Vanishing Point

A Dodge Challenger running trough the asphalt of the American southwest, the radio is turned on KOW radio with plenty of soul and funk music, the sun is burning, and rebellion is in the air, and sex drugs and rock n'roll are nearby, this is the spirit of "fear and loathing in las vegas", but from another persoective, because we are in the middle of a huge inter state car chase, this is "Vanishing Point"

Kowalski (Barry Newman) is a former lot of things, a former Vietnam war hero, a former police officer, a former motorcycle and destruction dirby racer, and a former boyfriend of a surf queen, the man has lived a rich life, and now he is a car delivery driver, a true rebel soul addicted to an absolute concept of freedom, so after he delivers a Chrysler Imperial he refuses to take rest, and starts his next journey right away, delivering a white Dodge Challenger to San Fransisco, and while enroute he refuses to pull over when asked to do so by motorcycle cops, this act will be the ignitiono of a major chase through four states, a mystical journey, where he will cross path with death many times, and where he will meet allegories of counter culture elements, a sort of a modern day Greek mythology hero in the American Southwest.

This mythological journey is set on the root music of the south, soul and gospel, provided by Dj Super Soul (Cleavon Little) the blind guide of Kowalski who considers him "the last American hero to whom speed means freedom of the soul. The question is not when's he gonna stop, but who is gonna stop him. ", and when Kowalski goes off the road to avoid opression, he meets very symbolic characters, each and every one helping him to cheat the authroties and death itself, a rattlesnake, a snake catcher (Dean Jagger), a biker and his naked girlfriend, a sect in the middle of the dester. He also has the chance to meet the ghosts of his own past, his motivation is as pure as his white shirt and the colour of his car, when a man loses all what matters to him, he still has his freedom, his free will, and the endless road of destiny, I think I will stop here, because this movie cast layer over layer of meaning and wisdom, that ask for interpretation, and that are a snapshot of the post Woodstock America, with drugs and freedom and race issues, you can almost feel that the air is heavy with ghosts of the happenings on these roads, and the region itself, and that's what makes Kowalski's journey infinitly Interesting.

A cult classic by all means, a movie that will haunt you, vanishing point is the point in perspective where two parallel ends meet, by going as fast as possible with pure motives, Kowalski reaches the line between the real and fictional, this world and the other, what He is and what He wanted to be, indeed on this endless highway of life is a merging point ahead, Kowalski managed to reach it because he managed to become a light bolt moving ahead, that's what everybody aspires to become perhaps, the gates of eternity are ahead, but unfortunatly nobody knocks, that's my modest interpretation of that monument, and you will surely enjoy it and have your own interpreation of it, but I certainly hope that somewhere on the highway, this Dodge Challenger is cruising ahead with no particular destination, a remake is in preparation by Richard "Donnie Darko" Kelly, I surely hope he won't screw it.

Year: 1971
Director: Richard Sarafian
Strarring: Barry Newman, Cleavon Little, Dean Jagger