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The Passenger (1975)
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Reviews Counted:63
Fresh:57
Rotten:6
Average Rating:8.1/10
Consensus: Antonioni's classic, a tale of lonely, estranged characters on a journey though the mysterious landscapes of identity, shimmers with beauty and uncertainty.
Theatrical Release:16-06-2006
Synopsis: Originally released in 1975, The Passenger is, on the simplest level, a suspense story about a man trying to escape his own life. This haunting film is a portrait of a drained journalist, played by... Originally released in 1975, The Passenger is, on the simplest level, a suspense story about a man trying to escape his own life. This haunting film is a portrait of a drained journalist, played by Jack Nicholson, whose deliverance is an identity exchange with a dead man. The film was shot on location and takes Nicholson on an incredible journey through Africa, Spain, Germany and England. As with all of Antonioni's work, however, there is another dimension. From beginning to end we are witnessing a probing study of the human condition. The protagonist's fate reflects each individual's own private thoughts about real and/or imagined destiny. The climax of the film, alone – a final sequence lasting seven minutes and taking eleven days to shoot is truly a synthesis of the movie and a tribute to the director's art. Antonioni, in talking about his motion picture, says: "I consider The Passenger my most stylistically mature film. I also consider it a political film as it is topical and fits with the dramatic rapport of the individual in today's society." The Passenger brought together two of the screen's most exciting personalities, Jack Nicholson and Maria Schneider, who had become an overnight sensation opposite Marlon Brando in "Last Tango in Paris." The Passenger is based on an original story by Mark Peploe and was filmed from a screenplay by Peploe, Peter Wollen and Antonioni. This preferred director's cut is the version of the film that was originally released in Europe under the title Professione: reporter. --© Sony Pictures Classics [More]
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Jenny Runacre, Ian Hendry
Starring: Jack Nicholson, Maria Schneider, Jenny Runacre, Ian Hendry, Steven Berkoff, Charles Mulvehill
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Screenwriter: Michelangelo Antonioni
Story: Mark Peploe
Screenwriter: Mark Peploe
Producer: Carlo Ponti
Studio: Sony Pictures Classics
Reviews for The Passenger
A bleak and moving drama with reflective performance from Jack Nicolson
A classic of a difficult and alienating kind, but one that really does shimmer in the mind like a remembered dream.
Thanks to Luciano Tovoli's magnificent cinematography of the African desert and the arid Spanish countryside, we gain a potent sense of Locke's internal emptiness.
Nicholson gives one of his best performances in this magnificently shot and lingeringly powerful thriller.
Boasting a great performance from Nicholson, Antonioni's third English-speaking film, arguably his last great work, moves with the unhurried pace, visual sophistication and tight tonal control that mark his oeuvre at the height of his creative powers.
What is more interesting than the 'whys' and 'hows' of the plot however, are the 'where' and 'when.'
Sure, it's obstinately slow, but what an eye this man has. Every frame is fascinating.
The Passenger has more than its share of virtues...that still retain their power after nearly 30 years.
What in different hands would have been a bombastic psychological thriller becomes a stark study of existential alienation.
As usual, Antonioni's pace is langorous, but The Passenger is never less than compelling.
A fascinating and haunting film that played to the strengths of both actor and director.
Latest News for The Passenger
July 31, 2007:
Remembering Michelangelo Antonioni
Italian director Michelangelo Antonioni, who gave the world such influential films as L'Avventura, Blow-Up, and The Passenger, died Monday at the age of 94. More...
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