STUDIO: Criterion
RELEASE DATE: October 21, 2008
STARRING: Jack Lemmon, Sissy Spacek, and John Shea
WRITTEN BY: Costas-Gavras
DIRECTED BY: Costas-Gavras
FEATURES: Video interviews with Costa-Gavras, Joyce Horman (wife of Charles Horman), producers Edward and Mildred Lewis and Sean Daniel, and Thomas Hauser, author of Missing, the film's source
Interviews from the 1982 Cannes Film Festival with Costa-Gavras, Jack Lemmon, Ed Horman (father of Charles), and Joyce Horman
New video essay with Peter Kornbluh, author of The Pinochet File, examining declassified documents concerning the 1973 military coup in Chile and the case of Charles Horman
Video highlights from the 2002 Charles Horman Truth Project event honoring the twentieth anniversary of Missing, with actors Sissy Spacek, John Shea, and Melanie Mayron
Theatrical trailer
PLUS: A booklet featuring a new essay by critic Michael Wood, an interview with Costa-Gavras, the U.S. State Department's official response to Missing, and an open letter from Horman family friend Terry Simon

"We have investigated and been unable to find any trace of your son."

Missing is a dark, violent, depressing movie about a father's disillusionment with a government that has lied to him repeatedly and about the horrors of regimes gone out of control with power both abroad and in the States. It's a devastatingly depressing film from a politically active and vocal filmmaker, Costas-Gavras, who arguably found his biggest success with this 1982 drama that earned him a writing Oscar next to nominations for Best Picture, Best Actor (Jack Lemmon), and Best Actress (Sissy Spacek). Missing has timeless themes of corruption and a father's passionate search for the truth and Costas-Gavras shies away from nothing in a film that really must have shocked a country early in the boom of the Reagan '80s (the film was up against much happier and easier fare like E.T., Tootsie, and the winner that year, Gandhi. The fifth nominee was The Verdict, the film I believe should have won if not E.T.) Even if it is thematically relevant - government out of control always will be - how has Missing held up as a film in the last quarter-century? It's a mixed bag. There are elements - particularly Vangelis beautiful-but-intrusive score - that feel a little dated and, as a whole, Missing leaves me colder than I remember it. It's interesting because the amazing Jack Lemmon is one of the least "cold" actors in the history of the form and it's his passionate performance that drives the film and makes it worth watching 26 years later but Missing works almost solely because of him.

Missing opens with a blurry frame coming in to focus and then action. It's a symbol for the entire film in that it's about Ed Horman's (Lemmon) search for truth in Chile after his son goes missing during a bloody coup in 1973. He slowly and without the help of either the South American government or his own figures out the truth and allows what truly happened to his son Charlie (John Shea) to come into focus. Ed does get the help of Joyce Horman (Spacek), his daughter-in-law as he discovers the horrible truth. The film was an international sensation, winning the Oscar for screenplay and that year's Palme d'Or at Cannes. I love Lemmon's performance (he's one of my personal favorite actors) and the film is definitely worth seeing for it and Spacek's typically strong work, but something about Missing doesn't connect with me like it used to. Maybe the age of information has changed the way we approach movies like Missing, which was probably a startling indictment of corrupt governments in 1982 but the years that have followed have proven that what happened in Chile and what happened to the Hormans is not that tragically unique.

It doesn't help that Criterion's video transfer of Missing is a little off. The colors are nice and soft, as they should be, but there's a shocking amount of noise in the blacks and dark scenes. I tried to adjust my settings repeatedly, only to have to give in to what I would call a sub-par video transfer, something truly shocking for the DVD house that usually produces the best of the best. The audio track, available only in mono, is never distracting but, well, it's in mono, so it's a little flat. The film and the video may have been a bit underwhelming, but the special features on Missing are spectacular. A second disc (the first just includes the film and a trailer) contains a treasure trove of archival material including interviews, highlights from the Cannes Film Festival, a new video essay about the coup in Chile, and video highlights from the 2002 Charlie Horman Truth project. Even the booklet included with the Criterion edition of Missing is informative reading. Missing is not my favorite Criterion release of the year but fans of the film are unlikely to be anything less than blown away by the special features and viewers unfamiliar with it can watch two great actors giving two of their best performances and learn a little history in the process. Not every DVD can offer all of that.