Film: The Passenger
Director: Michelangelo Antonioni
Country: Italy
Released: February 1975
Runtime: 126 minutes
Genre: Slow Cinema
Studio: Carlo Ponti / MGM
Influenced: Wim Wenders, Steven Soderbergh, Theo Angelopoulos, Abbas Kiarostami, Chantal Akerman
Antonioni's The Passenger, the third of his trilogy of movies for producer Carlo Ponti and MGM, is a film that takes on a special power when watched in middle age or later life, exploring as it does that nagging feeling of paths not followed, different lives not lived and aspects of character unexplored. The Passenger's conception originated with Mark Peploe, a writer who had a simple story idea about a man who decides to take on the identity of another man. He developed the screenplay in collaboration with Antonioni to create a classic of existentialist cinema, exploring themes such as identity, alienation and the human desire for freedom and change.
The film stars then man of the moment Jack Nicholson as David Locke, a disillusioned journalist who is working in war-ravaged Chad on a documentary about post-colonial Africa. Locke then stumbles upon the dead body of a Englishman named Robertson who he'd met in his hotel the night before. Locke seizes the opportunity to shed his frustrated life by switching their passport photos, thereby assuming Robertson's identity. He also leaves behind a tape for his wife and his news agency, creating a ruse that it was he who died. The plot thickens when he discovers that Robertson was not simply a businessman but an arms dealer involved in clandestine activities. Now embroiled in this new, dangerous world, Locke goes on the run with a young architecture student (Maria Schneider) but is pursued by his wife, his agency and the mysterious people whom Robertson was involved with.
Locke's decision to exchange identities illustrates his deep dissatisfaction with his own life and his yearning for a fresh start. Antonioni makes clever use of the barren Sahara desert, the architecture of cities and even the interiors of rooms to reflect Locke's alienation and existential crisis, similar themes to those he explored in his his early trilogy of films – L'Avventura (1960), La Notte (1961) and L'Eclisse (1962). Antonioni's fascination with landscape, something he memorably explored in Zabriskie Point (1970), is also evident throughout the film, while The Passenger is also notable for its minimalistic dialogues and long takes, including the final seven-minute sequence, a technical marvel at the time.
Jack Nicholson's portrayal of the lead character, a man trapped in an identity that becomes increasingly perilous and restrictive, is often cited as one of his finest performances. The film's ending involves a famously long take where Locke is assassinated in a hotel room. Antonioni uses the setting of an open window to achieve an effect where we see the event unfold from a distance, echoing the themes of alienation and detachment prevalent throughout the film. While it received mixed reviews upon its release, The Passenger has since been reappraised and Antonioni's innovative visual style with its long, contemplative takes continues to inspire legions of filmmakers.
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