Michelangelo Antonioni's The Passenger see's Jack Nicholson star as a burnt out reporter covering the conflict in North Africa. Whilst staying in his hotel, he comes across the body of an arms dealer named Robertson who coincidentally looks very similar to Nicholson's Locke. He switches their I.D and decides to co-opt his identity.The Passenger is a film about someone in the midst of an identity crisis, it's about someone who wants to free the shackles of who they are. This is one of the most subdued performances I've seen from Nicholson. Here he feels like a character that has depth and struggles. It was refreshing to see him in a role like this rather then being a caricature of himself. Maria Schneider also does a good job as Nicholson's accomplice.The main problem i had with this film was it felt a bit lifeless. The film was technically sound, and it looks gorgeous due to being shot on location. When I was watching the film I couldn't work out if it was meant to be a thriller or a character study, in the end it's more of a character piece. Over-all The Passenger is a visually beautiful, with a great performance from Jack Nicholson, but the story didn't connect with me.

I'd previously watched Antonioni's BLOW-UP, which I really liked, so I thought I'd check out this 1975 film that was shot extensively in Spain, Germany, and the UK, standing in for Africa. I'm a big fan of Jack Nicholson as well, so this film is one that looked promising.Sadly this turned out to be not my cup of tea at all. I'm not knocking it, I'm just saying that it's one of those style-over-substance art-house movies that just doesn't have enough of any kind of substance for my liking. The pacing is super-slow, and the plot - about an assumed identity and the danger it brings - doesn't really go anywhere. I do like certain art-house films, such as the work of Werner Herzog for example, but Antonioni just didn't connect with me here.I appreciate that THE PASSENGER has intriguing themes of identity and isolation, but it's a film that has been packaged as a thriller and in that respect it doesn't work at all. Nicholson gives his typically assured performance but I was left looking at the clock for much of the time here and even the much-vaunted tracking shot was a disappointment.

"The Passenger" is a fascinating movie, a cinematic and philosophical masterpiece. I love Antonioni, and this is one of his best. I have watched it several times through the years, each time opening for myself a new moment or a new meaning. The acting is superb, and so is the camera work. The final scene that lasts for seven minutes without anything really happening is sublime. There is also a deep philosophical theme in the movie, uniquely different from other films of the time that also show dissatisfied, lost, or marginalized characters. Much has been written about the existential symbolism of the film, and it certainly pervades it on a grand scale. However, there is an interesting aspect of this movie which sets it apart from other existentialist works. In a Sartre-like view, a man is alienated from reality and does not feel welcome in the world nor connected with mankind. But in "The Passenger", it is David Locke's own life that is actually hostile to him. Let me try to explain what I mean. Like many people, he is trying to run away from mundane reality, the job that has been making him jaded, the marriage that's lost its flame. However, instead of making piecemeal changes, he tries to replace his life as a whole – reject it and become someone else. And now it is life itself that's after him, ready to punish him for violating the rules of engagement. It's as if he is just a vessel owned by life, which destroys him as soon as he tries to take matters in his own hands.At some point in the movie David says that he used to be somebody else, but traded him in (by the way, what a fabulous line). He boasts – he thinks he is in control of his life choices, but will soon find out otherwise. What crushes him in the end is not fate or circumstances or his past that catches up with him – it is life itself, ejecting an unruly passenger. Such juxtaposition of life with a man as a separate, all-powerful entity is unique in the artistic portrayal of existential struggle. The original title of the movie (in Italian) was "Profession: Reporter". This title would have made perfect sense if the character was an estranged observer of life. However, Jack Nicholson's character is truly a passenger – he is not in the driver's seat, and his privileges are pretty limited. His connection to life is neither cordial nor caring, the same way as there is no human connection between a train passenger and the train operator. David Locke has violated the rules, and his ticket is canceled. The train will continue forward without him. Captivating and mysterious Maria Schneider plays The Girl. As David jumps from one city to another, he keeps running into her. She is quite an ephemeral character, floating from place to place, seemingly not attached to any mundane or conventional activity like work or family. Having no name in the movie suits her character perfectly – one less connection to real life. Perhaps this is the only kind of people who David can interact with now and who can deal with him. When the police ask David's wife to identify his dead body, she says she doesn't know him. It is true – he has become a complete stranger to her. But when they ask the girl if she knows David, she says yes. Even though they have met only recently, they seem to be people of the same kind. Perhaps like him, the girl is also a passenger? Perhaps we all are.

Across the sands of time there is little comfort for the identity of loneliness...I've been willing to write about Michelangelo Antonioni's Masterpiece. It's just that when you sit down to describe and reflect upon such a monumental artwork, you need time and patience to be able to focus on the most important conclusions. For me it is always important to see the consequence of implications which you get from a movie. And I am pretty sure that "The Passenger" is indeed one of the best film I have ever seen.The psychological drama about loneliness, alienation and the trouble of finding one's identity stars Jack Nicholson as a television journalist who assumes the identity of a dead arms dealer in Chad and then escapes his own identity and life cycle. We witness the typical 1970's movies feel of losing something real while trying to live the life. I am unsure if this film's intelligent script would've had the same impact if there were no such beautiful landscapes which complement the psychological transformation of the main character David Locke. The cinematography by Luciano Tovoli is distancing the characters of the film one from another. A deliberate alienation which represents a person's desire to escape oneself. Losing his identity Locke finds during his journey a soul mate - an architectural student in Barcelona (Maria Schneider). We witness their unconventional relationship and route through exotic and deserted villages and cities.At the same time Locke's real life (represented by his unfaithful wife) tries to reach and find him. The main character is deliberately avoiding being found and desperately is trying to not go back to his original existence. France and especially Spain present us with both fascinating and haunting images of nature and architecture. It is very important for the viewer to notice Nicholson's character being "blown by the wind" from one deserted place to another. David Locke is a traveler through time and space who is attracted to his young female companion and spiritual soul mate, but ultimately is troubled only by his own escapade.And although his new arms dealing identity finally takes its toll, he is presented as a newborn soul, freed from the constraints of his ordinary life. This alienated freedom provokes many viewers to try to find what is not right in their own lives and reflect upon how to change that. My feel about "The Passenger" is very similar to what I got from Antonioni's "Zabriskie point", "Blow-Up" and his trilogy "L'Avventura", "La Notte" and "L'Eclisse". A distant both haunting and beautiful cry about longing for a change and true meaning of one's life. It is very inspiring to see how a genius director can evoke true feelings in us with this enigmatic and intricate movie of possibilities. And there is no better example for this than the penultimate 7-minute tracking shot at the end of "The Passenger"...