Vanishing Point - Vanishing Existentialism

One weekday morning last week when others were probably reluctantly starting their working day, i found myself rewatching a film that i was too tired to finish the night before. The film was called Vanishing Point. I had heard about it a few months ago after it being related to another film i had watched and after seeing it in a charity shop for a meagre £2, despite the horrific front cover, i bought it.


The premise of the film, as i understood it before watching, was that a man with a nice car is chased by the police resulting in 'the ultimate car chase movie', and, as the first few minutes of the film pass by this is all the film seems to promise. However as the film moves on and begins to near the hour mark and not a lot has happened, you begin to question whether there is anything more to Vanishing Point than a fast car and Kowalski's farcical brooding stares. Of course, there is.

After his bet that he can get to 'Frisco before 3 tomorrow afternoon' and through his dangerous evasions of the police and motley crew of acquaitances and friends, it is clear that Kowalski, perfectly acted by Barry Newman, represents much more than a delivery driver on a tight schedule. Dubbed 'the last American Hero' by radio DJ Super Soul (Cleavon Little), Kowalski, in his iconic Dodge Challenger, is a symbolises the counterculture movement of the 60s as he evades any means of control by those above him, with aid from his likeminded friends. However they choose to completley remove themselves from society living in the outback away from civilisation, while Kowalski chooses to take them on - he does not want to vanish.

Vanishing Point is set in 1970 at a time when a paranoid white conservative government was trying to regulate the damage done to America by the 60s beat generation as well as restore the air of american exceptionalism to the outside world which had dimished after the Vietnam War. The film shows how the free spirits of the period who had such a significant influence on the culture of this time have been extradicted from "civilised" society and have to live in the wilderness. Kowalski's life ends in a ball of flame due to his refusal to become subservient to these new authorities and, instead of living his life as a vanishing point on the Colarado horizon, his life becomes a symbol of existentialism and is a message to all of those of the period to fight back against the rigid social parameters which they were expected to live in.

Vanishing Point is undoubtedly one of the best car chase movies of all time, but also one of the best and most inspiring adverts for existentialism in all forms of art. An obscure an overlooked film, which contains a powerful message which may make some of those "others" of today consider how they live their lives.