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| The freedom of the road. |
The smile on the face of Kowalski in the final seconds
confirms the longing for death as the only possible liberation, a notion that was
prominent in the work of the German New Wave film director Rainer Werner
Fassbinder, and that’s not a spoiler, freedom is the crux of Richard Sarafian’s
1971 movie Vanishing Point.
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| Kowalski. |
Heroism, in its
purest definition is an appetite for freedom, a desire to live more intensely.
Kowalski possesses both these traits. But the realisation of heroism “depends
upon the liveliness of the potential hero’s imagination, upon how far he can
understand his own latent needs, and devise an outlet for them”. And
Kowalski seems to be one of those romantics who cannot translate his
“bird’s-eye views” back into everyday life - hence his penchant for fast
driving on the public highway and his use of amphetamines. [1]
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| 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T 440 Magnum. |
Kowalski (Barry Newman) is a car delivery driver who drops
off a black Chrysler Imperial in Denver Colorado late one Friday night, doing a
quick turn around he insists on delivering a white 1970 Dodge Challenger R/T
440 Magnum that has to be in San Francisco by Monday. Calling in to a parking
lot frequented by bikers he score’s some Benzedrine to keep him awake for the
long journey, betting his dealer Jake (Lee Weaver) he can get the car to San
Francisco by 3pm Saturday, a trip of nearly 1000 miles! High on bennies and
determined to win his bet he leads the Highway Patrol on a chase across four
western states. Catching Kowalski turns into a massive police operation that attracts
the gaze of the national media and particularly a local blind DJ called Super
Soul (Cleavon Little). Through a series of flashbacks, we find out that
Kowalski is a Vietnam War veteran with a Medal of Honor for bravery, his
girlfriend drowned in a swimming accident, and that his career as a
twice-promoted police officer ended when he was dishonorably discharged in
retaliation for preventing his partner from raping a young girl in the back of
their patrol car. A stint as a motorcycle speedway rider and a stock car driver
also ended in failure. After that, he was reduced to being a demolition derby
driver.
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| Super Soul. |
This classic American road movie is based on two
actual events, the first about a disgraced San Diego police officer and the
second a high-speed pursuit of a man who refused to stop and was killed when he
crashed into a police roadblock. The film was directed by Richard C Sarafian
probable best known for his TV work on series such as Maverick, Dr Kildare, 77 Sunset Strip and Gunsmoke. Like another of 1971’s road movies Two-Lane Blacktop, Vanishing
Point was not a commercial success on its initial release but since has
become a cult classic. The Quentin Tarantino half of grindhouse Death Proof (2007) features a Dodge Challenger with the
same license plate (OA 5599) as the one on Kowalski car and references
Sarafian film by name repeatedly calling it ‘one of the best American films
ever made’
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| Delaney and Bonnie. |
The film includes a great period soundtrack that features
one of my own favorite band’s Delaney and Bonnie who can also be seen in the
film along with Rita Coolidge and David Gates as the Rev. J. Jessie Hovah’s
Christian band.
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| Great period poster. |
Similar to the two bikers in the 1969 road movie Easy Rider it’s a film of its time highlighting
the romantic outsider hero figure and
the wide-open vistas, a fast car on a dusty highway, a minimalist
master class but a beautiful film to look at. Kim Carnes sings in the end credits, “Nobody knows, nobody sees, till the light of life is ended and another
soul goes free.” Which I think would have made a great tag line?
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