Disappearance, The

Released by: Twilight Time
Released on: August 13, 2013.
Director: Stuart Cooper
Cast: Donald Sutherland, David Hemmings, John Hurt, David Warner Peter Bowles
Year: 1977
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The Movie:

Directed by Stuart Cooper in 1977, The Disappearance supposedly played on theater one time and then basically vanished. Yet, here it is, on Blu-ray and with two versions included - the feature version, which gets the high definition treatment and runs ninety-one minutes, and the director's cut, which is basically an extra, presented in standard definition, and runs about ten minutes longer. Cooper had previously directed Overlord in 1975 and Little Malcolm the year before (both out on home video from The Criterion Collection and The BFI respectively) but after helming The Disappearance he never made another feature and instead worked in television. So given that this one has been pretty much damn near impossible to see (which is surprising given the pedigree of talent appearing in front of the camera), how does it hold up? Well it's not always a perfect movie, it makes some missteps, but overall, yes, this will do quite nicely.

The story follow an assassin for hire named Jay Mallory (Donald Sutherland) who makes a good living in Montreal and under the employ of an organization never named. One on day just like any other, he enters his apartment and finds that his wife, Celandine (Francine Racette), has gone missing. He figures that since their relationship was often times tempestuous, that Celandine got fed up and left him but when he receives information from a member of the organization that employs him named Burbank (David Warner), it looks like this could be retaliation of some sort for the last job he completed. When Burbank himself goes missing shortly thereafter, Mallory becomes suspicious when he's assigned a job in England, particularly when they keep details scarce and don't tell him who he is to kill. With no small amount of trepidation, he takes the assignment in hopes that it will allow him to uncover the truth about his wife's disappearance.

Cooper's picture is intentionally confusing at times, it jumps around quite a bit and almost seems like it's doing everything that it can to alienate the audience. From there, as the movie continues, it does begin to make more sense and the non-linear portions of the narrative turn out to have some interesting impact not just on the structure of the movie but also how we interpret the events playing out in front of us. On top of that, and adding to the movie's genuinely bizarre vibe, is some intentionally distant acting from most of the principals, the kind that makes it easy to see why audiences at the time might have been a bit baffled by it, until you start to realize that you're seeing much of the events in the movie play out the way that Mallory might. It's not a first person perspective, per se, but we are meant to be confused by what we see and suspicious of how we see it and so Cooper sets out to keep us in that mind frame as the mystery plays out in front of us on the screen.

The film has got a great score that works in its favor and is quite beautifully shot, with cinematographer John Alcott doing a fantastic job of capturing some interesting locations in Montreal and in England as well. There's plenty of technical polish here to appreciate, this is a very good looking movie. The performances are interesting. Again, they're distant for the most part, particularly on the part of Sutherland and (current day real life wife) Racette, so evaluating them by traditional standards isn't really the right way to approach the picture. In the context not so much of the story being told but how that story is being told, they're quite good. Supporting efforts from Hemmings as one of Celandine's old flames and from Warner and Hurt of fellow employees of the organization are interesting and effective, and an amusing appearance from Christopher Plummer also noteworthy - but the bulk of the narrative revolves around the characters played by Sutherland and Racette. The end result falls somewhere between a noir inspired thriller and an art film with a few odd (and fairly unnecessary) sex scenes thrown in to up the titillation factor just a bit. It doesn't always work, there are issues with the pacing in the early part of the movie and at times it's just too distant, but when it does work, which is more often than not, it's very good.

Video/Audio/Extras:

It's hard to say for sure but it looks like The Disappearance was shot with an intentionally soft look in mind because, yeah, it looks a bit soft for most of its running time. With that said, the picture is quite clean and shows nice color reproduction. Detail isn't quite reference quality but it certainly trumps what standard definition could offer. There are a few darker scenes where shadow detail drops a bit but this is more or less nitpicking on my part. There's no evidence of any heavy filtering or noise reduction. The film's grain structure appears to be free of any digital trickery and all in all, the movie translates reasonably well to Blu-ray.

The DTS-HD Mono mix, in the film's original English, is excellent. There's a lot more depth here than you'd probably expect from an older feature like this, you'll notice this in the outdoor scenes where the wind picks up and also in the way that the score is used throughout the movie. Dialogue is always crystal clear, levels properly balanced and there are no problems with any trace of hiss or distortion. The movie sounds great. No alternate languages or subtitles are provided.

The main extra on the disc is the inclusion of the original director's cut of The Disappearance, presented as in the bonus features in standard definition. The main differences between this and the version presented in HD is the way that Donald Sutherland's character is fleshed out, here we learn more about his motivations and quirks. The film is presented and edited quite differently, however, and the pacing and ton of the movie are noticeably altered. It also seems obvious that the elements for this version weren't in the same sort of condition as those used for the transfer for the feature. It's perfectly watchable, but more print damage is noticeable.

The disc also includes a nine minute long An Interview with Stuart Cooper in which he talks about his life and his career. He discusses meeting John Hurt while in school and notes how he wound up meeting one of The Beatles. He also talks about his feelings on the different versions of the movie and what it went through and does so without mixing words. Complimenting this rather interestingly is the fifteen minute excerpt from the U.S. release of The Disappearance. Even in this abridged form it's easy to see why Cooper would be upset about what happened to the movie, as it's very, very different. Of course, the score (which is decent in its own right) is completely redone but the editing and overall flow of the opening bits we're shown is just not at all what Cooper obviously envisioned for the project.

Also found on the disc is an isolated score for the movie in DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 format. Menus and chapter stops are also included. Inside the keepcase is an insert booklet with an essay from Julie Kirgo that does a fine job of putting the odd history of the movie and it's different versions in perspective and which is absolutely worth a read.

The Final Word:

The Disappearance is an odd film but getting the chance to finally see it and in a very nice presentation and with some extras at that helps us to better understand the context in which it was made. The performances are odd but effective and the cast are solid but it's the visuals and score that stand out more than the acting at times. Not a perfect film, but an interesting one that takes some brave chances and Twilight Time's Blu-ray release is a good one.

Click on the images below for full sized Blu-ray screen caps!