his boss, who he suspects is involved with his wife's disappearance. Made when Sutherland would frequently be seen at Montreal Expos games.
Rated 2.5/5 Stars •
Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars
02/24/23
Full Review
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