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The Passenger

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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.

Rated: 12A

Runtime: 2 hrs 6 mins

Genre: Dramas

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

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Reviews for The Passenger

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41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 >> >|
Arrange By:Fresh | Rotten | Comments | Name | Source | Date
 
 

Antonioni's moviemaking panache and distinctive narrative rhythm rarely have seemed so enticing and satisfying.

Full Review Source: Seattle Post-Intelligencer | comment Comment
11/17/05
William Arnold
William Arnold
Seattle Post-Intelligencer

Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger is more than the re-release of a great film -- it's a rare chance to see a major cinematic work, perhaps more than once, on the big screen.

Full Review Source: San Francisco Chronicle | comment Comment
11/11/05
G. Allen Johnson
G. Allen Johnson
San Francisco Chronicle

One of the deepest, most rigorous, and most rewarding films of its era.

Full Review Source: Boston Globe | comment Comment
11/11/05
Ty Burr
Ty Burr
Boston Globe

The Passenger...meanders but there is an interesting story of changed identity, international arms deals and a failed marriage.

Full Review Source: Reeling Reviews | comment Comment
11/11/05
Robin Clifford
Robin Clifford
Reeling Reviews

A film like few others that truly celebrates the journey itself, not the destination, and offers sights enough to behold that you feel like you've already arrived even before you've been anywhere.

Full Review Source: IGN Movies | comment Comment
11/10/05
Todd Gilchrist
Todd Gilchrist
IGN Movies

It's a movie from the past that still points ahead to the future: a cinematic rite of passage that raptly recalls a time when the world may have been as uncertain as now, but the movies were often lovelier and more daring.

Full Review Source: Chicago Tribune | comment Comment
11/10/05
Michael Wilmington
Michael Wilmington
Chicago Tribune

Nicholson deserved the 1975 Oscar for this, not Cuckoo's Nest.

Full Review Source: Film Threat | comment Comment
11/09/05
Phil Hall
Phil Hall
Film Threat

Antonioni's is a bleak, existential take on life, but...the sheer artistry of the director's technique make[s] for an exhilarating film experience.

Full Review Source: culturevulture.net | comment Comment
11/07/05
Arthur Lazere
Arthur Lazere
culturevulture.net

The film's final seven-minute shot is one of the great denouements in film history.

Full Review Source: Christian Science Monitor | comment Comment
11/03/05
Peter Rainer
Peter Rainer
Christian Science Monitor

Antonioni's 1975 landmark.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
11/03/05
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone

The Passenger isn't finally the masterpiece some have made it out to be, but it retains a singular intrigue: It's the first, and probably the last, thriller ever made about depression.

Full Review Source: Entertainment Weekly | comment Comment
11/02/05
Owen Gleiberman
Owen Gleiberman
Entertainment Weekly

The Passenger can make one nostalgic -- mostly, for a time when foreign films mattered.

Full Review Source: Newark Star-Ledger | comment Comment
10/28/05
Stephen Whitty
Stephen Whitty
Newark Star-Ledger

A needed antidote in a cinematic world that offers cheap, sugary cinematic snacks. This is a four-course meal.

Full Review Source: E! Online | comment Comment
10/28/05
E! Online
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The real Antonioni discovery this year is the DVD release of his first feature, Story of a Love Affair, a film noir from 1950.

Full Review Source: Film-Forward.com | comment Comment
10/28/05
Kent Turner
Kent Turner
Film-Forward.com

Even if one new person is turned on to the works of this brilliant filmmaker, then this film's long, strange trip will have been worth it.

Full Review Source: FilmJerk.com | comment Comment
10/28/05
Edward Havens
Edward Havens
FilmJerk.com

The Passenger has lost none of its power in 30 years.

Full Review Source: New York Observer | comment Comment
10/26/05
Rex Reed
Rex Reed
New York Observer

Leisurely and old-fashioned as The Passenger may be, this tour de force ending is worth the wait.

Full Review Source: Village Voice | comment Comment
10/26/05
J. Hoberman
J. Hoberman
Village Voice

The pain of human isolation and the stark beauty of the desert make this preferred director’s cut a giant re-release onto comparatively bland screens.

Full Review Source: Monsters and Critics | comment Comment
10/25/05
Ron Wilkinson
Ron Wilkinson
Monsters and Critics

This is an art film - and an Antonioni film at that - so what sounds like a thriller pregnant with romance and political intrigue is rather what we Americans call "ambiguous."

Full Review Source: Not Coming to a Theater Near You | comment Comment
10/18/05
Leo Goldsmith
Leo Goldsmith
Not Coming to a Theater Near You

A slippery, provocative work.

Full Review Source: ReelTalk Movie Reviews | comment Comment
10/12/05
Donald J. Levit
Donald J. Levit
ReelTalk Movie Reviews
 
 
41 - 60 (sorted by date; UK critics are listed first)
Text View | |< << 1 2 3 4 >> >|
all

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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