29 of 29 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
an intense investigation of the self, May 9, 2006
Antonioni movies are slow paced (or as i see it not over-accelerated) in depth portraits of a transformation that takes place.. In 'L'aventura' it was the dissapearance of one of the characters and its subsequent effect on the people searching for her.. In 'La Notte' it was a transformation that took place in a marriage.. In L'eclisse Antonioni showed us a woman drifting from one relationship into another.. and so on, and so on... 'The Passenger' is another curious, enigmatic, detailed, and slow paced film that is impossible to solve or analyze to perfection - but even harder to ignore.. Antonioni's desert landscapes are the perfect backdrop for a man who seems to be so alone - and lost.. A man who changes his identity, maybe to escape his failed marriage (we can't be certain if this is the reason - everything is only hinted at) - only to face the same fate of the man whose identity he took.. This is one of Antonioni's most mysterious and most impressive films.. Jack Nicholson's performance is one of his best. This is what movies are capable of at their best.
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72 of 80 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A removal from what we call living..., October 8, 2003
Unlike Antonioni's two attempts at capturing the personal alienation brought about by the cultural changes of the 60s--Zabriskie Point and Blow-Up--The Passenger is a signficantly more grounded film that focuses as well on alienation, but uses a diversity of foreign cultures to underline one man's alienation from life regardless of location.
The two films prior to The Passenger, also set outside the director's native country, but now obviously dated, tried using specific individual cultural settings (America and England) to highlight the emptiness of human behavior in the face of shallow cultural values. The Passenger is a decidedly more timeless film because instead of focusing on a specific culture, it wisely focuses on an individual, a globe-trotting reporter, whose own focus is on war and revolution in third world nations.
David Locke begins to grow weary of his life that constantly exposes him to the negative forces between and within nations all too common in today's world (another reason this film is still tremendously fresh and powerful today). When another man with a similar appearance suddenly dies in a small remote African village hotel Locke himself is staying in, he assumes the other man's (Robertson's) identity and follows an international trail to keep the appointments in Robertson's little black book. This takes him from Africa to Germany to Spain.
Without giving too much away here, it becomes all too clear that Locke--now Robertson--wants to escape himself. Antonioni, in collaboration with brilliant scripter Mark Peploe, moves us with Locke/Robertson from place to place as he blindly follows his nose, or, more accurately, runs from other noses following him--one of which is his own. Another of them belongs to his wife who begins to believe her husband is still alive somewhere. Still others are those of the police. But the most dangerous noses are those of some of the same people Locke, while a reporter, passively interviewed. Now, as Robertson, his role is not so passive anymore.
In his haste to escape, Locke finds that Robertson was involved in a dangerous business that could result in the ultimate escape. This is a great film that fuses thriller elements with drama that penetrates because we see and understand what Locke thinks and does. Jack Nicholson's portrait of the escapee is right on the money; he sounds, at least half the time, as though he's not really sure that what he's saying is true, or that he can believe it--exactly what someone running from himself would sound like.
Antonioni emphasizes the isolation of people from each other in interesting visual ways. He often shoots scenes with the camera at a noticeable distance from the actors; we are physically removed from the action, and with this distance, there is the distinct feeling of what we see as observers being not really action, but a kind of indistinct or unclear version of action. As well, the camera intermittently closes up on Locke when he is doing nothing, or waiting, or is stuck in a rut (literally, in a sand rut when his vehicle is snagged in the African desert). These close-ups are a very effective counerpart to the distance shots; the first removes us from what could possibly be critical action, and the second hits us in the face with the opposite.
A real shame this is not on DVD. As of this writing (October 2003), the only DVD version is a Japanese Region 2 NTSC disc, very hard to find.
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33 of 35 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
"People disappear every day ... ", April 26, 2006
Jack Nicholson says the making of Michelangelo Antonioni's "The Passenger" was "the biggest adventure in filming I ever had in my life." That's saying plenty, and probably explains why the actor did his first solo commentary for the DVD. Nicholson clearly remains a disciple of his "Passenger" director.
The actor frets about talking over some of the master's mysterioso scenes, apologizing for "distracting" viewers. No worries -- Nicholson is great company, of course, and his memories of making "The Passenger" are rich and fairly detailed.
The restored "Passenger" made the rounds of art houses last fall. The film needs to be seen on a cinema screen but it's rewarding on DVD as well. Repeat viewings pay off as the movie reveals more of its secrets with every spin.
A second commentary track comes from screenwriter Mark Peploe ("The Sheltering Sky"), who based the tale on his experiences as a docu maker. Peploe's talk drags at times, but if you want to dig into the movie he provides a lot of detail. The journalist who shares the track just saw the film for the first time and adds nothing.
The remastered "Passenger" looks quite good for a 1970s movie, its images wear-free and mostly easy on the eyes -- a tad stringent or sun-bleached on occasion, probably by design. Images are widescreen, of course, enhanced for 16x9 monitors. The two-channel audio is good enough.
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