Professione: reporter - 1975
Director(s)
Michelangelo Antonioni
Writer(s)
Michelangelo Antonioni screenplay
Mark Peploe screenplay
Mark Peploe story
Peter Wollen screenplay
Producer(s)
Carlo Ponti producer
Alessandro von Norman executive producer
Cast
Jack Nicholson - David Locke
Maria Schneider - Girl
Jenny Runacre - Rachel Locke
Ian Hendry - Martin Knight
Steven Berkoff - Stephen
Ambroise Bia - Achebe
José María Caffarel - Hotel Keeper
James Campbell - Witch Doctor
Manfred Spies - German Stranger
Jean-Baptiste Tiemele - Murderer
Ángel del Pozo - Police inspector
Charles Mulvehill - Robertson, the Dead Man (as Chuck Mulvehill)
Narciso Pula - Murderer's accomplice
Jaime Doria - (uncredited)
Joan Gaspart - (uncredited)
Gustavo Re - (uncredited)
Review by Jack Gattanella
Professione: reporter (1975)
A must for art-film buffs, though it's not a flat-out 'masterpiece',
And here's why- a two hour film such as this, starring such undeniably superb talent such as Jack Nicholson and Maria Sheider, shouldn't move THIS slow. I'm not saying the pace Antonionni places is entirely deliberate, but there were moments when I wondered when the film would pick up some of the suspense considering the weight of the situations Nicholson's character was in.
Of course, this is not to downplay the overall effect that Antonionni and his crew give on a film like this: a lot of times his style of the wandering camera, or of a camera staying still on an object, is entrancing, even hypnotic, and one shot towards the very end is one of the best in all of movie history.
He uses his skills to tell a story of a journalist in Africa (Nicholson, doing what he can naturally do) who discovers a man he knew in a hotel is dead of a heart attack, and for reasons that are or are not quite explained, he takes his identity. What he doesn't realize, at least until he leaves for Spain, is that the man's persona was that of a gun runner.
The Passenger gives much to watch for the avid and non-avid film goer- a curious, often sullen and downplayed performance by Mr. Nicholson(outside of a outburst moment in the desert); a side role that isn't as heavy but is as noteworthy for Ms. Sheider; and a style that is unquestionably of tremendous skill and potency. And yet, on a first viewing it's own self-image gets distracting. Perhaps this is one of those films that requires more than one viewing to let it all sink in.
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