Review of The Disappearance (1977) by Robert H — 24 Apr 2010

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.