Zero Point by Richard C. Sarafian (20th Century Fox, 1971) is the ultimate chase film, with that little something extra that's difficult to determine. Written by the famous Cuban novelist Guillermo Cabrera Infante under a pseudonym (Guillermo Cain), it is theoretically the epic tale of a Vietnam veteran on a desperate flight in a Dodge Challenger. It is also a modern western, a dystopian allegory of our surveillance society and a declaration of love for the sports car.
It's no surprise then that it has become a cult film, adored and celebrated by Quentin Tarantino, Steven Spielberg, Bruce Springsteen, Richard Prince, Alberto Moravia, Guns'n'Roses, Primal Scream, Audioslave and countless others . More than fifty years after the film's release, the story and legends surrounding it have grown like wildfire. Today, Vanishing Point Forever by Robert M. Rubin brings together everything there is to know in one richly illustrated book.
A huge treat for anyone who loves film culture, Vanishing Point Forever explores the major impact of film on media, the arts and the automotive world, with pinpoint detail. Nearly 600 pages including a complete reproduction of the film's final script, pages from Cabrera Infante's early drafts, his own (never before seen) location photos, and a goldmine of production and publicity photos, documents ephemera, extracts, reflections and essays. Rubin details how the film came to be - from stars Barry Newman, Cleavon Little and Charlotte Rampling (so enigmatic she was cut from the main version), to the groundbreaking stunts coordinated by Hollywood legend Carey Loftin, to by its unique and remarkable half-life. In Sarafian's words, the film "didn't want to die."
Rubin's tribute also includes thoughts, interviews and quotes from a wide range of key people, including Cabrera Infante, Prince, Moravia, J. Hoberman, cinematographer and director Janusz Kaminski, Raymond Chandler, Jean Baudrillard, Jack Kerouac, Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, Lucy Sante, racing driver Sam Posey, and many more. Designed by COMA Amsterdam | New York, this is the latest graphic treasure from a long-standing collaboration with Rubin, whose most recent work, Richard Prince: Cowboy (Prestel, 2020), was awarded an award.
