Professione: reporter (The Passenger) (1975)
Average Rating: 8.1/10
Reviews Counted: 65
Fresh: 59 | Rotten: 6
Antonioni's classic, a tale of lonely, estranged characters on a journey though the mysterious landscapes of identity, shimmers with beauty and uncertainty.
Average Rating: 9/10
Critic Reviews: 19
Fresh: 19 | Rotten: 0
Antonioni's classic, a tale of lonely, estranged characters on a journey though the mysterious landscapes of identity, shimmers with beauty and uncertainty.
liked it
Average Rating: 3.9/5
User Ratings: 8,236
My Rating
Movie Info
The mutual admiration between actor Jack Nicholson and director Michelangelo Antonioni resulted in the psychological drama The Passenger. Nicholson plays David Locke, a disillusioned American reporter who is sent on a grueling mission to North Africa. When he stumbles across the body of a dead man, Locke, long desirous of starting life over again, assumes the corpse's identity. He soon discovers that the man he's pretending to be is involved in gun running on behalf of a terrorist group. Making
Watch It Now
Cast
-
Jack Nicholson
David Locke -
Maria Schneider
Girl -
Jenny Runacre
Rachel Locke -
Ian Hendry
Martin Knight -
Steven Berkoff
Stephen -
Ambrose Bia
Achebe -
José María Caffarel
Hotel Keeper -
Ángel del Pozo
Police inspector -
Chuck Mulvehill
Robertson -
Manfred Spies
German Stranger -
Jean-Baptiste Tiemele
Murderer -
James Campbell
Witch Doctor
ADVERTISEMENT
All Critics (71) | Top Critics (22) | Fresh (63) | Rotten (6) | DVD (11)
Earlier Antonioni films have often seemed studied, but not this one. Its details are easy and apropos.
Top CriticWhat in different hands would have been a bombastic psychological thriller becomes a stark study of existential alienation.
The best of Antonioni's three English-language pictures.
The Passenger is a marvel of quiet insight in many ways, not least of which is the chance to view Jack Nicholson before he became JACK NICHOLSON.
A creator of lonely worlds, Mr. Antonioni painted one of his most vivid portraits of isolation with The Passenger.
In The Passenger, Jack Nicholson gives one of his finest performances as television journalist David Locke.
The film's wonderfully meandering journey ends with a mesmerizing feat of visual gymnastics in which the camera itself seems to leave the body of the film then turn around to have a look.
Boasting a great performance from Nicholson, Antonioni's third English-speaking film, arguably his last great work.
A bleak and moving drama with reflective performance from Jack Nicolson
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.
Visually inventive film.
The Passenger has more than its share of virtues...that still retain their power after nearly 30 years.
Audience Reviews for Professione: reporter (The Passenger)
Super Reviewer
This film has all the trappings of a mystery thriller on paper, but if you are not familiar with the Antonioni output, and require resolution and closure in your films, this film will disappoint and let you down at every turn. Instead, let it wash over you and start to get comfortable with ambiguity and randomness, as we all need to do in our lives. Ambiguity and randomness are Antonioni's big theme, running through all his films.
The Passenger's selling points are the rich Spanish and African locations, shot in an objective and unromantic style, and the true and honest acting of its two leads. It's very long, but that's part of its beauty. The supporting plot points, including that of the quest of Nicholson's boss and wife to find him, do not add much to the film, especially when you realize how irrelevant they are to the final impact of the film. They seem to be Antonioni's device to suck us into getting caught up in a chase film, only to have our finely honed film going expectations utterly shattered on those craggy Spanish rocks.
The long seven minute single shot that nearly ends the film (there's a quick shot afterwards) is quietly tragic and will haunt most viewers for all of their film going days. I re-screened the film after 20 years and it has never left me.
Super Reviewer
Discussion Forum
There are no discussion threads for Professione: reporter (The Passenger) yet.
Latest News on Professione: reporter (The Passenger)
July 31, 2007:
Remembering Michelangelo AntonioniItalian director Michelangelo Antonioni, who gave the world such influential films as L'Avventura,...
What's Hot On RT
Bradley Cooper's Best Movies
Fast & Furious 6 is Certified Fresh
Fast & Furious cars gallery
Blockbusters ranked!
Featured on RT
- Critics Consensus: Fast & Furious 6 is Certified Fresh 23
- Red Carpet Photos with Vin Diesel, Michelle Rodriguez, Gina Carano and More 0
- Video: The Hangover Part III Cast Interviews 0
- Total Recall: Bradley Cooper's Best Movies 40
- Parental Guidance: Epic and Beautiful Creatures 2
- Comic Book Movies You Can Watch Online 9
- In Pictures: The Cars of Fast & Furious 0
Top Headlines
-
Evan Peters Joins X-Men: Days of Future Past
0
-
Toby Jones Talks Captain America: The Winter Soldier
0
-
The Poltergeist Reboot May Actually Be a Sequel
9
-
Will Forte Promises MacGruber 2
1
-
Universal Plans Timecop Reboot
2
-
Return of the Jedi Turns 30
1
-
Vin Diesel Says Fast & Furious 7 Will Take Place in L.A.
0
Fresh Links
Featured
Star Trek Movies Ranked
HitFix offers their own take on the worst-to-best of the Enterprise crew's cinematic adventures.
Top 10 Star Trek Villains
Rolling Stone unveils the Enterprise's most irksome adversaries.
Celebrity Yearkbook Flashback
We'll bet you never realized how many stars were cheerleaders and high school athletes!
50 Most Classic Movie Moms
In celebration of Mother's Day, TimeOut offers up 50 iconic matriarchs from the big screen.
Weirdest Movie Siblings
From Twins to The Royal Tenenbaums, Moviefone explores cinema's oddest siblings.
Promos
Follow RT on Twitter!
Spice up your feed with hourly Tomatometer updates!
Foreign Titles
- Professione: Reporter (DE)
- Passenger (Professione: reporter) (UK)
